Dreams represent the possibility of hope in the novel. In an interview with CBC, author Cherie Dimaline explained: "Dreams, to me, represent our hope. It's how we survive and it's how we carry on after every state of emergency, after each suicide. Hope is the backbone of our survival, and it's the core of our strength. Our grandparents survived residential schools and still brought through the stories, still carried our language, still made sure that we had ceremony and it was because we had that hope that there was going to be survival and revival. So I think dreams are the epitome of the hope that we carry."