Bookstagram: a unique and original perspective on The Marrow Thieves (Cherie Dimaline)

Created by Isobel and Micaela, Eng. 12 Honors, Fall 2019

Set in an overgrown world represented by the plants placed throughout this image, The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline follows the story of a young indigenous boy, Frenchie, running from a racist government.

The lock of hair refers to the cultural importance which the main character places on his braid, as well as to the grief experienced by the novel’s characters, and by all people living under a violently oppressive system. This grief is also represented by the child’s boot, which more specifically comments on the loss and targeting of children in the residential school system — the system on which the novel’s governmental institutions are based.

In these institutions, the government extracts indigenous people’s dreams through their bone marrow and stores them in glass vials, like the one in the photo. In contrast to this violence, the drumstick is a symbol of cultural resilience, as well as representing a point in the novel where Frenchie’s traveling family meets another group that has been able to continue their cultural practices, including drumming, in secret.