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Sana Mohsin

Professor Tania Aguila-Way

ENG357

22th April 2020

Ancestry and Family

Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves is about survival, the changing landscape, and

colonial legacies, but at the heart of it is a book about human relationships. Between family

members, members of a small pack, and the wider Indigenous community consisting of both the

younger generation and ancestors. One way to maintain these relationships as shown in the novel

is through the oral storytelling tradition of Indigenous culture. In The Marrow Thieves,

storytelling functions as a way to preserve Indigenous culture in a world where they are

constantly being hunted, as a way to make sure that Indigenous teachings live on through the

memory of the younger generation. Thus, this essay will highlight the importance of oral

storytelling as a mechanism for maintaining bonds not only between members of the pack, but

also between the younger generation and their ancestors. Further, this essay will also look at how

the book showcases found families, i.e. families built on personal connections rather than just

blood relations.

Drawing upon Dimaline’s own Metis heritage, oral storytelling holds vital importance in

the culture, much like the other Indigenous cultures, in terms of passing along history, myths,

and family relations. Indigenous teachings are relayed through story, through the oral tradition as

scholars Renée Hulan and Renate Eigenbrod relay that it is “the means by which knowledge is

reproduced, preserved and conveyed from generation to generation” (Indigenousfoundations).

The very act of gathering the tribe members, sitting down and making sure that the listeners

understand is a way of passing down information. In this way, communal teachings are preserved

through the act of remembering, as suppose if one passes down a story to their son, that son will

relate the story to his children, and so on as Hulan and Eigenbrod write “Oral traditions form the

foundation of Aboriginal societies, connecting speaker and listener in communal experience and

uniting past and present in memory” (Indigenousfoundations). Culture is thus preserved through

the Indigenous peoples themselves, as they live out the stories.

In The Marrow Thieves, Story is a highlight in the characters’ constantly changing life,

narrated by Miigwans to the teenagers of his group. Cast-off from their families and

communities because of the Recruiters, they are impressionable and eager to learn of their

powerful history because of the bleakness of their present. As Frenchie narrates, “But every

week we spoke, because it was imperative that we know. He said it was the only way to make

the kinds of changes that were necessary to really survive” (Dimaline, 25). By hearing and

learning about the past, Frenchie and his friends can make sure that their future is not the same,

and they can preserve their culture and make sure their people survive. This is why it is

imperative that they all engage in Story, know where their people came from, what they

achieved, and the odds stacked against them because it is only through the younger generation

striving for a better tomorrow that they can change their current situation.

For these runaways, it is important to hold onto the past because it is concrete, in contrast

to their inconstant present. Miig told them of their warrior ancestors, instilling in them a pride for

their heritage, but also making sure that they then know how to live on as, “Over the generations,

the Oral Tradition has been vitally important in ensuring the survival of families. For instance,

narratives in the Oral Tradition taught where food was located, how to harvest it, and how to
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prepare and eat it” (Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada). Through Story the teenagers of their

group can learn of their shared history, how rich and vibrant their cultures had once been, which

in turn strengthens the bonds that they build with each other. Through Story, they can hunt and

forage alongside each other. Further, the fact that Story informs them of their ancestors is also

important in The Marrow Thieves because they made sure that their descendants still had the

ability to dream, “We go to the schools and they leach the dreams from where our ancestors hid

them, in the honey combs of slushy marrow buried in our bones. And us? Well, we join our

ancestors, hoping we left enough dreams behind for the next generation to stumble across”

(Dimaline, 90). The ancestors made sure that their descendants still possessed this gift, so it is up

to them to pass on their stories and teachings to the next generation.

That said, the group members also realize that their ancestry is not all that they can rely

on: “I came from a long line of hunters, trappers, and voyageurs. But now, with most of the

rivers cut into pieces and lakes left as grey sludge puckers on the landscape, my own history

seemed like a myth along the lines of dragons” (Dimaline, 21). The multiple Indigenous family

structures have degraded to the extent that Frenchie believes his own history, his own ancestors

seem like far away myths.

This quote also brings another interesting nuance into Indigenous identity and family

structures, namely the extent to which their practices are tied to the physical landscape. The

Stories themselves act as guidelines for how the people should treat the land, as they “teach

important lessons about a given society’s culture, the land, and the ways in which members are

expected to interact with each other and their environment. The passing on of these stories from

generation to generation keeps the social order intact” (Indigenousfoundations). The landscape
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acts as the manifestation of the people’s lived experiences, i.e. a place for them to see and test

out the teachings conveyed in Story:

On encountering these landmarks, individuals may recall the stories and their embedded

lessons and may gain insight into them over time. Oral traditions create a space for

interacting with the environment, and for many First Nations people, the landscape that

holds these stories becomes an aid to learning their histories and a guide in decision

making and problem solving (Indigenousfoundations).

Indigenous identity relies largely on their relationship with the physical land, and if it becomes

barren then Indigenous identity itself, conveyed and formed through storytelling, is threatened.

The format of the book further accommodates the oral storytelling tradition. It is

interesting to note that whenever their oral storytelling practice is mentioned in the novel, it is

referred to as “Story,” that is with a capital S. Whenever Story is mentioned it stands out in the

text, making a point and drawing the readers’ attention to the word and further the act itself. This

shows the importance that this event holds for Frenchie, the narrator, as well as his group mates,

so much so that it deserves capitalization. Further, whenever it is time for Story a new chapter

begins; each story gets its own chapter, showing the significance that the stories possess as

separate entities.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the oral story-telling tradition is the bonds that form

and strengthen between the participants. This type of belief is guided by the Cree principle of

Wahkohtowin, which literally means ‘friendship.’ As Andrea Smith explains, “Wahkohtowin

speaks to the interconnectedness of all things, and our responsibilities to those we share the

world with and the future” (The Tyee), that is it frames the relationships between people as well

as a person’s relationship with the land as an active verb (Aguila-Way). Kinship is not something
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passive or something that one already has, but rather it can be built and strengthened. Similar to

kinship, blood memory, or the skills and information passed on because of genetics, also

involves active participation rather than passive acceptance. As Frenchie remarks near the

beginning of the book before he is taken on by the group, “Mom had said her uncles and grandpa

were great hunters, that it was a family trait. Maybe it would just come to me, like a blood

memory or something” (Dimaline, 10). Although hunting is in his ancestry, it is not until he is

found by Miigwans and his crew that he fully comes to his potential, under the guidance and

training of Miig and Story.

Beyond blood relations, Dimaline also highlights found families, or people one chooses

based on some personal connections, which are made stronger by ceremonies like Story. In The

Marrow Thieves, this connection is the group’s shared heritage as they are hunted by the

recruiters, also sharing the same need to survive. Frenchie is found by the group just when he has

lost his brother, basically hitting rock bottom. They take him in and effectively make him the

young man he is in the present day of the book; brave, knowledgeable, and skilled in survival

tactics. Although he has lost his family, Frenchie comes to accept this group of misfits as his

own family, and this feeling is reciprocated as when they come across the strangers from Wab’s

past, Miig introduces the youngsters as his sons and daughters (121).

The notion of found families culminates when Frenchie reunites with his father is

Espanola:

“You staying out here?” Tree seemed surprised, but also a bit relieved.

“Yeah, I’m still a part of this family, aren’t I?”

“Yeah,” Zheegwon answered. “It’s just that you have a real family now.”

“Real? What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not real?” (Dimaline, 177).
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For these cast-offs who have lost their family members, who may just believe that they have

missed out on something by not having a blood-related family, finding a family member is more

than a dream come true. The twins draw upon this notion, questioning why Frenchie would come

to sleep with the group’s tents rather than with his ‘real’ father. Frenchie counters this; how

could their family not be any less real with the things that they have gone through? The close-

calls, the betrayals, the deaths of some of their very own? Their experiences mean that they are

as much of a family as any blood related one, which ties into the idea of kinship being an

ongoing act, rather than simply being static.

Moving past the tradition, Western notions of families and society, Dimaline is able to

present an alternative, Indigenous perspective. The Marrow Thieves puts forward the message of

community, and the resilience of the Indigenous people to stand against oppressive, colonizing

forces. The group is stronger together, each member performing their individual tasks as hunters

and homesteaders; surely Frenchie could not have survived alone, with nothing to guide him, if

Miig had not come along and taken him in. This particular group of misfits is a community

within itself, as Frenchie muses after they lose Minerva and RiRi, “Everything was different. We

were faster without our youngest and oldest, but now we were without deep roots, without the

acute need to protect and make better (Dimaline, 154). Each person has a place that is essential

to fill, which is how a family and further a community is supposed to run. Upon reaching

Espanola, the group gets the opportunity to share in their cultural festivities, their ceremonies

with other members of the Indigenous community, living out their identity freely with others like

them.

While Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves contains themes essential to any run-of-the-mill

dystopian novel, at the heart of it the book itself acts as a way to preserve Indigenous culture, just
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as the oral storytelling tradition does. By including details of how the small pack runs, how Story

is brought about, how certain ceremonies are held, Dimaline is able to convey the intricacies of

Indigenous culture for a new generation of readers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. She

captures the essence of community, how people are stronger together (blood-related or not) and

puts forward a message of hope for the future of the Indigenous peoples.
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Works Cited

Aguila-Way, Tania. ENG357. 17th March 2020, University of Toronto, Toronto. Class lecture

Dimaline, Cherie. The Marrow Thieves. Cormorant Books Inc, 2017.

“Oral Tradition.” Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada,

indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/oral-tradition/.

“Oral Traditions.” Indigenousfoundations, indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/oral_traditions/.

Smith, Andrea. “Wahkohtowin: A Cree Way of Living.” The Tyee, The Tyee, 25 Feb. 2019,

thetyee.ca/News/2019/02/25/Cree-Way-of-Living/.