This chapter examines how the maternal and paternal elders of Cherie Dimaline’s novel The Marrow Thieves (2017)–Minerva and Miigwans–restore and heal the intergenerational trauma of their found family through re-storying Indigenous origins and connecting the younger generation to those who came before. As Thompson illuminates, Minerva and Miigwans create a family structure that brings children of diverse Indigenous ancestry together and provides a safe space to share their “coming-to” stories as another method of re-storying their origins. By using historical contexts, close reading, and literary analysis, the chapter highlights the importance of Indigenous parenthood in reclaiming lineage, language, and ancestral knowledge in the wake of the assimilation and cultural genocide of colonialism. As Thompson evidences, The Marrow Thieves is a powerful medium for reimagining Indigenous parenthood and, ultimately, it underscores the need for further research on the restorative importance of Indigenous motherhood, fatherhood, and two-spirit parenting.

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“Pulling Every Dream from Her Own Marrow”: Indigenous Parenthood and Re-Storying Origins in Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves

  • Julie Thompson

摘要

This chapter examines how the maternal and paternal elders of Cherie Dimaline’s novel The Marrow Thieves (2017)–Minerva and Miigwans–restore and heal the intergenerational trauma of their found family through re-storying Indigenous origins and connecting the younger generation to those who came before. As Thompson illuminates, Minerva and Miigwans create a family structure that brings children of diverse Indigenous ancestry together and provides a safe space to share their “coming-to” stories as another method of re-storying their origins. By using historical contexts, close reading, and literary analysis, the chapter highlights the importance of Indigenous parenthood in reclaiming lineage, language, and ancestral knowledge in the wake of the assimilation and cultural genocide of colonialism. As Thompson evidences, The Marrow Thieves is a powerful medium for reimagining Indigenous parenthood and, ultimately, it underscores the need for further research on the restorative importance of Indigenous motherhood, fatherhood, and two-spirit parenting.