Chapter summaries Moon of the Turning Leaves Waubgeshig Rice

Chapter 22 Epilogue: Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The epilogue opens eleven winters after the community settled on the island. Nicole and her twelve-year-old granddaughter, Waawaaskone, are picking blueberries along the lakeshore. The berries are for the feast that will conclude Waawaaskone's year-long coming-of-age ceremony. Nicole visits this spot often—to admire the lake, to harvest, and to remember Evan, who died there. She regularly leaves semaa (tobacco) as an offering at the place where he took his final breaths.

Waawaaskone asks her grandmother whether her grandfather was good at picking berries. Nicole laughs and admits she doesn't remember him being skilled at it; she recalls that he preferred eating them. The girl chuckles, thinking of the grandfather she never knew. Her only image of him is a faded family photo Nicole saved from their old home before they left—a picture of Evan, Nicole, their young son Maiingan, and daughter Nangohns, taken just before the lights went out.

The narrative then shifts to the difficult months after Evan, Nangohns, Tyler, J.C., Amber, and Cal departed. The community had no way of knowing if they were alive. Those left behind carried on, summoning patience and hope while preparing for their own possible migration south.

When fall arrived—the month some call Waabaagbagaa-giizis, the Moon of the Turning Leaves—four of the walkers returned with two strangers: brothers named Anakwad and Giizhik. Evan and J.C. had not come back. Nicole felt relief and heartbreak at once: her daughter had survived, but her partner had not. Her grief did not relent until she finally reached the spot where Evan had died the following summer.

The mass departure was carefully planned and swift, executed in stages. Tyler and his partner Nick went back south immediately with Anakwad and Giizhik, clearing a trail with machetes and marking the route with colorful materials tied to trees. After a long winter, the entire community left at the end of the flooding season, traveling in groups. The older and physically challenged members moved more slowly under the guidance of the young. They rested at Linda's camp for many days, and some elders and children stayed there while a core group of adults—including veteran walkers—went ahead to assess the road. Once they reached the island, the brothers returned with Nick and Tyler to help the remaining northerners migrate. Some chose to stay behind at Saswin and settle there instead.

They encountered no human threats along the way, for which Nicole gave thanks. She, Maiingan, Pichi, and the toddler Waawaaskone traveled with the first group. There was no question that they would make the Anishinaabe island their new home, with others from all walks of life. They needed to see where Evan had ended his journey—where the land and their people had been renewed.

Back in the present, Waawaaskone returns to her berry picking, her birchbark basket nearly full. She stands to stretch and turns to face the water. Nicole joins her, putting an arm around her shoulders. The girl asks, in Anishinaabemowin, whether they will always live here. Nicole squeezes her shoulder, kisses her braid, and answers that yes, they will always be here. She repeats the phrase almost to herself, in the language her granddaughter doesn't fully understand, as if to remind the ghosts of history who had tried to destroy them but failed.

Key Events

  • Nicole and Waawaaskone pick blueberries for the feast ending the girl's coming-of-age ceremony.
  • Nicole offers semaa at the spot where Evan died and remembers his love of eating berries.
  • Flashback: the community endures months of uncertainty after the walkers leave.
  • In fall, four walkers return with two brothers, Anakwad and Giizhik; Evan and J.C. are gone.
  • Tyler and Nick clear and mark a trail south with the brothers.
  • The community migrates in groups after winter, resting at Linda's camp; some settle at Saswin.
  • They meet no human threats on the journey.
  • Nicole, Maiingan, Pichi, and toddler Waawaaskone travel with the first group to the island.
  • In the present, Waawaaskone asks if they will always live here; Nicole affirms they will.

Character Development

Nicole emerges as a figure of enduring grief and quiet hope. Her ritual of offering semaa at Evan's death site shows how she has integrated loss into her daily life. The flashback reveals her initial agony and the slow process of healing that only completed when she reached the island. Her final affirmation—repeated in Anishinaabemowin—demonstrates a deep commitment to permanence and to the land, even as she acknowledges the language barrier with her granddaughter.

Waawaaskone represents the next generation. At twelve winters old, she knows her people's history of wandering and displacement. Her coming-of-age ceremony and her question about staying forever signal her growing awareness of identity and belonging. She has no memory of the old reserve, only the island, making her a symbol of renewal and continuity.

The community as a whole shows resilience and careful planning. The staged migration, the trail marking, and the decision to rest at Linda's camp all reflect a collective effort to survive and preserve their way of life. The arrival of Anakwad and Giizhik as replacements for Evan and J.C. underscores the theme of loss and renewal within the group.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Renewal and permanence: The epilogue contrasts the community's history of forced movement with their deliberate choice to settle permanently on the island. Nicole's final words—"We'll always be here"—assert a new stability.
  • Grief and hope: Nicole's semaa offering and her eventual arrival at Evan's death site show how grief can coexist with hope for the future. The blueberry harvest itself is an act of nurturing life from the same ground where death occurred.
  • Generational continuity: Waawaaskone's coming-of-age ceremony and her questions about the past link her to her grandmother and to the ancestors. The faded photo of Evan, Maiingan, and Nangohns serves as a tangible connection to a lost world.
  • Connection to land: The lake, the rocks, and the blueberry bushes are not just scenery; they are sites of memory, ritual, and sustenance. Nicole's repeated visits to the shore make the land a living archive of personal and communal history.
  • Language preservation: Nicole's final repetition of the phrase in Anishinaabemowin—a language her granddaughter doesn't fully understand—highlights the fragility and importance of linguistic heritage.

Why This Chapter Matters

The epilogue brings the novel full circle, showing the community's successful migration and their establishment of a new home. It resolves the central tension of the earlier chapters—the uncertainty of the walkers' fate and the community's future—by depicting a peaceful, settled life. More importantly, it shifts focus from survival to continuity: the coming-of-age ceremony, the blueberry harvest, and the grandmother-granddaughter bond all emphasize that life goes on, that grief is carried but not paralyzing, and that the people have found a place they can call home forever. The chapter also reinforces the novel's themes of resilience, cultural identity, and the enduring relationship between the Anishinaabe and the land. By ending with Nicole's quiet affirmation, Rice leaves readers with a sense of hope and permanence that feels earned after the hardships depicted throughout the book.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What does the blueberry harvest symbolize in the epilogue?

The blueberry harvest represents both sustenance and renewal. The berries are gathered for a feast that marks Waawaaskone's transition into adulthood, linking the natural world to cultural ceremony. The act of picking berries at the site where Evan died also transforms a place of loss into a place of life-giving activity, suggesting that grief and hope can coexist. The nearly full basket and the careful, intentional picking reflect the community's ability to nurture and provide for future generations.

2. How does Nicole's grief evolve over the course of the epilogue?

Initially, Nicole experiences agonizing uncertainty after Evan's departure, followed by simultaneous relief and heartbreak when the walkers return without him. Her grief does not relent until she reaches the island and stands at the spot where he died. By the present time, she has integrated her loss into a regular ritual of offering semaa and visiting the shore. Her grief is no longer paralyzing; it has become a quiet, ongoing presence that coexists with her joy in her granddaughter and her commitment to their new home.

3. What is the significance of Nicole repeating "We'll always be here" in Anishinaabemowin?

Nicole's repetition of the phrase in the language her granddaughter doesn't fully understand serves multiple purposes. It is a personal affirmation, a way of speaking to the ghosts of history who tried to destroy her people. It also underscores the theme of language preservation, as Nicole holds onto the words even as the younger generation loses fluency. Finally, it asserts permanence and defiance: despite centuries of displacement and tragedy, the community has found a place where they will stay. The repetition "almost to herself" suggests that she is also convincing herself, reinforcing the hard-won security of their new life.

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