Hope From Within: Exploring Indigenous Resilience in Patti LaBoucane-Beson’s The Outside Circle and Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves

Abstract

"The aim of this essay is to compare Patti LaBoucane-Benson's The Outside Circle (2015) and Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves (2017) in the context of Indigenous resilience to showcase how the rediscovery of an interconnected Indigenous identity and the revival of spiritual traditions can become active modes of resistance and transformation. By observing the recurring symbolism of a web and the repetition of smudging that occur within both novels, I examine how the practice of traditional Indigenous ways of knowing and being can become a powerful means of hope for Indigenous peoples to heal integrational wounds and resist colonial erasure."