Keeper N Me Richard Wagamese Analysis

“You know, I hearda this guy runnin’ around tryin’ to tell folks he be Hawaiian. A man can’t be his own person if the man don’t know himself. Right, Mama?” (pg. 31) “Keeper’n Me” by Richard Wagamese is a story about finding one’s identity, the balance required in life, the importance of finding your own history and reconnecting with lost friends and family. Garnet Raven did not have an easy life growing up, being moved from foster home to foster home for most of his childhood and being separated from his siblings. After leaving the foster care system at the age of sixteen Garnet struggled to find his own Identity. Most of the foster homes Garnet stayed in didn’t tell him about where he was from or what his history was; he was always just

Wagameses novel is similar to other novels that are written on the same topic. However, “Keeper’n Me” has a happier ending then most stories that start with a child being ripped from their home and put into the foster car system against their parents wishes. Garnet was lucky enough to be able to find his way back home and be welcomed back with open arms. The major theme of this novel is the significance of finding the place where you belong and what you first have to go through before you find that place. Furthermore, Wagamese touches on how important culture and tradition are and that you can not learn all the little intricate parts of the culture all on your own. With the right guide and the right teachings Garnet slowly felt himself reconnecting with his Ojibway relatives and history. “Feeling safe beside the remains of this cabin that was full of my history. Feeling safe beside this fire that burned like Ojibway fires had been burning for thousands of years. Feeling safe because of that growing sense inside me that I was really part of it all.” (pg. 249) While out in the woods alone, Garnet was able to connect with his past and discover what it really meant to him to be

Growing up in all-white homes, going to all-white schools, playing with all-white kids can get a guy to thinking and reacting all-white himself after a while… I was a brown white guy.” (pg. 17) Garnet had no real sense of identity until he met and started working with Keeper. Before moving to White Dog Garnet would be anything but an Indian. He tried to convince people he was Hawaiian or Chinese due to the negative connotations surrounding First Nations. Keeper was the one to show Garnet what it really means to be Ojibway and showed him how to accept his true identity. The Ojibway outlook on life is that everything is connected, “no one ever got lost bein’ part of somethin’.” (pg. 161) Being part of something creates invisible bonds between you and other members of your community or even nature since everything is connected in Ojibway culture. Standing in the snow watching the day break Wagamese teaches the reader about S’Beedahbun, life, and how all life is connected. “Them trees a part of you, rocks a part of you, water a part of you, animals a part of you, everything.” (pg. 161) These bonds that hold everyone together is not understood by the government like the rest of Ojibway culture. The government did not think Alice Raven was able to look after her children, this is why her four children were taken from her and placed in foster homes. Like most Indigenous kids that where placed in foster care or