Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How did this book’s vision of a post-apocalyptic world strike you? Unlike the bleak individualism often found in stories like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006), this novel presents a community rebuilding through ancestral knowledge. Did you find this portrayal more or less compelling, and what about it stood out to you?

2. The novel concludes with an Epilogue set 11 years in the future, showing a thriving community. How did this final chapter affect your overall impression of the story? Did it feel like a satisfying conclusion to the sacrifices made by Evan and the others?

3. Which character’s journey resonated with you the most, and why? Was it Nangohns’s coming-of-age, Evan’s role as a bridge to the future, or perhaps Zhaabdiis’s arc of survival and redemption?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. The Anishinaabe community thrives by relying on traditional skills like hunting, foraging, and healing. How does the book make you think about the importance of community knowledge versus individual expertise? What practical skills do you possess that you think would be most valuable in a world without modern technology? 

2. Nangohns’s outlook is shaped by having grown up entirely after the collapse, while Evan is burdened by memories of the world that was lost. In what ways does this generational gap between Nangohns and Evan feel familiar or insightful? Does their experience reflect your own of how different generations view the world? 

3. Throughout the group’s journey, characters like J. C. share stories that provide wisdom, history, and spiritual guidance. What role has storytelling played in your own life or family for passing down values or lessons? 

4. Walter declares that the community must leave their settlement to “go back home” to their ancestral lands (187). What does the concept of “home” mean to you? Is it a physical place, a community of people, or something else entirely?

5. The walkers' journey into zhaawnong, a place that is both a sacred homeland and a dangerous unknown. Think about a time you ventured into a new environment or situation. How did you balance feelings of hope and caution, and how does your experience compare to the group’s journey?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. What does the novel suggest about why ideologies like the Disciples’ white supremacy persist and even thrive in times of chaos? Though set in a speculative future, where do you see parallels to this kind of organized, violent ideology in our world today?

2. The journey south is framed as a reversal of colonial displacement meant to undo a historical injustice. How does this story change your understanding of the historical and ongoing impact of the reserve system on Indigenous peoples? 

3. The story presents an argument for adapting to the environment rather than trying to master it. How does this Anishinaabe worldview challenge the dominant narratives of progress and development in our current society? What lessons do you think our world could learn from the Anishinaabe community’s relationship with the land?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. This novel is an example of Indigenous Futurism, like Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning (2018) and Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves (2017). How does it use the conventions of post-apocalyptic fiction to explore themes like cultural revitalization and decolonization? In what ways did it subvert your expectations of the genre?

2. Do you think it was necessary for Evan Whitesky’s character to die at the story’s conclusion? How does his sacrifice pave the way for Nangohns and the next generation to build a new future?

3. Discuss the significance of the slanted cross used by the Disciples. How does it convey the foundations of their organization, and how does it contrast with the Anishinaabe community’s perspective? 

4. How does the author maintain the tension of the dual nature of zhaawnong as both a sacred homeland and a dangerous territory? Which scenes or discoveries most powerfully illustrated this duality for you?

5. For those who have read Moon of the Crusted Snow (2018), how did this novel build upon the world and characters established in the first book? In what ways did it feel like a different kind of story, and what new themes did this journey south allow the author to explore?

6. Evan and Nangohns serve as the reader’s main windows into the story. How do their differing perspectives on the world, one shaped by memory and the other by lived experience, affect your understanding of the events and challenges they face?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine you are a member of the Saswin community who remembers Isaiah and Kevin’s stay four years earlier. What story would you tell about the two young men who passed through on their own journey south, and what impression did they leave on your community?

2. If you were to design a symbol for the unified Anishinaabe communities on the island, what would it look like? What elements would you include to represent their values of community, resilience, and connection to the land and water?

3. If you could add one scene to the book, what would it be? For example, you could show a conversation between Tyler and Cal about their lost brothers, or a scene depicting the Shki-dnakiiwin community’s reaction when they finally receive word to begin their own migration south.