Preserving Cultural Heritage in Indigenous Pandemic Fiction: “Coming-to” Stories of Resistance in Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves

This study intends to investigate Indigenous pandemic fiction through an analysis of The Marrow Thieves by Métis writer Cherie Dimaline. By depicting the journey of the Métis protagonist Frenchie, the novel explores Indigenous identity in a dystopian scenario where non-Indigenous people have succumbed to a plague affecting the ability to dream. Taking into consideration Jan Assmann’s concept of cultural memory and N. Scott Momaday’s depiction of the power of language, the paper would focus on the role of storytelling and linguistic heritage in the process of ‘survivance’ of Indigenous identity. The novel outlines dreams as spaces of resistance bound to the protection of cultural identity, by also revisiting the history of forced assimilation through the Residential School System. Frenchie’s journey presents the act of dreaming as the ultimate symbol of hope in a posthuman scenario where humankind has lost control over the Earth.