"We're dealing with a society of children": Cherie Dimaline meets Jully Black | Canada Reads 2018
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging conversation, Jully Black and award-winning author Cherie Dimaline discuss her book 'The Marrow Thieves' and its themes of family, resilience, and hope. Cherie shares the inspiration behind the title, drawing from both personal experiences and Indigenous teachings. They also talk about the strange research Cherie conducted for her books, including visiting a life-size replica of Noah's Ark. Jully reflects on her connection to the book's characters, while both women highlight the importance of compassion, learning, and perseverance even in dark times.
Takeaways
- 😀 Jully Black introduces her soul sister, Cherie Dimaline, an award-winning author of *The Marrow Thieves*.
- 💼 Cherie shares that the book's title was inspired by a conversation with an Inuit elder, who taught her about compassion toward those who have lost their elders and wisdom.
- 👶 Cherie also mentions a conversation with a friend about pregnancy, which led to the metaphor of fetuses as 'marrow thieves' leeching vitamins from their mothers.
- 👨👩👧👦 Jully connects with *The Marrow Thieves* on a personal level, especially with themes of family, perseverance, and hope in the face of trials.
- 📚 Cherie is currently researching evangelical churches and revival tents for a new book, which led her to visit a life-size Noah's Ark in Kentucky.
- ⛪ Cherie describes the Noah's Ark experience as a unique attraction, complete with mannequins, animals, and a laser show.
- 📖 Jully joined *Canada Reads* to challenge herself by reading books outside of her usual choices and to rekindle the feeling of being a student.
- 💡 Jully expresses the joy of learning new perspectives and how reading for *Canada Reads* has positively impacted her.
- 🌍 Cherie hopes readers of *The Marrow Thieves* take away hope, even though the story is dark and apocalyptic, dealing with themes like the re-emergence of the residential school system.
- 💪 Cherie emphasizes that despite grim circumstances in the book, humanity is resilient and capable of finding strength and hope.
Q & A
What was the initial inspiration behind Cherie Dimaline's book title 'The Marrow Thieves'?
-Cherie Dimaline was inspired by an Inuit elder's suggestion to show compassion for the people they were angry at, and later by a friend's description of a fetus as a 'marrow thief' during a conversation about the hardships of pregnancy.
How does Cherie Dimaline describe the society that the Indigenous community is dealing with?
-Cherie describes the society as a group of 'children' who have lost their medicine people and teachings, leading to a society that can be brutal when left to its own devices.
What was the context in which the idea of 'marrow thieves' was introduced in the conversation?
-The idea of 'marrow thieves' was introduced during a discussion between Cherie and a group of Indigenous women writers about the difficulties of pregnancy, where her friend compared the fetus's survival instincts to those of a thief.
What aspect of Cherie Dimaline's book did Jully Black connect with the most?
-Jully Black connected with the story of family, the distinction between family and relatives, and the perseverance through trials and tribulations, finding hope in the characters and the narrative.
What was the strangest research Cherie Dimaline did for her book?
-Cherie Dimaline visited a life-size Noah's Ark in Kentucky, which included replicas of Noah, his wife, and the animals, as well as a laser show, as part of her research for her book.
Why did Jully Black decide to participate in Canada Reads?
-Jully Black decided to participate in Canada Reads to challenge herself to read不同类型的书籍 and to re-experience the learning process and growth she associated with being a student.
What impact did participating in Canada Reads have on Jully Black?
-Participating in Canada Reads had a positive impact on Jully Black, exposing her to a variety of books she wouldn't have chosen herself and broadening her literary horizons.
What message does Cherie Dimaline hope readers take away from 'The Marrow Thieves'?
-Cherie Dimaline hopes that readers take away a sense of hope from 'The Marrow Thieves', despite the book's dark and apocalyptic themes, showing that even in the worst circumstances, there is inherent goodness in people.
How does Cherie Dimaline describe the future depicted in 'The Marrow Thieves'?
-Cherie Dimaline describes a future in 'The Marrow Thieves' that includes an apocalyptic setting with a re-emergence of the residential school system and people running for their lives, but ultimately, it is a story of strength and hope.
What was the significance of the life-size Noah's Ark visit for Cherie Dimaline's research?
-The visit to the life-size Noah's Ark was significant for Cherie Dimaline's research as it provided her with firsthand experience of a setting that could inform her writing about evangelical churches, missionaries, and revival tents.
Outlines
🎭 Interview Insights on 'The Marrow Thieves'
In this engaging conversation, Jully Black, a renowned personality, interviews Cherie Dimaline, an award-winning author, about her book 'The Marrow Thieves'. The discussion begins with a light-hearted exchange about carrying Cherie's wisdom in a purse, symbolizing the value of her insights. Cherie shares the profound origin of her book's title, stemming from a conversation with an Inuit elder who suggested showing compassion to those causing injustice, as they are likened to lost children due to the historical eradication of their cultural elders. This theme resonates with the book's exploration of societal collapse and the human capacity for brutality and hope. The interview also touches on the personal connections Jully makes with the book's characters, drawing parallels to her own family and friends, and the universal theme of perseverance through trials.
🔍 Unconventional Research and Literary Impact
The second part of the dialogue delves into Cherie Dimaline's research process for her current book, which includes a visit to a life-size Noah's Ark replica in Kentucky. This unusual research site, complete with a laser show, highlights the author's commitment to immersive and detailed storytelling. The conversation shifts to Jully's experience with Canada Reads, a program that challenged her to expand her literary horizons beyond her usual preferences. The segment concludes with Cherie's hope for her readers to derive hope from 'The Marrow Thieves', despite its dark and apocalyptic themes, emphasizing the enduring human spirit even in dire circumstances.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Compassion
💡Indigenous
💡Marrow Thieves
💡Residential School System
💡Hope
💡Evangelical Churches
💡Noah's Ark
💡Canada Reads
💡Apocalyptic
💡Family vs Relatives
Highlights
Jully Black expresses a desire to carry Cherie Dimaline in her purse for guidance.
Cherie Dimaline humorously agrees to 'live in Jully's purse', referencing a Louis Vuitton bag.
Jully introduces Cherie as a prolific writer and award-winning author of 'The Marrow Thieves'.
Cherie shares a story about an Inuit elder teaching the importance of compassion towards those one is angry with.
The concept of 'marrow thieves' is born from a conversation about the survival instincts of a fetus.
Jully connects with the story of family and perseverance in 'The Marrow Thieves'.
Cherie discusses the process of character development and how real people inspire her characters.
Cherie recounts researching for a book by visiting a life-size Noah's Ark in Kentucky.
Jully is intrigued by the idea of a Noah's Ark with a laser show and expresses a desire to visit.
Jully explains her decision to participate in Canada Reads to broaden her reading horizons.
Cherie hopes readers find hope in 'The Marrow Thieves' despite its dark and apocalyptic themes.
Cherie discusses the importance of showing compassion even in the face of historical and societal injustices.
Jully reflects on the impact of participating in Canada Reads and how it has changed her as a reader.
Cherie shares her unique research methods, including visiting evangelical churches and revival tents.
The conversation highlights the theme of hope and resilience in Indigenous literature.
Jully and Cherie discuss the importance of representation and diversity in literature.
Transcripts
Jully: I need to carry you in my purse and be like
Cherie what am I? Who am I? Tell me again. Cherie: I've seen your purse.
I will live in your purse. That's a Louis Vuitton. Jully: That was the ex-boyfriend.
Jully: Hey Canada. What's up? It's me,
your girl, Jully Black and I'm here with
my soul sister, prolific writer, Shero, She-E-
oh, oh my goodness award-winning author,
Cherie Dimaline. It's all about The Marrow
Thieves. What up girl?
Cherie: Oh I'm good. How are you? Jully: I'm fantastic and
I'm happy that you're here. I got some
questions for you. Cherie: Okay let's do it.
Jully: Okay first one: how did you come up with
the title of your book? Cherie: Okay so this is a
two-part answer. So the first one is
I'm about 20-years-old and I'm hanging
out at the Friendship Centre with a
bunch of other Indigenous kids, and we're
really angry. We're like yelling around
about injustice and things that are
happening in our communities and this
Inuit elder comes in and he says... He
listens to us for a minute and then he
says, "Wow you guys are really pissed off."
We said, "Yeah we're angry." And he said,
"Okay, do you ever consider that maybe you
should be compassionate?" We said, "Okay, we
are compassionate. We're compassionate
for our people, for our families, for
communities. That's why we're angry." And
he said, "No. Maybe you should show some
compassion for the people you're angry
at." And we said,"You know, what do these, what do
these white people need our compassion
for?" And he said, "Because when they left
their lands, they had killed all their
medicine people. They had killed all of
the women that held their teachings." So
you know the Druids and then the witches
and everyone. They lost their medicine
people and when you don't have your
elders anymore, you become children. So
what we're dealing with is a society of
children. And when children are left to
their own devices and they have to
survive, they can be quite brutal. So
this is what happened, they came over
here
trying to survive, as a society of kids. Jully: That's deep.
Cherie: And then years later, so years later a
couple of books out, and I'm in...
I'm in Yellowknife with a group of
Indigenous women writers. Me and my
friend were complaining about how
horrible it is to be pregnant.
Everyone is like, "Oh it's so beautiful" and like,
"carrying life" and we're like, "It's the
worst!" And she said to me, "You know it's
because a fetus will do anything right
inside of you to live. They'll literally
leech the vitamins out of your bones.
They're really just the most beautiful
marrow thieves." Jully: Wow. Cherie: And so that's where the
idea came from. What was it about my book that you
connected with? Jully: Ooh the story of family
for sure, family versus relatives. Having
to continue to persevere through trials,
through tribulations, realizing that
there is hope always. So many of the
characters even Riri — well they're going to think I'm talking about Rihanna — not 'Pon de Replay' ok? There's another Riri in the book.
I won't get into details, but all the characters I
totally related to or I could I could
put faces of different family members
and friends to them. Yeah, they
became real in my mind. Yeah. Cherie: That's awesome. Jully: What is the
strangest thing you've done to research
a book? Cherie: Okay so I'm currently
working on this book, and so I had to
have to look into evangelical churches
and missionaries and revival tents. You
know like old-timey... Jully: Yeah.
Cherie: ...stomp and revival tents. Jully: Yeah. Cherie: So a couple weeks ago,
driving back from Santa Fe, I decided I
had to make this research stop. So we
stopped in the hills of Kentucky. Did you
know there is a life-size Noah's Ark?
Jully: What? Cherie: Yes. Somebody has built Jully: No. Cherie: Yes. A life-size
Noah's Ark. So you get there, you pay a
very nice lady $50. You get on a bus,
you take the bus up the mountain and it
is... it is a life-size Noah's Ark and you
go in and it's like, they have all like
the replicas like mannequin like Noah and his wife.
Jully: No way. Cherie: Yeah! And all the animals. Jully: So do they do it like biblical
measurements and all that? Cherie: Yes they did. And at the end they did
a laser show on the side of the Noah's
Ark. Jully: What? Cherie: And you get hot
chocolate. Jully: okay yeah I want to go there. That's awesome!
Cherie: Why did you decide to do Canada
Reads?
Jully: oh my goodness, I decided to do Canada
Reads because I realized that I read the
same types of books. And I feel like I need
to learn something. Cherie: hmm Jully: You know, you finish
school, and you read the books that have
to do with the problems you think you
have, interestingly enough. And then I was like,
I miss being a student. Like I
miss that, even that little bit of
anxiety or like deadlines and learning
and then BOOM CBC came calling. And I was
like okay God, I didn't say right now, you
know. ok so I get read the five books.
Five books I wouldn't have necessarily
chosen myself. Cherie: mm-hmm Jully: And it's totally
impacted me in such a positive way.
Jully: What do you hope readers take away from
reading this book? Cherie: I hope that people
take hope. Jully: Hmm Cherie: They do, it's pretty dark.
It's apocalyptic and we're talking about
the future. There's like you know the
re-emergence of the residential school
system, there's people running for their
lives, there's you know — not everything
that happens is pretty, but it's strong
and it's hopeful. And I hope that you
know when people read it, they realize
that even in the worst circumstances
man, we're good.
Jully: Oh yeah! I've definitely found that
out. It's awesome.
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