Kiss of the Fur Queen

Gabriel, who has never helped anyone in his life, is unsure how to help his older brother. He decides to take Jeremiah for a camping trip in Ojibway country, where a powwow is taking place at Wasaychigan Hill. In the dancing field packed with people in traditional gear, the brothers come across Ann-Adele Ghostrider. While Jeremiah feels his old unease at the sight of the dancers, Gabriel wants to participate but doesn’t know the steps of the wild, free performance. He promises himself he will learn the Round Dance.

That evening, Ann-Adele Ghostrider tells a story by the campfire. When the Indians near Mistik Lake were hit by hunger and disease, missionaries arrived to offer them hope if they converted to their religion. The shaman Chachagathoo warned the people to be patient: K’si mantou, the Great Spirit, would protect them. However, when one starving man was possessed by Weetigo and then attacked another, a Christian priest declared the man possessed by Satan. The shaman opposed him and began to exorcise Weetigo, but the priest stopped her and the man died. Accusing the shaman of witchcraft, the priest sent the shaman to jail in Winnipeg. The despairing shaman hanged herself in the prison.