Character Relationship Map: Clearcut

Characters

• Peter Maguire (played by Ron Lea) — protagonist

  Peter Maguire is a white lawyer representing the Indigenous band whose land is threatened by clearcutting. After losing the court case, he arrives to announce the result and promises an appeal, then i...

• Arthur (played by Graham Greene) — protagonist

  Arthur is a militant Indigenous activist who recruits Peter Maguire to abduct the logging company's plant manager. He becomes increasingly violent, kills two pursuing Mounties, forces Peter and Bud th...

• Wilf Redwing (played by Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman) — supporting

  Wilf Redwing is an elder member of the Nation and Peter Maguire's personal contact. He calmly rejects the court's defeat, describes the struggle as a long battle, invites Peter to a purification cerem...

• Polly (played by Tia Smith) — supporting

  Polly is a young girl from the reserve who guides Peter Maguire to the scene where police are brutalizing protesters as the forest is destroyed. She reappears at the end wearing Arthur's distinctive p...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Arthur → Polly (Narrative Symbolic Successor) — The pendant creates an unresolved symbolic link between Arthur's disappearance and Polly's final image.

  After Arthur disappears beneath the water, Polly is seen wearing his distinctive star-shaped pendant.

• Polly → Peter Maguire (Alliance Guide) — Polly provides Peter with his first direct view of the violent land conflict.

  Polly guides Peter to the scene where police are brutalizing protesters and trees are being torn down.

• Wilf Redwing → Arthur (Unknown Spiritual Interpreter) — Wilf frames Arthur as a possible trickster spirit rather than merely a militant activist.

  Wilf warns and insinuates that Arthur may actually be Wisakedjak, whom he also calls the Deceiver.

• Peter Maguire → Arthur (Alliance Reluctant Ally) — Peter temporarily joins Arthur's radical intervention despite serious reservations.

  Arthur recruits Peter for the kidnapping, and Peter travels with Arthur, Wilf, and the plant manager into the wilderness.

• Peter Maguire → Wilf Redwing (Social Personal Contact) — Wilf is Peter's principal personal connection to the reserve community.

  Wilf Redwing is described as Peter Maguire's personal contact among the Nation. Wilf later invites Peter to a sweat lodge ceremony.

Story Analysis

A defeated lawyer is drawn from legal resistance into a violent and possibly supernatural confrontation over Indigenous land and colonial power.

Plot Progression

1. A Lost Case In The Forest — Peter arrives at the reserve to announce the failed court case. Polly leads him to a violent protest, while Wilf insists that the struggle is far from over.
2. Purification And Visions — Wilf brings Peter to a sweat lodge in search of clarity. The ceremony produces disturbing visions and leads Peter to Arthur, whose militant outlook attracts and unsettles him.
3. The Wilderness Abduction — Arthur recruits Peter into the kidnapping of the logging plant manager. As the group moves deeper into the forest, Arthur attacks Peter's legal compromises and becomes increasingly violent.
4. The Deceiver's Mountain — Wilf suggests that Arthur may be the trickster spirit Wisakedjak. After another sweat ceremony, Arthur leads the captives toward a mountain confrontation and blocks Peter's escape.
5. Water And Uncertainty — Peter wounds Arthur and discovers that the gun is empty. Arthur sinks into the water, while the surviving men are detained and Polly appears wearing Arthur's pendant.