The Marrow Thieves

Miig says that the Anishnaabe people have been on these lands for thousands of years. They welcomed the people who named the land Canada, and the Anishnaabe fought valiantly during wars. However, the newcomers decided they liked subjugating the Anishnaabe. The newcomers opened the first residential schools, which almost robbed the Anishnaabe of their language. When the schools were shut down, they eventually reclaimed their land, honored their pain, and moved on. Then, governments began to fight over water. America ran pipelines to Anishnaabe lands, as that's where the freshest water was. They went further and further north for water and when the Great Lakes became too polluted, they fenced the lakes off.

As the governments stole water from the rivers, the North melted. Miig says that the northern people are, as far as he's heard, still okay, which is why they're moving north toward them now. Frenchie tells the reader that Miig tells Story every week in some form or another: sometimes he focuses on the residential schools, and other times he explains treaties or earthquakes. Miig believes they have to know the history if they want to know how to survive.

Returning to Story, Miig says that after ten years of wars over water, world leaders came to new agreements. The Anishnaabe were spread out, alone, and their home was gone. Because of the earthquakes, rising sea levels, and constant rain, half of the population died—and the corpses made others sick. Those who survived were unable to reproduce naturally, families were torn apart, and people stopped dreaming. Miig stops before getting to the darkest parts of Story and sends the children to bed.

Frenchie hears RiRi calling that she can't sleep, and he lies down with her. This is the new routine: RiRi is desperate to hear Story and understand, but Miig wants her to grow up first before she learns that people view her as nothing more than a valuable commodity. RiRi begs for Frenchie to tell her Story, but Frenchie refuses. He thinks that RiRi is getting older and smarter, and reasoning with her is getting harder. He tells RiRi that they let Slopper hear Story when he was seven, and it was devastating for him. Slopper stopped sleeping well and playing for months.

Frenchie is quiet for a moment and then agrees to tell RiRi something about why they're running. He says that years ago, the world got sick with disease and sadness. People stopped being able to dream and saw their psychiatrists for pills to help them sleep. Frenchie hears a low whistle outside—the alarm—and leaps up. Everyone else but Slopper is around the fire. Miig motions to the east, and Frenchie knows that they'll have to fight if the intruder is dangerous. He grabs a burning stick and steps back into the bushes. Miig moves into the open, and then Chi-Boy emerges holding a girl (Rose) by her forearm. She shouts and glares at everyone, and Frenchie hopes that she's not a cousin.