Where It All Goes Down
The Maine Woods, off the Penobscot River
The setting in this story—the Maine woods, off the Penobscot River—is more than just a pretty place to walk around and set up snares. In fact, it has a lot in common with the characters in the story. They are all in transition, changing or on the brink of doing so, but let's take a little stroll through the forest to find out how. Watch out for low-hanging branches.
First of all, the beaver in these woods are almost trapped out. Though there used to be plenty around the support the various needs of the Beaver clan, the beaver's declining numbers are making this area no longer a good place for the clan to make their home. This means that the Beaver clan—like so many other American Indian groups—are slowly being forced out of the region.
Which brings us to another transition. As white people come into the area—white people like, say, Matt and his family—they bring with them the concept of land ownership, a concept that stands in stark contrast to the practices of the Indians who lived there first. As Attean says, "Land same as air. Land for all people to live on" (22.21). So this woodland setting brings these two cultures right up against each other, and highlights both their differences and the tensions between them.
And finally, white people aren't done coming. Not by a long shot. Matt's mom says more are on their way, and that they want to build a mill. Once this happens, this forest will not longer be the vast wilderness it is now and, because of this, will become even less hospitable to people like Attean and the Beaver clan who hunt and live off the land.
On a more personal level, the forest is key to changes in both Matt and Attean's characters. Attean teaches Matt how to read the forest, to figure out his own way through the woods; combined with his lessons on trapping animals and carving weapons, this radically shifts Matt's relationship with his woodland surroundings. Suddenly Matty boy feels like he can handle himself.
But Matt isn't the only one who is transformed by time spent in this forest—Attean is too. He heads off to find his manitou in the woods and, in doing so, comes into himself more fully and becomes a man.
We're coming to the end of our walk. Bummer, right? It's definitely a major bummer for Attean and his folks. Why? Because though Attean says there is "much forest where sun go down. White man not come so far" (22.23) about his family's move west, Matt knows better. The wilderness everywhere is changing.