1

The MARROW
THIEVES
Guide Contents:
Discussion Questions 3
How to Use the Book 4
Upcoming Events 4
Resources 7
Activities (Classroom and Beyond) 11
Chapter Summaries 16
Student and Faculty/Staff Awards 21
Faculty, Alumni, and Community 23

Using the Guide:

Within this guide are a variety of resources
to help you as you teach the common book
for the year. There are tips for discussions,
activities, events, and award opportunities.
Within the guide, if text is blue, that means
it is a hyperlink, and if you click on it you
will be directed to that website, form, or
email.

About the Book:

Humanity has nearly
destroyed its world
through global warming,
but now an even greater
evil lurks. The indigenous
people of North America
are being hunted and
harvested for their bone
marrow, which carries the key to recovering
something the rest of the population has
lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world,
Frenchie and his companions struggle to
survive as they make their way up north
to the old lands. For now, survival means
staying hidden … but what they don’t
know is that one of them holds the secret to
defeating the marrow thieves.

2
Discussion Questions:
St. Paul Public Library
1. How has climate change and severe weather impacted the landscape Frenchie navigates? How has it affected the main
characters’ daily lives? What impact has it had on the non-indigenous population?
2. How has climate change impacted you? Do you think the future Dimaline envisions is possible? Why or why not?
3. Around the world, youth have been leading the charge on climate action. In indigenous communities, Elders hold
an honored place. Describe how Frenchie’s family band is structured so that people of all ages are able to bring their
strengths to the group. How do you see others in our community engaging or not engaging with this movement?
4. Discuss the role of story-telling in the novel. How do stories help define the concept of home?
5. Reflect on two characters’ coming-to stories. What events have shaped their lives? Where do they find hope?
6. When Rose teaches Frenchie the word ‘nishin,’ good, he ‘turn[s] the word over in [his] throat like a stone; a prayer [he]
couldn’t add breath to, a world [he] wasn’t willing to release’ (page 39). What role does language play in culture? How
does the loss of language affect a culture and its people? Examine why Frenchie and the others are so hungry for bits of
‘the language’.
7. Miig states that a ‘man without dreams is just a meaty machine with a broken gauge’ (page 88). Why do you think dreams
are so important? What would it be like to live without dreams?
8. Cherie Dimaline stated, “I wanted people to come away saying, ‘I would never let that happen,’ or, more correctly, ‘I
would never let that happen again.’” Compare and contrast this novel to real historical events (e.g. residential schools).
How do these events relate to each other as well as to the book?
9. Cherie Dimaline speaks to the need for humor and joy in stories about survival. Where do you see joy and laughter in
Frenchie’s story? What role does it play?

Amnesty International Book Club

10. In The Marrow Thieves, we are told of a future where most of the Earth’s population has lost the ability to dream. At
the same time, the environment continues to drastically change, with food shortages, natural disasters, persistent rains
eroding coastlines and the appearance of mutated animals. What do you think the author is trying to say to connect these
events?
11. The presence of detainment facilities is mentioned throughout the book. Historically, residential schools have had
extremely negative consequences for Indigenous peoples. Did the author succeed in making you understand just how
devastating this was to their cultures?
12. Frenchie and the others are headed North to escape from the Recruiters. As you read the book, did you feel there was
hope for them there, or did you feel sad given it was all so futile given the circumstances? What do you imagine will
happen to the community that has formed? And how does imagining what could happen make you feel?
13. Frenchie’s group is betrayed by fellow Indigenous members, with devastating consequences. What do you think of the
author’s decision to do this?
14. Frenchie finds out his father is alive and has been living with an Indigenous group in Espanola for the past 5 years.
Although his dad has lost a leg and is clearly unable to get around, Frenchie at first is angry at the thought that his father
did not come back to get his family. What did you think of how quickly Frenchie was able to forgive his father? Would
you have been able to do the same?
15. Although he is offered a permanent place in Espanola with his father and other members of his group, the ending sees
Frenchie choosing to be on the run with his girlfriend Rose. What do you think of his decision and why do you think the
author wanted this for his character?
16. Although The Marrow Thieves is a work of speculative fiction, did you find you also learned about the real-life lives of
Indigenous peoples and the challenges they face today? What was the most important thing you learned?

Watch the Native American Student Body gives a Land Acknowledgement

17. At many meetings or large gatherings at K-State, a land grant statement is read before the event starts. Why does the
university do this? What is your take away from the statement?

3
How to use the book: Upcoming 2021 Events:
In your class K-State First and K-State First Book:
• Use this book to analyze current events and Below are events that are sponsored or promoted
create a productive discussion. by K-State First. Some events are still waiting for a
• Some students may not have read the book confirmed date/time/modality. Visit www.k-state.edu/
over the summer. Be sure to indicate on first/events for updated information.
the course schedule the date that it will be New Student Convocation
referenced in class and whether you are Your K-State Journey Starts Here - this year’s
requiring students to read part or all of the convocation we will hear from many speakers, who
book by that date. will share a voice of a community that is focused on
• Create relevant assignments to the book belonging and student success.
and your course outcomes, or use the book Sunday, August 22, 5:30 pm
to reinforce the theories, philosophies, and Bill Snyder Family Stadium
practices of your discipline.
Beach Museum Student Welcome
Panel discussion of the Beach Museum of Art Common
Outside the classroom Work of Art “From Upstream I Caught a Fish” by Neal
• Give students time to read the book. If they
Ambrose Smith. Sponsored by the Beach Museum.
do not have a copy, have them borrow a copy
Thursday, September 2, 5:30 pm CT
from K-State Libraries or one of Sigma Tau
Online - Zoom
Delta’s Lending Libraries.
• Create questions or activities inspired by the Movies on the Grass - Rutherford Falls Showing
book that will allow people to participate even Watch the first two episodes of Peacock’s new show,
if they have not read the whole book. Rutherford Falls, and join in conversation with one of
the creators/writers of the series, Sierra Teller Ornelas.
Sponsored by Movies on the Grass, K-State First/K-
When planning events
• Partner with other established groups on State First Book, and K-State Librarie’s Dow Center for
campus. They can help fund, advertise, and Multicultural and Community Studies.
bring people to the event. Sunday, September 12, 8 pm CT
Town Hall, Staley School of Leadership Studies
• Select your day and time around who you want
to attend.
Wildcat Dialogues
• Faculty/staff - 8am-5pm Monday- Join all new and first-year K-State students for a night of
Friday.
meaningful dialogue and building connections. Learn
• Students - Tuesdays/Thursdays after how to create communities of belonging, build cross-
7pm, though those are also common cultural relationships through meaningful dialogue,
exam times. engage in active listening, empathy and perspective-
• If you are planning a daytime event for taking, and build your skillset to understand cultural
students, keep in mind... differences and similarities.
This year Wildcat Dialogues will be held virtually on
• MWF classes generally start on the
the following dates and students will be able to select
half hour.
the date that best fits their schedule:
• TU, TH classes can start on the hour, • Monday, September 13, 6-8 pm CT
half hour, or five after the hour.
• Tuesday, September 14, 4-6 pm CT
• Work with instructors to schedule the event
when their class meets and ask them to bring • Wednesday, September 15, 6:30-8:30 pm CT
their class. • Thursday, September 16, 2:30-4:30 pm CT
4
Nothing About Us Without Us: The Importance of Indigenous Perspective in All Things Indigenous
Panel discussion with Dr. Debra Bolton (Ohkay Owingeh/Diné/Ute), Dr. Brandon Haddock (Tsalagi Cherokee), and
LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin (Diné). Covering historical myths of Native/Indigenous lives and culture when narrated by
non-Natives: What are the truths & the myths? When Natives reclaim our own truths and write our own narratives
the world begins to see us through different lenses. Sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Student
Affairs.
Thursday, September 16, 7 pm CT
Bluemont Room, K-State Union; Online - Zoom

Indigenous Presence, Indigenous Futures: From The Marrow Thieves to Rutherford Falls
Lecture by Dr. Lisa Tatonetti, English.
Tuesday, September 21, 4 pm CT
Hybrid - In-Person and Online (Location TBD)

K-State First Book Author Lecture with Cherie Dimaline

Author of The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline, will present along with a short Q&A. Sponsored by K-State First Book
and SGA’s Diversity Programming Committee.
Thursday, September 23, 7 pm CT
Online - Zoom

Why are there so few materials from folks of marginalized identities in institutional archives?
Presented during American Archives Month, archivists Veronica Denison, Helena Egbert, and Irina Rogova from
K-State Libraries’ Morse Department of Special Collections offer the first in a series of three talks inspired by the
themes of community and memory in The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. Sponsored by K-State Libraries’
Morse Department of Special Collections.
Tuesday, October 5, 12 pm CT
Online - Zoom

Indigenous People’s Day: Sovereignty: Food, Film, and Policy

The Indigenous Faculty & Staff Alliance celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day by hosting the KSU Indigenous Peoples
Day conference: “Part of an international movement, the conference recognizes that we stand on Indigenous land.
We celebrate Indigenous endurance and the Indigenous intellectual traditions that continue to exist on these lands.
Each year we bring three keynote speakers surrounding a theme. Past themes have included ‘Asserting Sovereignty:
Innovations and Battlegrounds’ and ‘Indigenous Female Leadership: Disrupting Dominant Discourses.’ The fall 2021
theme is ‘Sovereignty: Food, Film, and Policy.’ We invite you to join the live streamed conference offered online and
in-person. Please RSVP to our website at www.ksu.edu/indigenous-alliance.
Monday, October 11, 9 am - 4:30 pm
Breakout Session: The Marrow Thieves and Contemporary Indigenous Film with Channette Romero
Indigenous scholar, Channette Romero, from the University of Georgia, will present in the ballroom for
Indigenous Peoples Day. She will link The Marrow Thieves with contemporary Indigenous film.

How has the way archivists have historically described archival materials contributed to harm towards
marginalized communities? What is changing?
Presented during American Archives Month, archivists Veronica Denison, Helena Egbert, and Irina Rogova from
K-State Libraries’ Morse Department of Special Collections offer a series of three talks inspired by the themes
of community and memory in The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. Sponsored by K-State Libraries’ Morse
Department of Special Collections.
Tuesday, October 12, 12 pm CT
Online - Zoom 5
 A Conversation with CARE: Social Factors Contributing to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Sponsored by the CARE Office.
Monday, October 18, 6 pm CT
Hybrid, In-Person and Online (Location TBD)

How can we address the absence of marginalized folks from the archive via a collaborative, equitable, and
justice-driven method?
Presented during American Archives Month, archivists Veronica Denison, Helena Egbert, and Irina Rogova from
K-State Libraries’ Morse Department of Special Collections offer a series of three talks inspired by the themes
of community and memory in The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. Sponsored by K-State Libraries’ Morse
Department of Special Collections.
Tuesday, October 19, 12pm CT
Online - Zoom

Indigenous Peoples: Past, Present, and Future

Lecture by Debbie Reese on Native writers. Sponsored by College of Education and Department of English.
Wednesday, October 20, 4:30 pm CT
Online - Zoom

Panel discussion on The Marrow Thieves

Sponsored by K-State MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences) chapter, Kansas
Black Farmers’ Association (KBFA).
Thursday, November 11, 12-1 pm CT
Hybrid, In-Person and Online (Location TBD)

Mobile Food Pantry

Sponsored by the Staley School of Leadership Studies.
Friday, November 12
Time and Location TBD

6
 RESOURCEs
Explore online resources including
videos, articles, and podcasts that can
be integrated into class discussions and
activities

7
Online Resources: • Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001, 172 min.)
available on Apple TV $3.99
Read-A-Likes • Drunktown’s Finest (2014, 96 min.) available
• Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig
on Amazon Prime, $2.99 on Vudu
Rice
• Dance Me Outside (1994, 84 min.) available on
• A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia
Apple TV $3.99
Elliott
• Johnny Greyeyes (2000, 76 min.) available on
• Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
Vimeo $2.99
• Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
• Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013, 88 min.)
• The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy by Cherie available on Swank Digital Campus
Dimaline
• Rustic Oracle (2020, 98 min.) available on
• This Place: 150 Years Retold by Kateri Vimeo $4.31
Akiwenzie-Damm
• Whale Rider (2002, 101 min.) available free on
• The Break by Katherena Vermette Amazon Prime and tubitv.com
• The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi • Boy (2010, 88 min.) available for free on Vudu
• Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1) by • Blood Quantum (2019, 96 min.) availalbe on
Susan Beth Pfeffer Amazon Prime
• Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and • Thor: Ragnarok (2017, 130 min.) availalbe on
Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Disney+ and Amazon Prime $3.99
Talaga
• Short Films:
• Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq • Bones of Contention: Battling for Human Dignity at
• Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead the Salina Indian Burial Pit (2008, 10 min.)
• Half of Anything (2004, 23 min.)
• Trickster Drift (Trickster, #2) by Eden
Robinson • A Walk in My Shoes (2016, 11 min.)
• Horse You See (2010, 7:31 min.)
• The Darkest Period: The Kanza Indians and
Their Last Homelands, 1846-1873 by Ronald • Opal (2012, 10:33 min.)
Parks • 4wheelwarpony (2007, 10 min.)
• Jáaji Approx. (2015, 7:39 min.)
Watch-A-Likes
Check out our K-State First YouTube playlist at https://bit.ly/3aZyeiq for • Pre-Occupied (2013, 6:38 min.)
the unlinked short films listed. Some of the films listed contain content that • Lessons in Baby Dyke Theory (1995, 2:35 min.)
might need additional context for students to examine. Explore content or
• Boi oh Boi (2012, 9:33 min.)
trigger warnings if you plan to include a film in your syllabus/class.
• Under Your Always Light (2017, 5:28)
• Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood
• Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) (2018, 19 min.)
Indian (2011, 86 min.) available on Sundance
Now • The Sixth World (2013, 15 min.)
• Retribution (2016, 8 min.)
• Even the Rain (2010, 103 min.) available on
Netflix • Savage (2009, 6 min.)

• Smoke Signals (1998, 89 min.) available on • Wakening (2013, 9 min.)

Swank Digital Campus
• Four Sheets to the Wind (2007, 84 min.)
available free on Amazon Prime, Vudu and
tubitv.com
• Imprint (2007, 84, min.) available for free on
tubitv.com
8
Videos • Why Do Good People Sometimes Do Bad Things?
Check out our K-State First YouTube playlist at https://bit.ly/3aZyeiq for the • What 100,000+ Children Taught Us About Neglect
unlinked short films listed above and videos not already linked in this list. in Early Childhood
• Boarding School Healing - Native American • What Can You Learn from Your Dreams?
Rights Fund - Native American Rights Fund
• Crash Course:
• What is the difference between a Reserve and a • How Can Rain Create Conflict? Precipitation and
Reservation? - Indigenous Awareness News Water Use: Crash Course Geography #11
• What does being Indigenous mean? - CBC • Writing Systems: Crash Course Linguistics #16
News • World Languages: Crash Course Linguistics #14
• TED: • Language Change and Historical Linguistics: Crash
Course Linguistics #13
• Indigenous knowledge meets science to take on
climate change • Sociolinguistics: Crash Course Linguistics #7
• How to build a resilient future using ancient wisdom • Preventing Flint - Environmental Engineering:
Crash Course Engineering #29
• A history of Indigenous languages -- and how to
revitalize them • Religion: Crash Course Sociology #39
• The Standing Rock resistance and our fight for • Racial/Ethnic Prejudice & Discrimination: Crash
indigenous rights Course Sociology #35
• Britt Wray: How climate change affects your mental • Sex & Sexuality: Crash Course Sociology #31
health
• Humans and Nature and Creation: Crash Course
• The link between climate change, health and poverty World Mythology #6
• SciShow: • Origin of Everything:
• Oh No...Is Nature Going to Make Climate Change • Did Europeans Enslave Native Americans?
WORSE?! | SciShow News
• K-State Teaching and Learning Center:
• 5 Clues to Earth’s Climate History
• Professional Development Series: Maintaining Your
• What Will the World Look Like, 2°C Warmer? and Your Students’ Mind, Body, and Spirit
• Our Oceans Aren’t Doomed… Yet? | SciShow News • Professional Development Series: Mental Health 101
• 5 Sci-Fi Futures We Actually Have to Worry About
• Interviews with Cherie Dimaline:
• The Science of Flint’s Water Crisis
• Four minutes with Cherie Dimaline
• 8 Survival Myths That Will Definitely Make Things
• “We’re dealing with a society of children”: Cherie
Worse
Dimaline meets Jully Black | Canada Reads 2018
• The Truth About the Five Stages of Grief
• Reclaiming Lost Dreams
• 9 Groundbreaking Discoveries About Sleep
• 20+ Questions with Cherie Dimaline
• Can You Get Too Much Sleep?
• A Moment with Cherie Dimaline
• Above the Noise:
• Is Earth Running Out of Water? (feat. Life Noggin)
Articles
• Death by Civilization- The Atlantic
• Does Climate Change Cause Extreme Weather?
• The Reserve System – Pulling Together:
• BrainCraft: Foundations Guide
• People Now Have ‘Eco-Anxiety’. I’m One of Them.
• Who are indigenous peoples?
• The Truth About Lucid Dreaming
• Discover Canada - Canada’s History
• How to Stay Sane When Everything is Uncertain
• Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel
• SciShow Psych:
Heath Justice
• Why Can’t I Remember My Dreams?
• Risk, Mortality, and Memory: The Global
• The Dark Side of Needing Closure
Imaginaries of Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow
• How to Keep Power from Going to Your Head Thieves, MG Vassanji’s Nostalgia, and André
Alexis’s Fifteen Dogs 9
Articles (cont.) • Psychological Outcomes of Within-Group
• Spiralic Time and Cultural Continuity for Sexual Violence: Evidence of Cultural Betrayal
Indigenous Sovereignty: Idle No More and The Gómez, J.,M., & Freyd, J. J. (2018). Psychological
Marrow Thieves | Transmotion outcomes of within-group sexual violence: Evidence of
cultural betrayal. Journal of Immigrant and Minority
• Decolonizing the Anthropocene:’Slow Health, 20(6), 1458-1467. doi:http://dx.doi.org.er.lib.k-
Violence’and Indigenous Resistance in Cherie state.edu/10.1007/s10903-017-0687-0
Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves
• The Culture is Prevention Project: Measuring
• ‘TV’s Top 5’: ‘Rutherford Falls’ Creator on Culture as a Social Determinant of Mental
Bringing Native Voices to Peacock Health for Native/Indignous Peoples
Academic Articles Masotti, P., PhD., Dennem, John,M.A.C.A.D.C.-,II,
Hadani, S., M.Sc, Banuelos, K., M.A., King, J., M.S.W.,
Sign in with your K-State eid to access the following: Linton, J., M.L.S., . . . Patel, C. (2020). The Culture is
• CQ Researcher: Climate Change Prevention Project: Measuring Culture As a Social
Lyons, C. L. (2020, December 21). Climate change. CQ Determinant of Mental Health for Native/Indigenous
Peoples.. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental
researcher. http://library.cqpress.com/ Health Research (Online), 27(1), 86-111. Retrieved
• CQ Researcher: Global Protest Movements from https://er.lib.k-state.edu/login?url=https://www-
proquest-com.er.lib.k-state.edu/scholarly-journals/
Wanlund, B. (2020, May 1). Global protest movements. culture-is-prevention-project-measuring-as-social/
CQ researcher, 30, 1-30. http://library.cqpress.com docview/2398642598/se-2?accountid=11789
• CQ Researcher: Climate Change and Health Podcasts
Butcher, L. (2019, November 29). Climate change and • Canada’s Darkest Secret: Residential Schools
health. CQ researcher, 29, 1-29. http://library.cqpress.
com/ • Episode 76: Native American Reservations —
Civics 101: A Podcast
• CQ Researcher: Extreme Weather
• Spark: Indigenous Futurisms with Grace
Ornes, S. (2019, September 20). Extreme weather. CQ
Dillon
researcher, 29, 1-30. http://library.cqpress.com
• All My Relations Podcast:
• CQ Researcher: LGBTQ Rights
• Healing the Land is Healing Ourselves
Roepe, L. (2020, October 22). LGBTQ rights. CQ
researcher. http://library.cqpress.com/ • Love in the Time of Blood Quantum
• Can Our Ancestors Hear Us?
• CQ Researcher: Future of the Book
• Indigiqueer
Kerrigan, H. (2020, March 13). Future of the book. CQ
researcher, 30, 1-28. http://library.cqpress.com/ • Cool Canadian History on Apple Podcasts:
• CQ Researcher: Native American Sovereignty • S6E9 A Nation of Our Own – The Six Nations
Appeal to the League of Nations
Lyons, C. L. (2017, May 5). Native American sovereignty.
• S3E10 First Nations Soldiers in the Canadian
CQ researcher, 27, 385-408. http://library.cqpress.com/
Expeditionary Force
• CQ Researcher: Native American Youths
• Code Switch:
Karaim, R. (2015, April 24). Native American youths. CQ
• Is Beauty In The Eyes Of The Colonizer? : Code
researcher, 25, 361-384. http://library.cqpress.com/ Switch
Diversity Database • The Fight For Native Voices To Be Heard
Sign in with your K-State eid to access the following: • So What Exactly Is ‘Blood Quantum’? : Code
• Our Fires Still Burn: The Native American Switch
Experience • The Difficult Math Of Being Native American :
Code Switch
Winn, R. (2015). Our fires still burn: The native american
experience: Journal of american indian higher education. • For Many Native Americans, Fall Is The Least
Tribal College, 27(1), 60. Retrieved from https:// Wonderful Time Of The Year
er.lib.k-state.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.
er.lib.k-state.edu/scholarly-journals/our-fires-still-burn-
10 native-american-experience/docview/1783698298/se-
2?accountid=11789
Podcasts (cont.)
• Mash Up Americans: Campus Resources for Students:
• Podcast Ep 63: Bethany Yellowtail Won’t Quit - The
Academic Achievement Center
Mash-Up Americans www.k-state.edu/aac/
The Academic Achievement Center provides tools and
• 1A:
resources for students to be academically successful
• Writing Fiction About A Changing Climate - 1A through 1) individualized skill development, 2)
• The Search For Missing And Murdered Indigenous strengthening engagement and understanding of
Women : 1A course content, and 3) support in learning how
• After Long-Sought Wins For Native Americans, to navigate university life. It includes Academic
What’s Next? : 1A Coaching, Tutoring Services, Scholar Services,
• 1A Across America: Renewable Energy And Student Success Courses, and the Office of First-
Resistance : 1A generation Students.
• Cherie Dimaline:
• First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing: Cherie Dimaline Cats Cupboard
• Books Like Us: The Marrow Thieves – Cherie www.k-state.edu/cats-cupboard/
Dimaline Cats’ Cupboard Initiative is a collaborative effort
• The Next Chapter: Cherie Dimaline among students, faculty, staff, and community focused
on promoting food security at K-State. This initiative
• The Library Coven - Episode 30: The Marrow
Thieves by Cherie Dimaline aims to provide direct food access through an on-
campus food pantry. Cats’ Cupboard is accessible to
Informational Websites all K-State students.
• Métis Nation
• Cree Nation Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance
www.k-state.edu/indigenous-alliance/
• Anishinabek Nation (union of nations)
The Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance is K-State’s
• Canadian Inuit affinity group for Native American, First Nations, and
• Kaw Nation Timeline (Kansas State University Indigenous peoples. The organization was created in
is on the ancestral lands of the Kansa, or Kaw 2015 to address the need for support, growth, and
people) greater visibility of Indigenous people, nations, and
perspectives on K-State’s campus, Kansas, and beyond.
Online Games
• Mission 1.5 K-State Counseling Services
www.k-state.edu/counseling/

Lafene Health Center

www.k-state.edu/lafene/services/mental-health/

Office of Student Life

www.k-state.edu/studentlife/

Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative

www.lib.k-state.edu/open-textbook
The Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative makes
college more affordable for K-State students by
helping faculty adopt, adapt, or create customized
learning resources for their class.

11
 ACTIVITIES
Explore additional ways to use the book,
including teaching and learning styles,
classroom discussions, and games

12
Teaching and Learning Styles:
Different teaching styles at K-State allow students to understand various learning practices, and help them adapt in college.
Students may find a preferred method of learning, and these options, when available, allow them to study more effectively.
• Lecture: students listen to professor speak from podium. Usually including a PowerPoint or other
presentation, students may ask questions when acknowledged.
• Seminar: small sized classrooms where questions are freely asked, and content is generally discussed.
• Flipped Classroom: listen and watch the pre-recorded lecture online at home, and discuss questions and
complete the assignment in class.
• Lab and Lecture: conduct a pre-lab assignment, discuss the experiment in a lecture, and conduct a follow-up
lab assignment using critical thinking. Common in science and engineering centered classrooms.
• Student-Conducted Classroom: students independently discuss the assigned topic and the professor/lecturer
is available for questions
• Online Courses: students independently study and are examined about the class’s focus. Professors are
available by email or phone. Certain classes may have in-person assignments, depending on professor’s
preferences.
• Demonstrations: professor or instructor actively demonstrates a concept. Students may participate if asked to,
and an idea is showcased. Common in science and engineering centered classrooms.
• Simulations: students participate in activities similar to real situations involving critical thinking and decision
making. Students think about the outcome without the risk. Common in science, engineering, and aviation
classrooms.
• Cooperative Learning: students in small groups work together to complete a task or solve a problem.
• Case Studies: students, individually or in groups, apply learned knowledge to solve a fictitious case.
• Role Play: students work to solve problems through acting in different associated roles. Involves identifying,
acting out, and discussing problems.
• Problem Based and Inquiry Learning: professors provide a problem that students must solve through data
gathering, organization, and explanation. Students also analyze how they solved the problem.

Active & Engaged Learning

K-State First molds active learning and engaged learning together to stimulate students into deeper thinking, about
themselves, K-State, and beyond. Through GPS mentorships, First Year Seminars, CAT Communities, and K-State First
Book, students’ accessibility to learning widens beyond the average college experience.
• Active Learning: Process by which students engage in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion or
problem solving that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content.
• Engaged Learning: Degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students demonstrate
when learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in
their education.

Hands-on (Kinesthetic) Learning

This practice seeks to teach students through hands-on learning experiences, rather than traditional textbooks and lectures.
In doing so, students acquire technical skills to further their knowledge in their respective areas. Students may apply
concepts to real life situations, in turn developing confidence and skill in that background.
• Kinesthetic Learning Examples: running a small business, building a robot or machine, or leading a class
activity or discussion.

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Classroom Activities:
Creating opportunities to teach The Marrow Thieves is simple. The following activities can be tailored to your course
content and to the time you have available. They are a great way to build community. You could start with them to get
students thinking actively, or end with them if your regularly scheduled discussion and activities go faster than what you
had planned. The discussion questions listed earlier will also easily fit with the following activities.

Faculty Announcement
Time: 5 min or less
Benefits:
• Students build community outside of the classroom.
• Students can bring in this content to enrich classroom discussions
Directions: Encourage Students to attend author event or other KSFB-related events. Create a meeting place at the venue
so students can meet up there before the event and sit together.

Professional/Business writing
Time: 10-20 mins
Benefits:
• Students build connections between different disciplines and academic practices
Directions: Take a song mentioned in the book and rewrite it so that it is following business or professional writing
guidelines.

Two Circles
Time: 4-5 minutes per question
Benefits:
• Students discuss specific questions
• Students build community through one-on-one interaction with their peers
• Students are more confident to speak up in class because their partner can save them if they can’t
• articulate their answer
Directions: Split the class in half. Half the students form a circle on the outside of the room facing in. The other half
pairs up with this outside circle, forming an inside circle. Give students a question, they discuss, discuss as a big group,
have inside circle move counter clockwise. Repeat.

Student-Led Discussion
Time: 5-8 minutes per group
Benefits:
• Teaching content is often the best way to learn it
• Students gain public speaking and leadership skills
• Instructor can gauge what concepts the students understand and which concepts they struggle with Students
meet and develop working relationships with others in their major/academic interests
Directions: Break students in groups determined by their major or academic interests. Assign each group a topic or
group of discussion questions related to their academic interests (see earlier in the guide). Have students lead discussion.

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Classroom Activities (cont):
Think, Pair, Share
Time: 10 min
Benefits:
• Students interact with the text individually and collectively.
Directions: Choose questions from the question guide. Have students free write their response, then pair up and share
responses. Gather students back together and ask for pairs to volunteer their answers, or go around the room and have
all pairs share.

Facts, Statistics, and Terms to Know

Explore terms used in the novel, demographic data from various cities, and mental health resources.

Strategic Plans for the Apocalypse: Critical Engagement with Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves
Created by David Gaertner: “For this assignment, your group is tasked with creating a 5-year strategic plan for a
‘university’ for the Indigenous community Dimaline leaves us with at the end of The Marrow Thieves.” Read more about
the assignment.

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Games:
Spinning Yarns (Benjamin Ward, 2011)
Objective:
In the tradition of “talking sticks” used in talking circles, the aspiration of “Spinning Yarns” is to stimulate discussion
and foster involvement by only allowing players to speak when they hold the ball of yarn. The implied purpose of the
game is to demonstrate the “connectedness” of the players through play, and when possible, through the questions asked.

Number of Players:
• At least 10
Duration:
• 10 to 40 minutes (depending on the number of questions asked)
Materials:
• One ball of yarn (avoid rolling the ball too tight)
Prep:
• The game facilitator will generate a series of questions to pose to the class. The discussion questions listed
above could work well.
How to Play:
Ask students to raise their hands to be called on to answer questions. Stress that only students holding the ball of
yarn may answer questions. Make sure that all players understand that they are to toss the ball of yarn, not throw it
aggressively. This is supposed to be a fun experience for everyone.

• Ask the first question, hold one end of the the ball of yarn, then gently toss the ball to a student with a raised
hand. If that student contributes to the conversation, they may hold onto the strand of yarn
• Ask the next question. The player with the answer from the previous question may choose the next person
who raises a hand to answer the next question. If the student holding the ball of yarn did NOT contribute
to the conversation or answer the question correctly, they do NOT get to hold onto the strand of yarn and
become a part of the chain at that time – instead, they will toss the ball of yarn back to the person who had it
before them (if they contribute to the conversation later, they can join the web of yarn later).
• Continue to ask questions until you have finished you question list, run out of yarn, or have run out of time.
• Review any overarching concepts that may have been brought forward by the line of questioning.
• Have students gently pass the strands of yarn to one side. And gather up the loose strands yarn.
Tips and Tricks:
• List of questions that progressively reveal a narrative, line of thought, or an interrelated set of concepts work
best with this game.
• It is often difficult to salvage a ball of yarn from the tangle created by playing this game. Be forewarned.
• The farther a ball is tossed, the more fun the game. But, be sure everyone is paying attention when the ball is
being tossed or someone may be lightly injured.

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 DIVE INTO
THE NOVEL
Meet the major characters, utilize chapter
summaries, and explore the general
timeline of the novel.

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Chapter Summaries:
Chapter 1: Frenchie’s Coming-To Story
• Frenchie and his brother, Mitch, are hiding in an abandoned treehouse after escaping from their school. A
group of Recruiters (school truancy officers) discover their hideout. Mitch sacrifices himself for his brother
and is taken away in a white van. Frenchie recalls how his father had planned to take them north, but left with
the Council and never came back. His mother has been missing as well. Frenchie is on the run, but passes out
against a tree one night. When he comes to, he has been saved by a group of about seven Indigenous people.
Frenchie recalls his father talking about the man who saved him, Miigwans.
Chapter 2: The Fire
• Miig explains to Frenchie that dreams are in the marrow of the Native people because they were woven in with
their DNA. Frenchie then introduces each member of his newfound group while Miig prepares to tell a story.
Chapter 3: Story: Part One
• Miig tells the story of the Anishaabe people and their history. When the colonizers came, they brought
sickness and boarding schools. Later, the Anishaabe opened their own schools to teach the children. America
started a war over water, and the Great Lakes and other water sources were polluted beyond use. Global
warming, known as the Melt, forced those who lived in the north to move south. After the wars, the continents
have begun sinking into the sea. This, combined with disease, destroyed over half of the population. Then,
everyone became unable to dream except for the Indigenous people. Miig ends the story here and the group
goes to their tent for bed. RiRi stops Frenchie and asks for him to tell her stories in her tent. RiRi isn’t allowed
to hear the story because she is too young, but she begs Frenchie to tell her what Miig had shared. Frenchie
tells her the simplified basics. A new outsider, Rose, enters the camp and Frenchie secretly hopes that he isn’t
her cousin.
Chapter 4: Magic Words
• Rose settles in with the group.Miig decides to take the boys hunting. When they return, Rose tells Frenchie
that Minerva has been teaching the girls the language while the boys are away. Frenchie becomes jealous of
Rose, but they quickly make up while on the move.
Chapter 5: Haunted in the Bush
• RiRi asks Frenchie about his family. He tells her, even though it is painful. The boys go hunting again. The
group splits up, and Frenchie finds a tree to relax in. A huge moose appears, but after some contemplation he
decides not to shoot it. The group comes back together and Wab acts strangely.
Chapter 6: A Plague of Madness
• Wab continues acting strangely. Miig talks about whether the Recruiters are inherently good or bad. Wab
reveals that she saw someone from her past while on the hunting trip.
Chapter 7: The Four Winds
• Frenchie tests an electric fence so that Miig doesn’t have to. The group finds an abandoned Four Winds hotel
and decides to stay a few days. Minerva tells the girls the tale of the Rogarou, a dog that haunted Minerva and
others. During the night, Rose comes into Frenchie’s bedroom. She tells him about her coming-to story. They
kiss, but RiRi interrupts. When Frenchie wakes up, he discovers that the rest of the group has been sleeping in
his bedroom. After two nights, Miig wants to leave the hotel. While gathering supplies, Frenchie finds Wab,
drunk. He and Chi Boy take her to the rest of the group, and she begins telling her coming-to story.
Chapter 8: Wab’s Coming-To Story
• Wab tells her coming-to story. She lived alone with her mother on the top floor of an apartment building.
After a fire, they both end up living on the streets. Wab started running favors across town in exchange for
food. One day, a group of men tricks Wab into delivering an empty letter so that they can trap her. They cut
out her eye and sexually assaulted her multiple times. After two days, she was released and left the city. The
man who gave her the fake letter is who she saw in the woods on the hunting trip. RiRi was present during
18 Wab’s story, so Mig decides that it is time for her to hear the Story.
Chapter 9: Story: Part Two
• Miig continues telling the Story. He explains that the changing climate caused disastrous weather. Pipelines
split open and drowned towns and lakes in pollution. After everyone stopped dreaming, people turned to
Indigenous groups for help. Additionally, Indigenous people were forced off of their lands. The Church and
scientists discovered that dreams could be taken from the bone marrow of people with Indigenous bloodlines.
The schools were opened in order to siphon off the bone marrow.
Chapter 10: Back Into the Woods
• Miig forces the group to leave the comfort of the hotel. Before they leave, RiRi finds a pair of bright pink
rubber boots to wear. Frenchie discovers that Recruiters are clearing land for a new school farther north. Miig
tells Frenchie the histories of members of the group and begins telling his own coming-to story.
Chapter 11: Miigwans’ Coming-To Story
• Miig tells Frenchie his coming-to story. He lived with his husband, Isaac, in a cabin in the woods. One day,
they find a group of three people in the woods. They take them into their home, despite Miig’s protests to
Isaac. The guests become rude- eating too much and overstaying their welcome. The youngest of the group
warns Isaac and Miig to run because the Recruiters are on the way. The Recruiters find the duo.
Chapter 12: Finding Direction
• The group stops to set up camp with plans to continue moving north in the morning.
Chapter 13: The Potential of Change
• RiRi finds a lunchbox with a fresh sandwich in it on the journey. They find that the two men that Wab knows
have set up camp, and determine that the sandwich must be his. The group sets off to find them.
Chapter 14: The Other Indians
• The group finds the men and their campsite. They enter, and the men introduce themselves as Lincoln and
Travis. Travis is the man who gave Wab the fake letter when she lived in the city. Frenchie feels anxious around
the newcomers. Lincoln tells Miig about a group in a nearby town fighting back against the Recruiters. The
men convince the group to stay very near to their campground.
Chapter 15: The Way It All Changed
• The group wakes up with Tree and Zheegon being held at gunpoint and RiRi being choked by Lincoln. After
some begging, he lets her go. Travis reveals that they have been paid by the Recruiters to capture the group.
They knock out Travis, but Lincoln grabs RiRi and runs. He runs off the edge of the cliff with her. The group is
in hysterics over the loss of RiRi. Frenchie runs back to camp and shoots Travis dead.
Chapter 16: The Long Stumble
• The group continues the run away from the campsite and the site of RiRi’s death. Miig tells Frenchie about
how he ran away from the school and describes how he met his father and the council. Miig reveals that he
found out that Isaac had been killed for his bone marrow in the school, and that this caused him to shoot a
man and leave him for dead.
Chapter 17: Rogarou Comes Hunting
• The group hears the Recruiter whistles and they run to hide for the night in a barn. Everyone but Minerva
sleeps in the top loft. During the night, the Recruiters come and take Minerva. No one is able to stop her
because she had kicked the ladder down from the loft; essentially sacrificing herself. Everyone prepares to keep
moving on, but Frenchie announces that he is going after Minerva.
Chapter 18: On the Road
• The group heads for the nearest town, Espanola. They find written syllabic symbols and determine that they
must be close to the resistance group. Frenchie and Rose find a creek of fresh water. They kiss beside the water.

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Chapter 19: Found
• The group is awoken by members of the resistance. They are taken into their campground, where it is revealed
that the old Council still exists and lives on the campsite. Frenchie’s dad is among the Council, and they
reunite. The Council says that they have heard about Minerva in Espanola.
Chapter 20: The Miracle of Minerva
• The Council tells what they have heard of Minerva. Prior to her extraction, she began singing. This caused an
explosion and the destruction of the school.
Chapter 21: Loss
• Frenchie tells his dad about how he lost Mitch and his mother. Frenchie reminds the group that they are just
as much family to him as his father is. They kiss again. Frenchie finds Miig and tells him that he will find
Minerva.
Chapter 22: The Circle
• Frenchie is rude to Rose. He also accuses his father of never looking for him or his brother. Derrick and Rose
dance at the social and Frenchie storms off angrily.
Chapter 23: Word Arrives in Black
• The next day, the men go out hunting. Rose and Frenchie continue to argue. He speaks to his father about
his childhood. The group discovers that Minerva will be moved to an airstrip the following day in order to
transport her to the Capital.
Chapter 24: Lost and Found and Lost
• The group and the Council go out to rescue Minerva. They shoot the tires of the car with arrows, and then
shoot the driver. As the group goes to retrieve Minerva, Miig discovers that the driver is not dead, and the
driver shoots Minerva. Minerva tells the group in her dying breath to go home, in the language.
Chapter 25: Kiiwen
• Rose and Frenchie cut off their braids to show their mourning for Minerva. The group and the Council keep
moving north. Rose leaves the group, but Frenchie feels obligated to stay behind with his father. Frenchie’s
father encourages him to go with Rose. A few other members of the group and Council join the duo.
Chapter 26: Locks Mean Nothing to Ghosts
• The new group finds another group of Indigenous people. One of these men is Miig’s husband, Isaac, and they
reunite.

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Characters:
Frenchie
• Given name is Francis, also known as French. A 16 year old Metis boy who lived with his parents and brother
before the Recruiters came.
Mitch
• Frenchie’s older brother. Sacrifices himself to save Frenchie.
Mom
• Frenchie’s mother. She went missing after running away with Mitch and Frenchie.
Dad
• Frenchie’s father. He is a member of the Council. He was believed to be dead after a trip to the Capital.
Miigwans
• Also known as Miig. He is the leader of the group. Prior to running from the recruiters, he lived with his
husband Isaac.
Isaac
• Miigwan’s husband. Fluent in multiple relationships with an affinity for literature.
RiRi
• The youngest member of the group. She came to the group as a baby and loved to hear stories in the evening.
Minerva
• The elder of the group. She is deeply connected to her culture, teaching the girls the language.
Chi-Boy
• A seventeen year old member of the group. He is very quiet and thin.
Tree
• Zheegwon’s twin. Very connected to his brother.
Zheegwon
• Tree’s twin. Shares a single baseball cap with his brother.
Slopper
• A nine year old group member.
Wab
• An eighteen year old girl with a large scar across her face. The oldest female group member.
Rose
• A teenage girl in the group, and Frenchie’s love interest.

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 AWARDS AND
COMMUNITY
Find information about awards and
scholarships related to the novel and
undergraduate research and explore how
faculty, staff, and community members
can get involved with K-State First Book
and the common read

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K-State First Book Awards:
Faculty/Staff Award
Faculty and staff members who have created learning have been completed as a requirement for a K-State
activities related to the common book are encouraged course, and may encompass any academic topic.
to submit them for recognition. Outstanding activities Applications are evaluated based on the use of
may include, but are not limited to, paper assignments, library resources.
events, discussions, and programs, and are selected
based on creative applications of themes from the book, • Raj and Diana Nathan Undergraduate Research
engagement of students in program, project, or activity, Experience Award: $5,000 awarded to a College of
and demonstration of enthusiasm for enhancement of the Engineering undergraduate student at the junior
educational experience at K-State. or senior level. Provides a meaningful research
experience for the recipient. Funds are designated
Student Award to support the activities of the selected student
Students are invited to share their experience of the issues and may be paid to the student as an hourly
raised in The Marrow Thieves. This experience can be student wage. The award should be used for an
shared through a non-fiction essay, creative writing, music, independent project or an expansion of a funded
video, visual art, (filmed) performance art, or some other research project. A fully engaged faculty member
medium. Students are also encouraged to submit a short (2 to supervise the student’s experience is important
minute) personal video. Entries should indicate the basis and the department head when recommending a
for the experience, such as the book, the author lecture, proposal should consider this.
a classroom discussion, or another event or program or
reading selection. • Undergraduate Research Award grant: provides
funding for students to work under the guidance
The contest is open to all K-State students. The winner will of a faculty research mentor. Students get the
receive a $1000 scholarship for the Spring 2022 semester. opportunity to network with other researchers,
For more information, see www.ksu.edu/ksfb/award.html. make contributions to their research field, and
present, perform or exhibit their work publicly.
Undergraduate Travel Award grant recipients will
Undergraduate Research: be reimbursed for travel cost associated with their
Contact Dr. Peter Dorhout-Vice President for Research or research, such as presenting at a conference or
the Office of Undergrad Research and Creative Inquiry. conducting research at an archive.

Awards • Nationally competitive scholarships include the

K-State offers many awards for undergraduate research, Rhodes, Marshall, Udall, Truman, Goldwater,
including for first-year research experiences. Consult and Fulbright. Contact Jim Hohenbary for more
individual colleges and departments to learn more about information ([email protected]).
possible undergraduate research awards. Click on the award
titles to learn more!

• Kirmser Award: recognizes and promotes

outstanding scholarship among K-State’s
undergraduate students. Awards given to winners
in the freshman individual, non-freshman
individual, and group project categories. The
grand prize for each individual category is $1,000.
Grand prize for the group project category will
be a minimum of $2,000 and will be based on the
size of the winning group. Research projects must
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Faculty, Alumni, and Community:
You don’t have to be an incoming student at K-State to participate in our common reading program. Here are some things
you can do with your friends and family.

Read the book

• Purchase a copy online or from your local bookstore.
• Borrow a paper copy from your public library.

Discussion
Initiate a conversation with your incoming student about the book. Suggested questions:
• How has climate change and severe weather impacted the landscape Frenchie navigates? How has it affected
the main characters’ daily lives? What impact has it had on the non-indigenous population?
• How has climate change impacted you? Do you think the future Dimaline envisions is possible? Why or why
not?
• Cherie Dimaline stated, “I wanted people to come away saying, ‘I would never let that happen,’ or, more
correctly, ‘I would never let that happen again.’” Compare and contrast this novel to real historical events (e.g.
residential schools). How do these events relate to each other as well as to the book?
• Cherie Dimaline speaks to the need for humor and joy in stories about survival. Where do you see joy and
laughter in Frenchie’s story? What role does it play?
• Although The Marrow Thieves is a work of speculative fiction, did you find you also learned about the real-
life lives of Indigenous peoples and the challenges they face today? What was the most important thing you
learned?

Get Involved
• Start a book discussion or use The Marrow Thieves in your book club.
• Explore the other resources on the K-State First Book website, including recommended books, movies and
resource links.
• Follow K-State First on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @kstatefirst
• Attend the events held on the K-State campus throughout the 2021-2022 school year.

Do you have an idea you want to share? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll add it to the list.

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