Common menu bar links

French Titles

		Le Wapiti Monique Corriveau Saint-Laurent, Quebec: Fides, 2004. 238 p. (Grandes histoires) ISBN 2762125782 Ages 12 and up Originally published: Quebec: Éditions Jeunesse, 1964.
Le Wapiti Source

Le Wapiti immerses the reader into the history of New France in 1655. Mathieu Rousseau, a young adventurer, leaves France stowed away on a ship. When he arrives in Québec, he is falsely accused of murder. Exiled, he is taken prisoner by the Iroquois and forced to live with the Saskanous. This Aboriginal nation becomes his new family, and Opénaka, the Chief, sees him as taking the place of a son he has lost, a situation that creates conflict with Chonian, one of the Chief's sons.

Mathieu embraces the Native customs and soon becomes familiar with all the secrets of nature. He learns the rudiments of the hunt, and is given the name "Wapiti" when he kills his first deer. An accepted member of the Saskanous, Mathieu befriends a missionary, who reminds him of the customs of his own people. Torn between his French roots and his adopted family, Mathieu is faced with a dilemma when the Saskanous declare war on the "palefaces." Whose side will he choose to defend?

The novel Le Wapiti was awarded the Prix littéraire de la province de Québec when it was published in 1964.

–JMB

Previous Table of Contents