Colonial Separation and Identity in Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen

Abstract

Tomson Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen depicts how Aboriginal identity in Canada is destroyed by institutionalized racism, sexual abuse, separation from family and community, and by the forced abolition of Aboriginal culture and spirituality. The story is about two brothers, Gabriel and Jeremiah Okimasis, and their forced displacement from their family into the residential school where they are exposed to the colonial indoctrination and the crudeness of Catholicism. This paper will particularly focus on the character of Gabriel Okimasis and his experience in the residential school and ultimately how his Cree identity is shattered due to the colonial and Christian indoctrination. This study will also shed light on the issues of colonial separation and on the (re)creation of Cree identity, which is illustrated by Highway through Gabriel’s death.