Summary

Part III, Chapter 23 begins with a missionary named Louis-Joseph Crème. He is living and working among Mi’kmaq people and is fascinated with their language and culture. He observes the tight-knit relationship between these people and the nature around them. He is reprimanded by his superiors for viewing the native people as “persons.”

Chapter 24 returns to the Sel family, who is now struggling to find their place in the world. Some years later, the brothers leave home to try and find work in a lumber mill. Noё is raped and bears a son, Auguste, from one of the assaults. The family lives in René’s old house, which is frequently visited by drunken men from the woods who are looking for Renardette. She, too, visits them sometimes. Eventually, Renardette makes a legal claim that the...