A few years ago, I was introduced to the book called The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, which had just come out and was highly raved about. Someone who enjoys Sci-Fi books and someone who is always interested in reading Canadian and Indigenous works, I gave it a read. My mind was blown. Not only was this book engaging and intriguing in all aspects of a true dystopian novel, but it brilliantly touched on a more real aspect, our Canadian history and the treatment of Indigenous peoples. I loved it so much, I ordered a class set for our school and it is now one of the books we have at our school to teach with at Senior English levels. I have been teaching juniors and Digital Learning with the 9’s these past two years, so I have not been able to use it in my courses but I hope to do so next school year. Thus, I decided to look into some resources online that could support with this. I did find a few sites, but as someone who prefers to create her own activities and use the author’s views as guides, I found the CBC Books site to be helpful, primarily because of the interview with the author, Cherie Dimaline, as well as articles and videos.
Without giving too much away, this story imagines a world where people have lost the ability to dream and begin to hunt for the cure in the bone marrow of Indigenous people. Seems too dark to be possible, but we will see similarities to the dark past of our Canadian history. In addition to reading for your own engagement and knowledge, if you are a teacher, and are looking for ways to incorporate Indigenous content and Indigenous authors into your classroom, give this book and website a try!
CBC Books. (2017, July 07). The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-marrow-thieves-1.4195121
Dimaline, C. (2017). The Marrow Thieves. Cormorant Books.
