Niska senses that Xavier wants to talk, but she does not want to pressure him. In the grips of his delusions, he calls out words in English. Niska thinks back to when he was a child and Xavier said he would never speak English. This memory prompts Niska to think back to her childhood, after her father was killed. She and her mother, as well as a small group of Indians, try to live on their own in the bush, leaderless. As the weather grows worse, however, they end up in Moose Factory, which is a deplorable place for Niska and her mother. One day, Niska’s sister, Rabbit, asks to go to the residential school, where Indian children are taught they are bad and that they must adopt English customs. Later, Niska is forced to go to the school by the nuns. She is defiant, however, and always in trouble with the nuns. To teach Niska a lesson, the nuns shave her head. Niska gets back at the nuns by stealing the clippers and cutting her hair like a boy. She is subsequently confined to the basement, where she imagines her father was also placed. Niska vows to remain strong and plots her escape.