Tomson Highway is a name that carries a lot of weight in Canadian literature. If you’ve spent any time in a university English class or followed the trajectory of Indigenous storytelling over the last few decades, you know why. His semi-autobiographical novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen, isn't just a book; it’s a reckoning.
Honestly, when people talk about "rlt eds"—which is often a shorthand for "related editions" or specific educational releases found in academic databases—they are looking for the meat of the story. They want to know how a tale about two brothers, Jeremiah and Gabriel Okimasis, managed to bridge the gap between horrific trauma and surreal beauty.
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The Raw Truth of the Okimasis Brothers
The story starts in the sub-Arctic. It’s a world of caribou hunters, sled dogs, and a deep, spiritual connection to the land. Champion and Ooneemeetoo (the brothers' original Cree names) are happy. Then, the plane comes. They are flown away to the Birch Lake Indian Residential School, and everything changes.
Their hair is shorn. Their names are stripped away. Champion becomes Jeremiah; Ooneemeetoo becomes Gabriel.
Highway doesn't hold back. He writes about the sexual abuse the boys suffer at the hands of Father Lafleur. It's brutal. It’s hard to read. But Highway’s genius lies in the fact that he doesn't let the trauma be the only thing that defines them. The "Fur Queen"—a figure inspired by a real beauty pageant winner from the 1951 Trapper's Festival—acts as a guardian, a Trickster figure who floats through the narrative to guide them.
Why the "RLT EDS" Search Matters
You’ve probably seen this specific string of letters when looking for the book online. Usually, it pops up in library catalogs or academic lists. Basically, it refers to the various editions—like the 1998 Doubleday first edition or the more recent Penguin Modern Classic versions—that include critical essays or "related" educational materials.
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These editions are popular because Highway’s work is incredibly dense with Cree mythology and musical theory. You can’t just read it as a linear story. It’s a symphony.
Music and Dance as Decolonization
One brother, Jeremiah, turns to the piano. The other, Gabriel, becomes a world-class ballet dancer. This isn't just a career choice for them; it’s a way to reclaim their bodies.
- Jeremiah's Piano: He tries to master Chopin and Beethoven, the music of the colonizer. He wants to be so good that they have to accept him.
- Gabriel's Dance: He uses his body to express the things words can't touch.
But here’s the kicker: even at the height of their success, the trauma follows them. Gabriel eventually contracts HIV/AIDS and dies. This part of the book is deeply personal for Tomson Highway. His own brother, René Highway, was a famous dancer who died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. The book is, in many ways, a monument to René.
The Language Barrier (Literally)
Highway often says that there is no gender in the Cree language. Think about that for a second. In a world that tries to put everyone in a box, his characters are navigating a linguistic landscape where "he" and "she" don't exist in the same way. This makes the brothers' journey into the "white" world of Winnipeg and Toronto even more alienating.
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They are constantly translating themselves.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Novel
A lot of readers go into this expecting a "misery memoir." They think it’s just going to be 300 pages of suffering. It’s not. It’s actually funny. Like, laugh-out-loud in parts funny.
Highway uses humor as a weapon. He uses it to poke fun at the absurdity of the Catholic Church and the rigidity of Western culture. By making the Fur Queen a shape-shifting, magical figure, he reminds the reader that the spiritual world of the Cree people never truly left, even when the priests tried to beat it out of the children.
Actionable Insights for Readers and Students
If you’re picking up Kiss of the Fur Queen for a class or just because you want to understand the Canadian experience better, here is how to approach it:
- Listen to the Structure: The book is divided into six sections, each named after an Italian musical tempo (like Allegro Ma Non Troppo). Try listening to classical music in those tempos while you read those chapters. It changes the rhythm of the prose.
- Look for the Trickster: The Fur Queen is everywhere. She’s in the pageant, she’s in the sky, she’s in the eyes of a fox. Tracking her appearances helps you see the "circular time" Highway is trying to establish.
- Check the "Related Editions": If you have a version with an introduction or afterword (the "rlt eds" versions), read them after the novel. They provide historical context on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the specific history of northern Manitoba.
Tomson Highway has lived a dozen lives—social worker, pianist, playwright, author. When he speaks about this book, he often emphasizes that while the residential school system was a "crime against humanity," the Indigenous spirit is "indestructible." That is the real takeaway.
The "Kiss" isn't just a prize from a beauty queen. It’s a spark of the divine that keeps the brothers human when the world tries to turn them into statistics. It's a tough read, but it's an essential one. If you want to understand why Canadian literature looks the way it does today, you have to start with the Fur Queen.
To fully grasp the themes, look up Tomson Highway's more recent memoir, Permanent Astonishment. It covers the first 15 years of his life and provides the real-world foundation for many of the events in the novel. Comparing the fictionalized Jeremiah with the real-life Tomson offers a profound look at how art transforms survival into a legacy.