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Claire Hopkins
Mrs. Katterloher
ENG4U
29/7/16

Three Day Road: A Tale of Power Dynamics

It is not every day you find a good, interesting book that can serve to educate
about Canadas history as well. Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden does just this,
which is why others should read it as well. It highlights First Nations peoples
difficulties in the early 1900s, and how wrong the treatment they endured was,
especially how wrong the Europeans attempts to assimilate them were. When
examining Three Day Road from a postcolonial perspective, the oppression the Cree
face that stems from the power the Europeans had over them can be easily seen,
and how wrong it truly was.
To begin, Three Day Road shows the oppression and unfair treatment that the
First Nations in Canada faced. Firstly, they oppressed the First Nations people in
residential schools. They are subjected to horrible and unjust treatment. Elijah is
touched inappropriately by a nun each time she bathes him. How could any nun do
this when it is both morally wrong and against the Catholic faith? Secondly, they are
not called by their proper names (e.g. First Nations, Cree) but instead are called
derogatory and degrading names. They are typically called Indians which is what
they were originally incorrectly called by an early explorer. The Europeans
continuously take advantage of the First Nations. One European man takes

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advantage of Niska for sex. He even tricks her into doing it in a church and says,
You are nothing special, just another squaw whore. (Boyden, 174) He says this
after making it seem like he was in love with her, but in reality he was doing the
same thing to other girls. Not only did he lead her on, he degraded her as well. He
also uses the word squaw which is offensive (www.dictionary.com). Furthermore,
they were considered lesser than the Europeans. They were not allowed to sit with
the others on the train. When Xavier and Elijah were on the train for their first time,
they were told, No Indians in this car. (Boyden, 161) This is unfair and unjust in
so many ways. No group or person should dictate where another has to sit. This is
comparable to when African Americans had similar rules, and were forced to sit at
the back of busses etc.,. This is all absolutely appalling.
Finally, the Europeans had immense power over the First Nations. To begin,
they were able to successfully use this power to try and assimilate many, and they
were able to do this primarily through residential schools. For example, Niskas
sister, formerly known as Rabbit, was assimilated in one of these schools. This is
seen when Niska says, She is called Anne now. (Boyden, 95). It shows that she
has accepted the European name and therefore is assimilated and does not want to
come back to the bush with Niska and her mom. Secondly, the Europeans were
able to come to Canada, colonize it, and take over. They started Hudsons Bay and
took over land that the First Nations had previously used to trap beavers for their
fur, which was an abuse of power. In addition, they did not treat the First Nations
well and killed many of the beavers, bush men and women were forced with the
decision to move to the reserve or die of hunger. (Boyden, 90). Nobody should
come and take others land to colonize, let alone force them to assimilate. Most

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want and crave power, people having power over others are inevitable; its the
choice they make with this power that truly matters.
In Three Day Road, oppression towards the Cree stems from the abuse of
power of the Europeans, which is ethically wrong. This is all seen time and time
again in the book through the Europeans trying to assimilate the First Nations. There
is nothing that can be done to change the past, but others can be educated in order
to change the future to avoid any other poor treatment of Canadians. Stephen
Harper apologized and said, We now recognize that it was wrong to separate
children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many
lives and communities and we apologize for having done this. (thestar.com).
Apologies are just the beginning of what needs to be said and done to help the
victims of residential schools, and those who were culturally oppressed. Many do
not know the extent in which the Europeans abused their power over the First
Nations, after colonizing Canada. How can humans treat other humans in such a
degrading way, and feel as though they are doing nothing wrong?

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Works Cited
Boyden, Joseph. Three Day Road: A Novel. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
"Harper Officially Apologizes for Native Residential Schools | Toronto Star."
Thestar.com. Web. 26 July
2016.
"The Definition of Squaw." Dictionary.com. Web. 26 July 2016