Marrow Thieves Essay

Indigenous Identity Fueling Strength in “The Marrow Thieves” Identity encompasses the memories, experiences, and values that create one's purpose. For the Indigenous, self-identity is ingrained in their belief systems, where the importance of community and belonging prospers. In The Marrow Thieves, written by Cherie Dimaline, identity serves not just as a sense of strength for the characters but as fuel to help them overcome the hardships they face in their society. In the future, a plague has developed that prohibits everyone (other than people with Indigenous ancestry) from being able to dream. The story takes place in a dystopian world where the recruiters have rebuilt residential schools to capture Indigenous peoples and extract their bone marrow, the only cure for dreamlessness. The characters overcome their dehumanization by using their Indigenous identity as a basis of

This is demonstrated when the protagonist reflects on his traditional braids. Frenchie is a sixteen-year-old Métis boy who often feels cut off from his culture. He is agitated when other people his age know his language, which he cannot speak fluently. However, his braids give him ties to his cultural identity, encouraging his beliefs. For instance, he thinks, “I did have the longest hair of any of the boys. I braided it myself each morning, to keep it out of the way and to remind myself of things I couldn’t quite remember but that, nevertheless, I knew to be true” (Dimaline 25). This quote indicates that Frenchie has maintained his long hair since his new group embraced him, following the recruiter's capture of his own family. It is a source of psychological strength, as the practice of doing his hair daily gives him normality. This was his way of connecting to his cultural heritage and finding strength in his family's absence. Moreover, Frenchie and his group regard hair as a symbol of