In the painting, twelve of Wolfe's comrades are gathered around the fallen general; an Aboriginal warrior kneels in the foreground - "a sceptical observer in this melodramatically rendered moment of history." The Aboriginal warrior is the only figure rendered in colour. The viewer therefore focuses on his role in the narrative as a witness during this significant historical moment. We are prompted to question the whole concept of colonial expansion in the Americas and its repercussions for the Aboriginal people. This idea is further emphasized by the two panels that frame the central scene: the blue symbolizing the French, and the red symbolizing the English. It is as though the warrior is caught and suspended between the two tensions. As well, the two panels refer to other modernist abstract paintings, like Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire, and thus bring us forward into the present. Houle's title is also an ironic remark on the origins of our country's name - which is derived from the Aboriginal word "kanata", meaning "village."