The Orenda - Joseph Boyden

A fictional account of the first contact between Jesuits and Huron, and the destruction of the Huron tribe by disease and the Iroquois.  Boyden's main focus is to bring out the differences in ways of seeing life, the world, the Other and all aspects of being human between the European clergy and the Huron.  Opposite the figure of the main priest stand Bird, the warrior figure, and Gosling, the shaman.
The dance of ideas and feelings between these two camps is the heart of the novel.

Boyden also spins off many other themes. reflections and questions.  Some of the things that struck me:

The structure of Huron society with it's closed, close tribal group where sharing is the main ethos, and yet it's violence and sadism towards the other.  Reminiscent of the society build by Goebbels and Hitler in the mid-30s as discussed in a recent documentary I was watching, The Century of the Self, Part 1, by Adam Curtis.  In a larger sense, the question of the relationship to the Other, which is part of religion and philosophy.  What is interesting though, is that this relationship of cruelty and inflicted pain is ritualized as a contest of spirit between torturer and tortured, and the respect that is awarded those who suffer with strength.

I try to imagine a world where violence, killing, murder and sex are not overlaid with the moral taboo that comes with being part of a Christians society.  Not that Christian societies are without violence, murder and sex.  I suppose more that you might live with these parts of yourself without hypocrisy... Innocence in a Rousseau sense?  Child-like level of development?  Recognizing the need to express frustrations and repressions that come with living in a cohesive group where the group good always trumps the individual?

There is a point where Bird's adopted daughter cuts off his finger while he is sleeping as an act of revenge.  How is it seen?  As a sign of courage and strength in the girl, as an indication of her strong spirit.  What a different attitude towards children - our society primarily values compliance and see rebellion as something to be crushed.

I am also intrigued by Gosling and her shamanic powers.  I would like to read some accounts of people who have witnessed, or participated in, these experiences.  It is a persistent theme around native societies.  What is it about?  Not that far from the Catholic churches still current practice of exorcism, in certain ways.

Boyden also skillfully and light-handedly weaves in other themes around native-European history:  the disruptive role the fur trade played in intertribal relations; the role of disease in destroying their tribes and culture; the history of St. Marie Amongst the Huron; the history of French English rivalry in North America and how the native tribes got caught up in, and burned by, this conflict;  the early and repeated relationship of broken promises and exploitation;  the double-edged sword of contact and trade with the Europeans - threats to health and culture, but at the same time a source of unimaginably valuable technologies (which is also a larger theme within all societies on the planet - the wondrous but disruptive seductions of technology - do benefits and advantages outweigh negative effects? 'Progress' at what price?)