Analysis And Review Of The Marrow Thieves By Cherie Dimaline

Overview

In Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow thieves, there is a sense of comfort the pages presents to the reader’s from the first chapter to the last. In this way, she leaves the readers wanting more. This book is set geographically in Canada. In this book, characters like Francis commonly referred to as Frenchie and his “Family” all go through a journey of hope, love, survival, redemption, trials, and agony. The “Family” consists of seven individuals-two elders and five kids. They all come from different culture, community and all have intriguing background stories but one thing they all had in common was fear of the “Recruiters” who collected the bone marrow of Indigenous people. These “Recruiters” are employed by non-indigenous people who lost the potential to dream but believes that ingesting the marrow of the indigenous people will reinstate their ability to dream again. Hence, the title of the book The Marrow Thieves.

Themes

In The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline connects the past and present and serves it in this text, which gives readers a brief clarification of the experiences the indigenous people went through during the era of colonization where they go through the process of assimilation, survival, and hope.

Firstly, assimilation to my understanding is the process by which the minority group or culture adapts the values, culture, and ways of the majority because of the superiority, religion and nationality of the majority group. This is evident in the text when Francis says “They were building another school”. These schools are the places the indigenous people are forcefully taken to, here their marrows are extracted and those who do not survive this procedure are left to die. The school stated in the text could illuminate as the residential schools which started in the early 1870s and closed in the 1990s. From recorded history, there was said to be over 150 residential schools. The sole purpose of these schools was to reap the culture and norms of the indigenous people away from their children which is similar to the way the indigenous peoples were kidnapped to extract their marrow. The settlers did this in the belief that the children would grow up forgetting their culture thereby wiping out the “Barbaric” ways of the indigenous peoples. This was the beginning of the long assault on the indigenous people which went on for over 100 years.

Secondly, survival according to the Cambridge dictionary is the state of continuing to live or to exist especially after a dangerous event. Francis and his “Family” ran from the recruiters in order to stay alive. They faced difficulties along the way but this did not stop their zeal for survival. They developed survival skills through the help of Miig who led the “Family” to the North. Another form of survival which the group adapted was story telling-this process makes them more interested in surviving and in a way keeps them alive. This survival skill also helps their culture and values survive the harsh condition the non-indigenous peoples presented them with. This is evident when Francis says “He said it was the only way to make the kinds of changes that were necessary to really survive”. During the long assault, the culture and spiritual beliefs were banned by the non-indigenous peoples. With faith and prayers to the spirits, during the fifth phase of contact and European settlement also known as the democratic phase, laws were annulled against ceremonies like potlatches and sun dances. In other words not only did the indigenous peoples survive the long assault, but the culture also survived despite the threat of extinction.

Lastly, Desmond Tutu a South African cleric and theologian in his wisdom says “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of its darkness”. Hope is an important part of the lives of the indigenous people throughout the long assault which carried on till The Great Healing. Hope in this book is a major force that drives the characters to move on after a bad circumstance. For instance, Francis hopes he would see his family again, Miig hopes to see his husband and the “family” hopes to see Minerva after she is taken by the “Recruiters”. She also depicts hope as a new life, as readers we see that after the loss of Riri and Minerva, Wabs and Chi-boy were expecting a child. This just shows that something good or healing can come out from a painful experience. Healing according to the Cambridge Dictionary is the process of becoming well again. The Great healing can be said to be a product of hope which came after the long assault, during this process the indigenous peoples experienced a sense of freedom not as much as they felt before the settlers but little enough to be able to start over and recover from the perils they faced.

Commentary

This book is an eye-opener to non-indigenous people who do not understand what indigenous peoples, especially the teenagers and children went through and how it affects them through generations till the present day. Personally, as a reader the book makes me go through different emotions-laughter, pain, fear, and hope. The book changes my view of the indigenous peoples and influences me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. All four interpretations of how the book influences me can be seen on the medicine wheel. The medicine wheel, sometimes known as the sacred hoop is used by many Native Americans tribes through generations for healing and health (Native Voices). It is important to know that various tribes interpret this wheel differently according to their beliefs and spirituality. The medicine wheel has four directions; East, South, West and North. These directions are presented respectively by the colors Black, Red, Yellow and White.

From the book, readers notice how Minerva teaches the girls how to speak their language and teaches them things not thought in classrooms. This is evident when Rose says “Minerva has the language…with her so we learn”. This process influences me mentally because it makes me aware of how educated I would like to be about my culture. As a reader who comes from Benin City and does not know a word in my language, the interaction between Minerva and the children prompts me to want to learn my language because now I think it would be beautiful to be able to pass it to kids later in life. I would say physically the book teaches me the importance of physical strength to be able to survive and how important it is to have a nutritious meal and good rest no matter the circumstance you find yourself in. I notice how important it is to Miig that his “Family” rests when he says “We need to get some rest now.” As a student, I usually go to bed late and forget to eat so I could catch up with school work and class but the book has made me understand that food and rest are both important to be able to effective in my daily activities. In the aspect of spirituality, I could relate to Miig in the book and how “He’d lit a smudge and a candle” to commence a spiritual journey In hopes of redemption. Though his ways of prayers are different from mine it makes me believe more that prayers can actually be answered if we are persistent in faith. As a Christian, I can relate to the level of spiritually in this book. Emotionally, the book creates a way I could express my feelings I had felt from the study of the indigenous history. At some point, the book made me tear up especially during their difficult journey through the forest. The losses of Riri and Minerva helps me recall the loss of few of my family members and this book provides a platform I could relate too.

Rating

I would say this book deserves a rating of 5.Rationale: I gave this book a rating of 5 because of how simple it is to comprehend. Also, how the book summarizes the experiences of the indigenous people in just a few chapters is spectacular. It is an easy read and it is really captivating. The book grasps the attention of the reader from the first page to the last and leaves the readers yearning for more. The book makes me ask questions like- How did Isaac survive the procedure of the marrow extraction? Did the “Family” ever make it to the North? All these questions and how the Cherie Dimaline makes the readers open-mouthed at the end of the book adds to the numerous reasons this book should be chosen for the Top book in Turtle Islands Read.