The Blackout/Apocalypse Symbol Analysis

It was more than enough for his own family of four, but he planned to give a lot of the meat away. It was the community way. He would share with his parents, his siblings and their families, and his in-laws, and would save some for others who might run out before winter’s end and not be able to afford the expensive ground beef and chicken thighs that were trucked or flown in from the South.

There had been lots of infrastructure improvements on the reserve over the last few years, including their connection to the hydro grid. The old diesel generators that had run their lightbulbs and appliances for decades were still around, but they didn’t need them anymore.

“I thought all these new dishes and towers and stuff were supposed to be better!”

“Yeah, all moccasin telegraph all the time these days.”

“The food’s all gone. The power’s out. There’s no gas. There’s been no word from Toronto or anywhere else. People are looting and getting violent. We had to get the fuck out of there.”

“Some kids started getting angry, yelling that they wanted a shower or hot food […] We thought it was all pretty dumb, so we just went back to our rooms.”

“We’re in a crisis and everyone’s survival depends on cooperation.”

His rough, meaty palm dwarfed Evan’s. The handshake was half goodwill, half intimidation.

“Well, you make sure you spend some time with her. Go for a walk in the bush. When the spring comes, ask her to show you some of the medicines. She'll know a lot now, if she remembers all the stuff from when I used to take her and all the young girls out there. It will be important if we don't get any new supplies in from the hospital down south.”

“You know, when young people come over, some of them […] say that this is the end of the world. The power’s out and we’ve run out of gas and no one’s come up from down south. […] There’s a word they say too […] Yes, apocalypse! What a silly word. […] Our world isn’t ending. It already ended. It ended when the Zhaagnaash [white person] came into our original home down south on that bay and took it from us. […] But then they followed us up here and started taking our children away from us! That's when our world ended again. […] We've had that over and over. But we always survived. We’re still here. And we'll still be here, even if the power and the radios don’t come back on and we never see any white people ever again.”

“Do you kids know the one about Nanabush and the geese?”

No one wanted to deal with any more of them. Not now.