Since the occupation of Canada by the British and French begun the Native inhabitants of the land have been forced into confined areas and poor living standards, with stripped rights, and brutal means of assimilation. Children being stripped of their family, culture, religion, and language they are forced into unwanted ways of life. Native Indians are provided with poor facilities and poor living conditions and forced to move to isolated areas of the land where they can govern to limited extent. In the novel Honour the Sun, by the author Ruby Slipperjack reflects upon many issues regarding the lives of Native Indians and the reserve communities. The novel follows a young girl, named Owl nearing her adolescence, and later adult hood and her experiences, disasters and tragedies on Native Indian reserves. The novel utilizes many current-day controversies in regard to Native Indian rights and status. The novel deals with many interrelated themes of alcoholism, poverty, and famine in the poor living conditions of the reserves. The theme that remains constant throughout the novel is the discrimination towards women. Many of the discriminated women whom are consistent in the novel include the Owl, Delia, and Jane. Mistreatment of women becomes a very aggressive issue in the novel as the young Owl progresses towards adulthood in her experiences.
The Owl is the main character of the novel. As the Owl progresses through her childhood, she is shown as a care-free and innocent young girl. Following her diary entries Owl is looked down at as different and experiences many sexually-oriented abuse, and physical. At the age of eleven, as the Owl realizes she is by herself in a school room and the teacher is playing with her, she begins to realize what is happening. .
"At that moment, I realized that no one was in the class-.
Room, and the teacher was touching me, holding me, and.
Trying to remove my clothes" (102) .