Moon of the Crusted Snow

Evan Whitesky is the protagonist of Moon of the Crusted Snow. Evan is in his mid-twenties and is deeply devoted to his partner, Nicole McCloud, and his children, Maiingan and Nangohns. Evan works for the reservation’s community works department as a maintenance worker, though he is a jack of all trades, his duties ranging from plowing the roads, to distributing fliers as part of the “moccasin telegraph” once communication technology fails, to becoming a de facto undertaker once the winter starts claiming lives in the village. Most of the novel is narrated in the third person from Evan’s perspective. His observations of the devolution of his community in the face of disaster drive the novel’s critique of Leadership in Times of Crisis. Evan is part of a generation actively striving to resuscitate Anishinaabe language and customs after years of genocide and erasure at the hands of settler colonialism. Evan is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, skills that prepare him and his family for the long winter and beyond.

Evan is protective of his friends, family, and community. This puts him at odds with Justin Scott, whom Evan does not trust from the moment he arrives in the community.