Medicine Walk

“The old man had taught him the value of work early […] he was content in it, hearing symphonies in wind across a ridge and arias in the screech of hawks and eagles, the huff of grizzlies and the pierce of a wolf call against the unblinking moon. He was Indian. The old man said it was his way and he’d always taken that for truth.” 

Frank is true to his Indigenous roots, even though he was raised by a white man and separated from his Indigenous community. Frank has no Indigenous friends with whom he can share a sense of belonging. Instead, nature itself is his friend and teacher. 

“Life had become horseback in solitude, lean-tos cut from spruce, fires in the night, mountain air that tasted sweet and pure as spring water, and trails too dim to see that he learned to follow high to places only cougars, marmots, and eagles knew.” 

Frank immerses himself in the natural world. Living as he does alone in the wild is a reminder of his own natural condition. For Frank, the theme of belonging to the earth has a cultural meaning. He is most fulfilled when he is behaving in a traditional manner and surviving using his own skills at hunting and trapping in the wilderness. 

“If he put his head to it at all he couldn’t work a definition for the word. It sat in him undefined and unnecessary like algebra; land and moon and water summing up the only equation that lent scope to his world, and he rode through it fleshed out and comfortable with the feel of the land around him like the refrain of an old hymn.”

Just like “an old hymn,” Frank knows nature by heart. Frank has no use for formal education; he is more concerned with living in harmony with nature and surviving in the wilderness. Nature teaches him all that is necessary for his success and survival. 

“There was a deer trail that snaked around it and he’d follow that and let the horse pick her pace. He’d ridden her there a dozen times and she knew the smell of cougar and bear so he was content to let her walk while he sat and smoked and watched the land.” 

Several of the characters in the novel follow the course of nature and act in accordance with natural rhythms. Angie follows the natural course of her love for Eldon; Bunky works like someone following a pattern; and Frank rides his horse without guiding it, letting the animal lead the way. 

“He could see the grey-white spume from the stacks before he crested the final ridge and when he topped it the town lay spread out along the edges of the river like a bruise. The horse snorted and shook her head at the sulphur smell.” 

The contrast of the city smells of “sulphur” and the country’s natural spruce scent highlights Frank’s separation from white industrial civilization. The “bruise” simile indicates that city life is a blemish or harmful wound upon the natural landscape.

“‘Suit yourself,’ she said. ‘Indian.’” 

As Frank comes closer to white civilization and to Eldon, he is reminded of white racism against Indigenous people, which is alluded to in this encounter between Frank and a prostitute who calls him “Indian.” Later, the storyline suggests that prejudice against Indigenous people may have contributed to Eldon’s failure to succeed in life. 

“‘Well?’ the man asked and raised a bottle to his mouth. ‘I’m Franklin,’ the kid said. ‘Jesus,’ was all he said and took another pull at the bottle. ‘Got big, didn’t ya?’” 

Eldon and Frank last saw each other when Frank was 12 years old. Frank is now 16, and Eldon does not recognize him. This scene emphasizes Eldon’s disconnection from Frank: Eldon abandoned him as an infant and rarely visited. Eldon has not been an ideal father, and he has not built a good relationship with his son.

“‘Don’t like me much, I guess,’ he said […] ‘Don’t know you much is all,’ the kid said. ‘I’m your dad.’ The kid looked at him blandly. He took out his makings and rolled a smoke while his father and the woman watched. […] ‘Just a word to me,’ he said.” 

In making and lighting his own cigarette, Frank demonstrates his independence and ability to survive on his own apart from white civilization—which manufactures cigarettes for sale, depriving people of the skill involved in making their own. Eldon is a victim of such de-skilling. The scene also emphasizes the alienation between Frank and Eldon. Frank reminds Eldon that “dad” is just a word to Frank, because Eldon has not been an ideal father to Frank.

“His father was a dim shadow at the head of the stairs.” 

The theme of failed parenthood continues in this statement. For Frank, Eldon is only a shadow—Frank knows Eldon is there, but at this point, Eldon hasn’t served a purpose or positive role in Frank’s life. 

“‘You fixin’ to die?’ ‘Jesus. How’d you get so hard-assed?’” 

Nature has molded Frank’s character: Surviving in nature is difficult, and Frank has developed a toughness that surprises Eldon. At this point, Frank is Eldon’s guide on their journey into the wilderness, but Frank also leads Eldon back to a more truthful, honest way of thinking, talking, and living.

“‘You lumberjack?’ ‘Some. I liked it better on the water but you had to cut and fall in order to get out there. Got to be a boomer if you worked out well enough.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Nowadays they use trucks. Takes the heart out of it.’” 

Eldon did not always live a dissolute lifestyle—he was once a skilled worker who lived close to nature, like Frank. In this passage, Eldon speaks nostalgically of his past as a lumberjack before industrialization and mechanization removed the “heart” from that way of life.

“‘I want you to take me out into that territory you come through. The one you hunted all your life. […] ‘I need you to bury me facing east,’ he said. ‘Sitting up, in the warrior way.’” 

Eldon may have lost his connection to his native roots, but he is capable enough to recognize their importance. His last gesture will be to heed and respect the native ways of living in harmony with the natural world.

“‘So you want to walk and talk about the good old days?’ ‘Weren’t no good old days. But you need to hear still. It’s all I got to give ya.’ ‘Ain’t never gonna be enough.’” 

The relationship between Frank and Eldon is broken, and Eldon is attempting to fill in these gaps with stories. Frank believes this will not be enough to make up for past failures, but Eldon reminds Frank that these stories are all Eldon has to offer. Later, Angie states that stories can change things—something that Frank has yet to learn. 

“He could see the moon through the slats of the barn when he woke. It was early morning and it was in its descent but it hung in the sky like a glacier pouring down light with the sheen of melting ice. […] There were coyotes in the field. He could see the sleek shape of them trotting and bounding near the fence. Six of them. Cavorting. Celebrating moonlight.” 

Parts of nature mirror one another. Frank feels a sense of community between himself and nature; he does not see nature as a resource to be exploited for private gain. 

“When he disappeared again he always left money in a jam jar behind the sink. ‘Your pap,’ the old man said whenever he doled out money from it […] It was the old man who had taught him to set snares, lay a nightline for fish, and read game sign. […] When he thought of the word father he could only ever imagine the old man.”

Eldon is present only in the form of money that he leaves in a jar for Frank, whereas Bunky, the “old man” raises Frank. Though Bunky is a white man, he is associated with native lore and wisdom and teaches Frank how to respect nature and survive in the wilderness. 

“‘Gotta hit what you shoot at and you gotta drop it.’ The old man made him repeat that to himself over and over until it lived in his head like a nursery rhyme. ‘Ain’t right to let nothing suffer.’” 

Bunky teaches Frank how to hunt properly so that he never lets an animal suffer. Frank learns to track animals as if he were an animal himself. 

“‘Now you gotta give thanks.’ ‘Thanks?’ ‘To the buck. He’s gonna feed us for a good while, gonna give us a good hide to tan. So you pray and say thank you for his life on accounta he’s takin’ care of your life now. Our life. It’s a big thing.’” 

After hunting and killing an animal, Bunky teaches Frank how to express gratitude to the animal for providing him with sustenance. This reminds Frank that he himself is an animal whose survival depends on the natural world. Frank’s own life extends out into the universe.

“‘We were just half-breeds. […] No one wanted us around. Not the whites. Not the Indians. […] We camped in tents or squatted on scrubland no one wanted or in deserted cabins and sheds and such. Never no proper home […] White man things was what we needed to learn if we was gonna eat regular. Indian stuff was kinda got left behind on accounta we were busy gettin’ by in that world.’” 

Eldon describes himself as a “half-breed” caught between two worlds and without a home in either one. Eldon’s parents did not have the opportunity for economic success, and Eldon’s own economic opportunities suffered as a result. To survive, Eldon had to put aside his native traditions and behave like a white man.

“‘Things get busted sometimes. When they happen in the world you can fix ‘em most times. But when they happen inside a person they’re harder to mend. Eldon got broke up pretty bad inside.’” 

Bunky teaches Frank how to understand Eldon. Frank sees Eldon as an irresponsible alcoholic who hangs out with prostitutes and cannot hold onto a job for long. However, Eldon’s stories and Bunky’s coaching help Frank to see past Eldon’s negative exterior.

“‘The wisest ones got taught more. Our people. Starlights. We’re meant to be teachers and storytellers. They say nights like this bring them teachin’s and stories back and that’s when they oughta be passed on again.’” 

It is through stories that Eldon educates Frank about his life and establishes a connection with him. Having heard Eldon’s stories, Frank is able to forgive Eldon and to understand him. The link of the family name “Starlight” to storytelling establishes the idea that family connections from one generation to the next are important. 

“She turned and walked away across the field and he watched. The sway of her like tall grass.” 

Angie lives in harmony with nature and is almost indiscernible from the motion of her natural surroundings. Her son, Frank, shares the same natural connection to the world around him.

“He drank her stories in. He and Bunky would clomp in from the porch and they would gather in the living room and she would close her eyes and he’d watch her move into another place. She seemed to slip beyond time.” 

Angie represents Indigenous culture and traditions, especially the universal and eternal tradition of storytelling. Storytelling not only transmits values from one generation to the next, but it also mends Frank and Eldon’s broken relationship. 

“‘Sometimes things come along of their own accord,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing we can do to prepare for it. Nothing we can do when it drops into our world unannounced.’” 

Angie explains to Bunky that she has fallen in love with Eldon. She lives in harmony with nature, and therefore accepts what nature has bestowed upon her—in this case, her love for Eldon. Bunky, though hurt, recognizes that human actions are sometimes like natural events that cannot be changed or avoided.