Chapter 5

The first point to note about this section is its opening statement of the third of the book's major themes, that being the influence of whites on the Ojibwa people in particular and, by implication, on indigenous American natives in general. This statement comes in the conversation between Deydey and his friends, which refers to that influence and its dangers in clear, direct terms, said influence being generally portrayed as both imminent and destructive. The conversation foreshadows the actual appearance of a white man and a manifestation of white capacity for destruction later in the narrative.