Genre
Drama
Language
English, Cree, Ojibway
Setting and Context
Fictional Wasaychigan Hill Reserve, Northern Ontario - Between February 3, 1990 11p.m. and Saturday February 10, 1990, 11a.m.
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Zachary
Tone and Mood
Dramatic and Comedic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Zachary. Antagonist is Big Joey.
Major Conflict
Big Joey wants Zachary to help him get his business going by going to the council. If he doesn't Big Joey will tell Zachary's wife, Hera, that he cheated on her and will give her proof. Moreover, the women of the reservation have decided to form a hockey team.
Climax
Zachary awakens from a dream to realize that the whole play was a dream he had. He asks his wife if she would ever play hockey. She wouldn't.
Foreshadowing
NanaBush climbing above the setting of the stage foreshadows that this play is not realistic and thus the dream.
Understatement
It is understated that Zachary is dreaming.
Allusions
The play is an allusion to the Cree people living in a world that has been drastically changed by their relationship to white culture.
Imagery
Zachary holding his child up, both naked at the end of the play.
NanaBush Gazelle Nataways staying above the room in the first scene.
Paradox
Zachary's marriage will be in jeopardy if he doesn't do what Big Joey asks. Paradoxically he chooses to not help Big Joey in order to open his bakery.
Parallelism
Zachary on the couch in the beginning of the play parallels him on the couch at the end of the play.
Personification
Gazelle Nataways becomes the personification of NanaBush trickster spirit.
Use of Dramatic Devices
NanaBush above the sets throughout the play. Use of fourth wall in order to create the women's hockey game.
