Fleur By Louise Endrich

Fleur? By Louise Endrich?Latina Blacknall
“Fleur” a story written by Louise Endrich is a tale about a young Chippewa Indian woman
who is feared by all the people that live on her reservation, Argus. They believed that she has
been cursed by the water monster of Lake Turcot who seeks her life for his own. Her general
lifestyle is an awe to them because she lives outside of traditional ways. She stirs things up with
her uncanny luck and the circumstances that surround her. I believe this is a good story because I
like the way that Fleur did things in her own way, she never let the people dictate her life.
The story begins with Fleur being rescued from Lake Turcot after her boat capsizes and
she goes down into the water. The two men attempt to rescue her and shortly after they succeed
their lives are mysteriously taken. The second time that Fleur almost drowns in the lake a similar
scenario occurs and it is then believed that every man that saves Fleur from the lake will replace
her station in death. This causes the people of the town to be very suspicious and weary of her.

Everyone pretty much steers clear of her just because she is a little different from them. They are
too afraid to try to understand her and get to know her.
Fleur lives the life of a very modest person, but she is hard working and strong. Despite
the towns fear of her she continues to live and do things as normal as she can. She really doesn’t
have many friends or any family so she spends most of her time at the butchery where she works.
She helps cut and load meat for the Kozka family and while there she is able to mingle with some
of the citizens in the town. She resides in an unused smokehouse behind the butchery where she
worked and owned pretty much just the clothes on her back. Despite her apparent poverty she is
very beautiful and the men all look at her in awe. However, even though she is very wonderfully
attractive, the men of the town are too afraid of her and the curse to attempt to date her. She lives
most of her life alone which is unusual for women of her age. I respect Fleur because she was
never bothered by the fact that she lived alone she acted as if her life was as full as she needed it
to be.
The people of the town however did not believe that she was alone. The unusual events
that occurred with Fleur and the lake made people believe that her hand had already been spoken
for. Misshepeshu, the water monster of Lake Turcot had already claimed her. This water monster
was a well-known myth of the people living in Argus.

“Our mothers warn us that we’ll think he’s handsome, for he appears with green eyes,
copper skin, a mouth tender as a child’s. But if you fall into his arms, he sprouts horns,
fangs, claws, fins. His feet are joined as one and his skin, brass scales, rings to the
touch. You’re fascinated , cannot move. He casts a shell necklace at your feet, weeps
gleaming chips that harden into mica on your breasts. He holds you under. Then he
takes the body of a lion or a fat brown worm. He’s made of gold. He’s made of beach
moss. He’s a thing of dry foam, a thing of death by drowning, the death a Chippewa
cannot survive.”
Fleur’s lifestyle is among one of the many topics of their discussions surrounding her. The
people on the reservation don’t agree with the way that Fleur lives. She does many things that
would not be deemed as honorable by the traditional thinking of the people of Argus.

“After the first time, we thought she’d keep to herself, live quiet, stop killing men off by
drowning in the lake. After the first time, we thought she’d keep the good ways. But
then, after the second drowning, we knew we were dealing with something much more
serious. She was haywire, out of control. She messed with evil, laughed at the old
women’s advice, and dressed like a man.”
Fleur was a mystery to the people. Her arrival gave them something to talk about,
something to gossip on to make the day pass by. They were especially amazed by