The Marrow Thieves

In the Marrow Thieves, there are plenty of ways they show connections between people and land, relationships and family; such as when Minerva becomes like a mother figure of the family. I believe that all characters have their traits that relate them to land, relationships and family, though I believe that Minerva represents all of them very well. As you read throughout the book, you’ll notice that every slowly starts to open up to each other, and you can see the Minerva to each and every one of them is trying to ease them up to each other, like a mother trying to push her children to meet new kids to befriend them. Minerva as an elder of the family also has the duty to teach her children about their land, culture and language, which is a perfect way to show she is connected to all land, relationship and family. One of the strongest points of the story that really showcases Minerva’s connection to the family is when she is there for Wab when she is telling her story and why she was the way she was; being as a supportive, comforting motherly figure. Minerva provides such guidance within the family, that when she was taken in the later chapters after a few pages they lost RiRi, the whole group almost felt lost, and stuck, no guidance to lead them in the right direction, in the darkest times; as a mother should be there for. Not only does Minerva provide guidance and wisdom in the family, Minerva also provides belonging and responsibility. Let’s go back to when she was comforting Wab, sure some people might perceive as a comforting motherly figure, but it’s also about the belonging she made Wab feel and the responsibilities of keeping a child’s innocence such as RiRi, making sure she wasn’t able to hear about. There are a bunch of ways that Minerva is able to provide relation, family and land. In conclusion, a motherly figure isn’t just going to be there for you to provide guidance and comfort, but it’s also about sacrifice, time, and responsibility. 

In these chapters I was extremely shocked and felt a weird mix of emotions. A little recap is that Frenchie was able to find his dad but not in the way you would’ve imagined it to be like. They were taken and thought the people taking them were recruiters with how they were talking to them but they were instead a part of what they called “the council”. There became a little misunderstanding between both Rose and Frenchie unfortunately because of a rivalry between a boy named Derek and Frenchie. We also witness the ways Minerva was caught and what was done to her as a whole. Which actually leads me into my topic of cyclical histories. As you read on into the book, you witness that Minerva was taken but the recruiters were extremely taken aback and actually disturbed as well as creeped out due to the fact that Minerva was just calmly humming. Minerva was then taken to a chair I believe and they had cut off all of her hair. How does it connect to cyclical histories? It’s because that is exactly what they did to you in Residential schools, strip you from your hair, your culture and your language, and it’s sad to see that out of anyone it’s an elder, in which could’ve been a residential school survivor having to relive that moment in time that they were captured. I don’t remember what happened next, but I remember them trying to take the dreams from her, but then was flabbergasted on how she both sang as loud and proud as she would, yelling at the top of her lungs, she had all her dreams in Cree and it was, like a moment in a movie that felt like that really shocking moment in a good way.