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The Marrow Thieves is a 2017 young adult novel written by Canadian Métis author Cherie Dimaline. It was published on May 10, 2017 by Canadian book publishing company Cormorant Books through the imprint, Dancing Cat Books. The novel follows the character of Frenchie, a sixteen year old Métis boy, as he attempts to navigate a dystopian future world that has been ravaged by climate change and the ability to dream has almost been entirely lost. Frenchie must survive as indigenous peoples are being hunted for their bone marrow which stores their ability to dream.

Frenchie's Family

 * Frenchie – AKA Francis or French, a sixteen-year-old Métis boy and the protagonist of the novel
 * Mitch – Frenchie's older brother who he is separated from at the beginning of the novel
 * Jean – AKA Dad, Frenchie and Mitch's father who is captured by recruiters after attending a Council meeting
 * Mary – AKA Mom or Ma, Frenchie and Mitch's mother who descends into a depression after their father is captured and is soon also captured by recruiters

Miig's group

 * Miig – AKA Miigwans, a middle-aged Anishinaabe man who is the leader of a varied group of indigenous individuals, he teaches the group how to hunt and educates them on indigenous history through what is referred to as "story"
 * Minerva – an elderly indigenous female member of Miig's group, she teaches the group "language" which is an unspecified indigenous language
 * Chi-Boy – a seventeen-year-old indigenous male member of Miig's group who is Wab's love interest by the end of the novel, he is described as being very tall and quiet
 * Wab – an eighteen-year-old indigenous female member of Miig's group who is Chi-Boy's love interest by the end of the novel, she is described as having a keloid mark that runs down the centre of her face
 * Tree and Zeegwan – two twelve-year-old indigenous twin brothers who are members of Miig's group, they are described as being very tall and very quiet, usually only communicating with one another
 * RiRi – a seven-year-old Métis female member of Miig's group
 * Slopper – a nine-year-old indigenous male and a member of Miig's group, he is described as being overweight
 * Rose – a half-black, half-indigenous sixteen-year-old female who joins Miig's group later on in the novel, she is also Frenchie's love interest
 * Isaac – a half-white, half-Anishinaabe man who is a poet and Miig's husband who he has been separated from by recruiters, the two are later reunited

The Council

 * Clarence – a Cree man and a member of the reformed Council, he is also Derrick's uncle
 * Mint – an Anishinaabe man and council member, he is described as small and bald
 * Bullet – an older Inuit woman and a council member, she is blind in one eye
 * Jo-Jo – a Salish man who has only recently joined the reformed Council
 * General – an older Haudenosaunee and Migmaw man and a member of the council
 * Rebecca – a Ho-Chunk woman and a member of the reformed Council

Others

 * Recruiters – a group of government individuals who are attempting to track down and capture indigenous peoples in order to take them to schools and harvest their bone marrow
 * Travis – an Anishinaabe man who works for the recruiters
 * Lincoln – an indigenous man from the Hobemma Nation who works with Travis and the recruiters
 * William and Jonas – the brothers of Rose's grandmother who raised Rose following the death of her grandmother, the pairs passing is what spurs Rose to travel north which causes her joining Miig's group
 * Derrick – a young indigenous teenage boy and Clarence's nephew, he develops a romantic interest in Rose which leads to conflict between him and Frenchie
 * Helene and Talia – two Guyanese nurses who rescue individuals from the schools

Identity
The novel is heavily influenced by the identity of the characters and the author. The importance of identity is a large theme throughout the novel. On the importance of the characters' indigenous identities, Dimaline has stated that she hoped the novel would be able to resonate with young indigenous readers, as they would be able to see themselves in the story.

One way that identity is largely represented throughout the novel is through hair. Multiple characters have traditional indigenous hairstyles, such as Frenchie's braid, or Miig's mohawk. These hairstyles are physical representations of their culture and utilized as a symbol of cultural pride. Identity and pride in one's own identity is important in the novel, and the well-maintained nature of these characters traditional hairstyles showcases that pride.

Oppression
The novel frequently deals with the past and current oppression of indigenous peoples. One large way the novel deals with this is through the novel's own version of residential schools. These are the schools that the recruiters gather the indigenous characters to in order to harvest their bone marrow. They are meant to be the novel's own version of the residential schools of the past.

Dreaming
Dreaming is an important aspect of the novel, as the loss of non-indigenous people's ability to dream is the whole reason indigenous peoples are being hunted in the first place. But dreaming is also a symbol for hope. On the symbolism of dreams, Dimaline said in a CBC Radio interview, “The dreams, of course, symbolize hope, the hope that we've always had as Indigenous people. I wanted the youth to see that hope and survival in a future context."

Development
The prevalence of suicide amidst indigenous youth is what first drove Dimaline to first begin writing her story. She wished to make an impact on this and show indigenous youth through her story that they had the ability to survive and thrive. “I was so excited by the idea of showing these kids…themselves, in a future and not just surviving but being the absolute answer, being the heroes,” Dimilane said to CBC Radio. Motivated by this, the story of The Marrow Thieves began.The novel was a short story at first, but the idea was soon expanded upon and the world of the novel was created.

Dimaline also wanted to confront the reality of past and present oppression of indigenous peoples. She describes her futuristic, fictional representation of indigenous oppression as a way to “cushion” the facts of the past and ensure that readers could begin to learn about the history of indigenous peoples in a way that is less jarring.

Dimaline came up with the title of the novel after two different experiences. The first was a conversation Dimaline was having with a group of fellow 20-something-year-old indigenous individuals about their anger towards colonial oppressors and their oppression of indigenous peoples. An Inuit elder joined the conversation and encouraged them to have compassion for these colonial individuals. Dimaline quotes him as saying, “‘when you don't have your elders anymore, you become children. So, what we're dealing with is a society of children. When children are left to their own devices and they have to survive, they can be quite brutal. So, they came over here trying to survive as a society of kids.’”

The other experience that influenced her title was a conversation with fellow indigenous female writers on the difficulties of pregnancy. Dimaline quotes one of these women as saying to her, “‘a fetus will do anything inside of you to live. They'll literally leech the vitamins out of your bones. They're really just the most beautiful marrow thieves.'” Based on these two conversations, Dimaline then titled the novel The Marrow Thieves, connecting the Inuit elder’s comparison of colonial oppressors to children and the description of growing babies as being “marrow thieves”.