The marrow thieves chapter 1

Miigwans—Miig for short—is an older man who doesn’t speak much and uses many metaphors. He travels with Minerva, an old woman who is also very quiet, and a group of youth not related by blood: Chi-Boy, Frenchie, Tree, Zheegwon, Slopper, Wab, and Riri.

Each week Miig gathers the older youth together around a fire for Story. He shares information about their past and present in an effort to preserve memory and educate them for survival. In the first part of the Story, Miig explains how the Anishnaabe people, who inhabited the lands later called Canada, were warriors who defended their territory from the newcomers. However, they lost a lot due to disease. Once the Anishnaabe were weakened, the colonizers opened the first schools, where native youth lost their language and their innocence. But the schools were eventually shut down and Native peoples managed to rebuild their communities and cultures.