Learning From 'The Marrow Thieves' by Cherie Dimaline

On Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

What Today is About

Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, taking place annually on September 30th since 2013 (though prior to 2021 it was called Orange Shirt Day), is dedicated to memorializing the devastating impact of the Canadian Indian residential school system on Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island.

The horrors of these residential schools cannot be overstated. The Canadian Government and many Christian Churches set out with the explicit goal of destroying Indigenous cultures by forcefully assimilating younger generations of Indigenous Peoples into Euro-Canadian 'civilization'. Over 150,000 children were placed into residential schools between 1831-1997, at least 6,000 of whom died as a direct result of malnutrition, disease and experimentation. Of course, the number of people indirectly harmed includes not just every child but also their entire families and communities.

I've brought up residential schools before, in the context of Seth Dickinson's The Traitor Baru Cormorant. While Dickinson is not Indigenous and their story is entirely fictional, Baru's experience of being ripped from her family and placed in a colonial school mirrors reality in a profound way that has helped me wrap my head around the historical fact.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is also a reminder of the 94 calls to action detailed in the 2015 report published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, only a fraction of which have been implemented by the Canadian Government over the past decade. Compiled based on heartfelt testimony and rigorous research, these calls to action show the path toward healing and, quite simply, need to be followed through on.

(Minor spoilers for The Marrow Thieves ahead.)

The Marrow Thieves, cover design by Angel Guerra

The Marrow Thieves

Cherie Dimaline's award-winning 2017 novel depicts a small group of Indigenous people struggling to survive against another attempt at genocide and cultural erasure. Climate change has wreaked havoc on this near future world, and along the way settler peoples have lost the ability to dream (in a way that seems to diminish their souls and ability to connect with other people and the world around them). Their solution has been to (lethally) harvest the bone marrow of Indigenous Peoples and use it to alleviate this condition. In a direct and brutal nod to history, Dimaline even calls these murderous institutions 'schools'.

If you know me at all, you know I have very little patience or interest for modern books labelled 'young adult'. The Marrow Thieves is an incredibly refreshing exception on that front, with only a bit of its ending offering me any problems on that front. For the most part, this is a thrilling survival novel filled with lovable characters and overflowing with meaning that has only become more potent since I read it last fall.

I read this book as part of my personal book club, where we also later read The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris. One of the most gut-wrenching scenes in The Marrow Thieves involves a pair of traitorous/collaborating Indigenous men taking advantage of the protagonists' trust in order to try to turn them in for a profit. Harris' novel goes deeper into the struggle between oppressed people fighting for equality and those who conform to power in order to get ahead.

(I swear there's a subtle moment in the book which implies that the 'Recruiters' also sometimes take other people of colour who they mistake for Indigenous, but I've spent most of an hour looking and can't seem to find it. Was going to say it was strangely prescient about Indigenous Peoples being mistakenly targeted by ICE this year. But whether I imagined that detail or not, I think the comparison to current events is worth making.)

The Marrow Thieves UK Edition, cover art by Chief Lady Bird

What Is Survival?

While The Marrow Thieves is foremost about the physical, bodily survival of its protagonists and their community, it also makes a point of demonstrating why that outcome isn't enough. As with the damage inflicted by the residential school system, the people and their culture are inextricably linked.

Therefore in addition to seeking out shelter, supplies and allies, the younger protagonists also spend a significant portion of the novel learning language and stories from their Elders, Miigwans and Minerva, who are such great characters that they're almost worth the read on their own. This also adds to the group's yearning to find more survivors, since even Miigwans and Minerva only know and are able to impart a fraction of their culture.

It's ultimately revealed that keeping their culture alive is the very thing that will finally allow Indigenous Peoples to fight back against the oppressive Recruiters and the forces supporting them. While the mechanics aren't clearly spelled out, we learn that by immersing themselves and dreaming in the language of their culture – Cree in this case – they are able to (explosively?) disrupt the tools of oppression and reclaim their own power.

Frenchie from The Marrow Thieves, artbyjaafar

And Every Day

While September 30th might be dedicated to remembering these facts, it is also a call for us to take them into account as we move through every day of the year. Between stories like The Marrow Thieves and those we see on the news, it should be clear that evils like the residential school system are not simply a thing of the past.

Trans people, Palestinians, immigrants and even journalists are among those in grave danger right now. Why not act now, instead of hoping to live long enough to see another day of Truth and Reconciliation created in their memory?

Thanks for reading and until next time 🧡