GOOD TROUBLE & CANONICAL MONSTROSITY: CURRICULUM DESIGN THROUGH THE MARROW THIEVES by Jaid Courtlynn Wehrenberg A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY Ogden, Utah August 6, 2026 Approved ______________________________ Signature of Committee Chair Name of Committee Chair ______________________________ Signature of Committee Member Name of Committee Member ______________________________ Signature of Committee Member Name of Committee Member Wehrenberg 2 Good Trouble & Canonical Monstrosity: Gothic Horror & The Marrow Thieves In a curriculum design unit for 12th grade students, this project disrupts traditional teaching of the canonical text Frankenstein while still following district mandates. Analyzing monstrosity, science experimentation, and identity formation through The Marrow Thieves and Frankenstein while implementing a culturally sustainable curriculum inspired by Lorena Escota Germán, Gholdy Muhammad, and Jo Chrona (Kitsumkalum), this unit explores how to approach canonical texts as supplementary rather than a gateway to YAL. This project seeks to bring Native American voices into the classroom implementing culturally sustainable pedagogy to disrupt curriculum violence through teaching The Marrow Thieves alongside Frankenstein, while still operating within the confines of the system (which I will outline). As a settler scholar dedicated to implementing a sustaining curriculum that reflects theoretical knowledge in accessible language, the design enriches students’ learning experiences, inviting them to be critical of power structures still at play in schools. Building on Tuck and Yang’s work that decolonization is not a metaphor, this curriculum makes explicit how to get into good trouble by teaching the lasting impacts of the colonial project on Native peoples and their ongoing resistance and solidarity. I start the argument explaining the context of the land and my school site, connecting colonial violence with curriculum violence. I then explain how the centricity of canonical texts is unwise and inhospitable to our students, communicating who is welcome and who isn’t through monstrosity. After explaining why Frankenstein and The Marrow Thieves are an ideal pairing using monster theory, I read Frankenstein through a red reading lens, a practice of reading non-Indigenous literature through an Indigenous perspective. However, in keeping with my project, I then analyze how Dimaline utilizes postcolonial Gothic and horror tropes in her text to Wehrenberg 3 communicate the ongoing colonial violence and legacy from residential schools. In the final section, I explain culturally sustaining pedagogy and how my theoretical lenses are implemented into curriculum enactments utilizing three frameworks: the textured teaching framework from Lorena Escoto Germán, the historical responsive framework from Gholdy Muhammad, and the First Peoples Principles of Learning, as explained by Jo Chrona. My project is an implementation of the literary theory and culturally sustaining frameworks, implemented in an Educator’s Guide structure, explaining the curriculum design and activities that help students unpack the rich themes in Dimaline’s novel, supplemented with Frankenstein. Context of the Work & Curriculum Violence According to Indigenous educator Jo Chrona, “one important aspect of Indigenous knowledge systems is that they respond to, and honor, context. Who I am, where I write from, and the land I am now on informs what I share with you. Knowledge and understanding are entrenched in relationship and connected to people and place” (1). Therefore, I, as a settler scholar, will begin by acknowledging the people on whose land I teach and do my work. Although Oklahoma is my first home, I currently teach at a 10-12 public school on Northwest Shoshone peoples land, which is known as Ogden, UT. Ogden High School is a three-year high school serving approximately 1,128 students, with 47% of students being Hispanic and 46% are white and 2.8% are two or more races. In 1863, more than 400 Shoshone men, women, and children were murdered by Union forces while at their winter encampment along the Bear River near the present-day Utah-Idaho border, which is argued by Shoshone leader and descendent of massacre survivors Darren Perry to be the “largest massacre of Native Americans by federal troops in the United States,” and changed how troops interacted with tribes moving forward (Wilson 18). Mormon settlers essentially removed the Northwest Shoshone as a result of this Wehrenberg 4 massacre, taking their land and pushing them towards the Fort Hall reservation in Idaho. The Intermountain Indian School, which was one of the largest residential schools in the United States, is located in Brigham City, not that far north of my location, and did not close until 1984. This history of violence on the land can be linked to curriculum violence, a term coined by Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan defined as “the deliberate manipulation of academic programming in a manner that ignores or compromises the intellectual and psychological wellbeing of learners” and for the English teacher, this primarily involves text selection (Hadley 430). As bell hooks states, education is a practice of freedom, “aimed at ‘enriching a life in its entirety, an education ‘about healing and wholeness, empowerment, liberation’” (19). Yet if it is not only possible but likely that a K-12 student will finish high school without reading a single text by an Indigenous author, then the curriculum participates in the tradition of erasure, or tendency to communicate that Native peoples are in the past. Additionally, according to PEN Book Report 2024, book banning has increased within the last three years, with 2024 seeing 10,046 instances of book bans under the guise of protecting the children. Importantly, a disproportionate number of books target characters of color (44%) and young adult books (60%). Furthermore, Rudine Sims Bishop first wrote how important it is for children to read diverse books in which children can see themselves and books that show them other worlds. Building on her work, the Diversity in Children’s Books 2018 graphic shows how publishing rates show that books about Native children are the lowest percentage (Bishop, Dahlen & Huyck). Pedagogical choices, including text selection, censorship of books, and publishing rates all continue colonial violence by eliminating narratives of Indigenous peoples. Canonicity & Monstrosity Wehrenberg 5 Considering pedagogical decisions and canonical texts, Heidi and Toliver in “Can(n)on Fodder No More” argued against the three reasons cited for canonical texts: high quality texts, literary allusions for collective consciousness, and thematic importance. After compiling a list of texts their preservice teachers were assigned in middle and high school, the authors defeat each of the above arguments, concluding “the canon as one that centers the need, development, and ideas of whiteness,” challenging educators that every text selection is a “political choice,” providing a checklist when considering books for the class to study (12). The authors challenge teacher’s nostalgia for these texts, stating “pedagogical evasion is a form of complicity,” in which teachers ignore the pervasive whiteness present in canonical novels and instead rely on the argument for the canon being “timeless narratives that all should read, delicious to our souls to ignore the reality” that these texts are not serving students (26, 28). Similarly, some online movements such as #DisruptTexts specifically pushes against canonical literary texts, seeking to center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color voices to disrupt whiteness and white supremacy alongside canonical texts. Continuing their work on canonical critique, Hadley and Toliver’s “The Monstrous Hospitality of Canonical Text Selections: The Need for a Hospitable Literacy Framework,” states that it is not enough to subvert or disrupt the canon–teachers must consider what messages these texts are sending, namely who is monstrous and what texts are therefore inhospitable to students. Many teachers and school leaders retreat into the canon as a sense of safety, “as far-right politicians focus on education and attempt to maintain the cis-hetero-patriarchal-White supremacist status quo by eliminating discussions about oppression and power from public school classrooms,” yet the authors question “safer for who and accepted by whom?” (429). Continuing Ighodaro, Wiggan, and Stephanie Jones’ work on curriculum violence, the authors Wehrenberg 6 argue that canonicity is not simply text selection–rather the political demand for canonical inclusion means “a complete erasure and lack of care for those readers, a rejection and dismissal of readers who are” unimaginable, unexpected readers who are not White, Christian, cisgender, able-bodied, middle class, or male” (429). Taking American-authored canonical texts most commonly taught to preservice teachers,, Hadley and Toliver analyzed them through Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s monster theory, a cultural studies approach to considering how monsters are metaphors for the Others within society, and Derrida’s hospitality framework, which considers how societies unconditionally welcome the Other, arguing for a hospitable literacy framework for teachers that doesn’t perpetuate the ideas of monstrous to our students. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s monster theory is a cultural studies approach to considering how monsters are metaphors for the Others within society. Cohen’s seven theses begin by analyzing how the monster's body is a cultural body, both a “construct and projection” that represents something other than itself (thesis 1). Importantly, the monster, and the cultural anxiety it represents, always escapes and lives on, shifts to meet the new cultural moment (thesis 2). Monsters are a harbinger of category crisis who refuse to be classified–they are “disturbing hybrids” (thesis 3) (Cohen 40). They dwell at the gate of difference, “difference made flesh, come to dwell among us,” and largely represent the Other, whether that is “cultural, political, racial, economic, sexual,” and this difference, this Otherness justifies the “displacement or extermination” of them (thesis 4) (41). Importantly, the monster polices the borders of the impossible–beware of curiosity, stay within the approved binaries or risk “becom[ing] monstrous oneself” by transgression (theses 5) (45). Yet the monstrous is inviting–fear of the monster is really a kind of forbidden desire–”we distrust and loathe the monster at the same time we envy its freedom, and perhaps its sublime despair” (thesis 6) (49). Monsters stand at the threshold of Wehrenberg 7 becoming–they are our children, “asking us why we have created them” (thesis 7) (Cohen 52). Importantly, the Othering of monsters and “racism inherent in much Gothic literature of the late nineteenth century is rooted in an imperialist fantasy of the colonial Other coming to ‘our land,’” revealing “white humanity’s own schizoid psyche” (Wester 159, 162). Therefore, within this curriculum, I utilize Cohen’s monster theory and a red reading–a decolonization “interpretation of a non-native text from a native perspective”–of Frankenstein, asking students to consider the monstrous through a racialized lens (Andrews i). Frankenstein & The Marrow Thieves Frankenstein has been read through a racialized, monstrous lens by many scholars, revealing the malleability of the monster, yet the text is not often taught through a racialized lens informed by monster theory. Within the novel, Victor Frankenstein, after losing his mother, isolates himself through his scientific studies, seeking to attain personal glory by creating his own race of men, or “species would bless me as its creator and source” (Shelley 57). After creating his Creature, who he admired for having individual beauty before animation, disgusts him due to “his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (59-60). The Creature learns the English language and Paradise Lost, situating himself as an abandoned Adam seeking his Eve for companionship, since his attempts to befriend anyone are thwarted at all angles. Despite initially agreeing to grant him a mate, who the Creature promises he will take to South America, Victor fears the two will create their own “species” and decides to destroy her. Thus, the Creature kills Victor’s loved ones in punishment. First, Henry Clervil, Wehrenberg 8 Victor’s best friend, and Elizabeth, his wife, on their wedding night, where the Creature is found draped over her dead body, suggesting violation. Victor swears revenge, pursuing his Creature, who helps him along the way and mourns Victor when he dies, choosing to escape at the end of the narrative. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Métis) is a speculative fiction set in the near apocalyptic future due to the climate crisis and disappearance of available water. All non-Indigenous people have lost the ability to dream and re-invent the residential school system to hunt Indigenous people down and harvest their bone marrow. Residential schools, which existed from 1880s to 1996, separated families, land, and language, were designed to separate children from their families, land, and language to assimilate. The schools were physically, psychologically, and sexually abusive, and many children never returned home. Although many Canadians forget or ignore Métis presence in residential schools, Dimaline’s novel makes that history visible. The novel begins with Frenchie, who loses his brother to recruiters at the onset of the novel, causing him to reflect on how he lost both his father and mother as well as he starves alone. He is found by Miig, Minerva, RiRi, Slopper, Tree, Zheegwon, Wab, and Chiboy, a group of Natives travelling North. Although the group experiences losses due to being hunted as monstrous, Frenchie discovers more about his Métis identity in his community through the use of Story, “old timey” ways, and language revitalization efforts. Frankenstein and The Marrow Thieves are an optimal pairing due to their overlapping thematic connections. Both texts are interested in the harms of scientific experimentation and unethical pursuit of knowledge. In traditional teaching of Frankenstein, scientific dilemmas such as cloning have been brought in, as if the experiments within the novel are purely fictionalized. This pedagogical approach ignores the reality that scientific experiments, such as skull Wehrenberg 9 comparisons and attempts to establish polygeneism and eugenics, were happening during Shelley’s era and are therefore reflected and recreated in the novel. Furthermore, by pairing The Marrow Thieves, a speculative fiction based on the apocalyptic idea of being hunted for marrow harvesting, with other scientific atrocities, such as The First Nations nutrition experiment on Indigenous people and sterilization of Indigenous women, the curriculum makes explicit that Dimaline is not dealing in purely fiction either. The texts are each interested in the contrast of individuality and community, particularly in approaches to land. Mary Shelley was interested in the morality the domestic home can provide, which Victor hides from in pursuit of selfish ambition or, later, intense guilt. Victor escapes into nature after Justine’s death, yet he reflects on the individual troubles he has rather than his family. Romanticism, a reaction against Enlightenment ideas of intellectualism and scientific reasoning which encouraged emotionality and a return to nature for inspiration, was focused on cultivating individuality, which Victor’s character exemplifies. Victor and Walton both communicate a desire to overcome nature, or the “elemental foes of our race” (Shelley 37). In contrast, Frenchie’s perspective of nature reflects a focus on what is best for his community rather than his individuality–-while he wants personal glory for bringing back a Moose, for example, he decides not wasting the meat will be a better choice. According to Lypka, connection to the land in a particular area, or “landedness” is the “place where we become familiar” to ourselves and “resurgence ... is predicated on Indigenous communities and their relationship to the land” (28, 30). Similarly, Frenchie relies on his community, particularly Minerva’s language and Miig’s Story, to build his Métis identity. By focusing on both his community’s best interest and right relationship to the land, Frenchie better reflects Indigenous Wehrenberg 10 ways of knowing and caring for the land, rather than Victor’s use of nature for his purely individual reflections. Efforts to learn language also connect the two texts as well. Frenchie is jealous that Rose has gotten language from Minerva, demonstrating a desire to connect to who he is through language revitalization. While Frenchie is craving language to feel connected to an identity he has been severed from, the Creature pursues language in the hopes of being accepted. The Creature’s language is cultivated from Paradise Lost, a canonical text with explicit Christian themes, and De Lacey’s education of Safie through Ruins of Empire. Importantly, as John Bugg points out, it is through the English language that the Creature uses the word “slave” in relation to himself, understanding that "he himself is property” and he cannot belong to society (663). Contrastingly, despite Minerva’s death, Frenchie and his community collect language, Story, and family, practicing a deep hope in Indigenous futures. Frankenstein: a Red Reading According to Misha Kavka, the “Gothic is about fear, localized in the shape of something monstrous which electrifies the collective mind” and that “paranoia thus involves a blurring of boundaries between self and other, to the extent that the other becomes a version of the self returned, with interest, in the form of hostility” (210). Frankenstein, as a foundational gothic novel, can be read as illustrating the paranoia of the colonizer fearing the colonized will invade England, as England has invaded elsewhere. Similarly, The Marrow Thieves, a dystopian science fiction text still draws from gothic tropes but the threat here is of the nameless non-natives who, fearing their lack of a future, recreate the past of residential schools by kidnapping people and sending them to centres to have their dreams extracted. The threat here is no longer an external other, but rather non-natives. This is an example of postcolonial gothic, where gothic tropes Wehrenberg 11 figure and make clear the violence of colonialism and exploitation. Both texts expose how those who are made monstrous by colonial ideologies resist and survive through various means. It is important to analyze the racialized Creature of Victor Frankenstein’s creation. The text makes explicit that he is Othered by society, since everyone he encounters cannot bear to look at him; however, many teachers and readers have emphasized his ugly aesthetic rather than the clear racial difference of the Creature. As pointed out by Maisha Wester, gothic novels “used racial others to shore up the normative ‘human as white, male, middle class, and heterosexual’ when the desired certainty of this standard was being called into question by rapid changes” (157). Although the 1931 Frankenstein film depicted him with green, decaying skin, the original text makes it clear that the yellow skin was about more than decay. Both Anne K Mellor and Karen Lynnea Piper analyze the Creature’s racial identity through the “yellow skin.” While Mellor references Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s categorization of the races, arguing the Creature is a likely Mongolian, reflecting the ideas about the Orient, Piper points out that “yellow skin was also used to describe the Samis of the North and that “the creature’s identity is much more clearly linked to discourses surrounding the ‘problem’ of indigeneity and European ‘discovery’” (Mellor 64). Beyond yellow skin, Piper argues that the Creature’s description is “hauntingly similar to the way that explorers described inhabitants of Greenland in Pinkerton’s Collection… the Laplanders (now Sami) had a ‘dark and swarthy complexion’, hollow cheeks’ and ‘waterish eyes’ probably due to the smoke and snow… above all else was constantly noted for his or her ‘ugliness’” (64-65). Mary Shelley, as an avid reader of The Quarterly Review between 1816 and 1820, which detailed and outlined the exploration of the North Pole, Greenland, and the Arctic, would have been aware of these descriptions. A common practice of the time period was the capture of Inuits “for entertainment Wehrenberg 12 of the royals,” and the details about the Creature “vacillate between the colonial discourses of the noble savage, the ‘civilized’ savage, and the cannibal,” reflecting the cultural anxieties about being invaded by the primitive (64). Furthermore, the first sighting of the Creature in the novel is in the Arctic, yet Mary Shelley participates in erasure of Native peoples by not mentioning the peoples who live there. The fascination during Shelley’s time with the categorization of the races and “discovery” of the North Pole, both demonstrated in The Quarterly Review, demonstrates the Creature as clearly racialized and set apart from Victor, male, white, middle class protagonist. Utilizing both Mellor and Piper’s interpretations, the Creature, like the Gothic, is mutable and reflects the paranoias of its time–“the gothic must necessarily be a flexible genre, filled with different historical contents in different periods” (Kavka 213). The exploration of the North Pole, which would have been impossible without the Sami, as well as the eerily similar descriptions, situates the Creature within the novel as Indigenous. According to Mellor, the historical context of the 1931 film directed by James Whales more clearly establishes it as fear of Japanese impending World War II, recreating the Yellow Man as a giant Mongol again (197). Whales’ film, in which the windmill being burned is similar to lynch mobs burning a cross, echoes anti-Black racist violence in the United States. In either interpretation, “these racialized discourses are not just about the presence, horror, and transgression of the racial other in a predominantly white world, but anxieties over the potential that the other brings from the cultural and racial degeneration of British and American citizens” (Wester 157). Importantly, regardless of specific racial identity or cultural moment, the Creature is always Other, the colonized returning to oppress the colonizer or the invader during war. Monstrosity is easily traced within the text, as the Creature’s hybridity and difference justifies Victor’s hatred and vengeance path against him. As Cohen himself wrote, the Native Wehrenberg 13 American was characterized as a brute and savage in order to propel the project of Manifest Destiny (41). Within imperial Britain, a similar ideology was created of the Sami as dangerous and barbaric–though without their help, the heroes of the arctic would never have gotten their fame (Piper). In addition to appearance, the “amazing strength” of the Sami was noted often, along with their remarkable speed. The Creature’s speed and strength are often remarked upon within the novel, as well as his comfortability with the harsh conditions of the arctic (Piper 65). The colonizers, like Victor, are only kept alive due to the Sami peoples’ and Creature’s efforts. In fact, “without the physical assistance of the Eskimos, [a racial slu] and without object lessons in adaptation provided by them, European accomplishments in the Arctic would probably have been miniscule;” yet, like Victor, the Europeans do not give credit and exaggerate their dangerous presence (65-66). Similarly, though Victor rages at him continually, telling Walton how dangerous he is, the Creature aids Victor’s journey across the harsh landscape of the Arctic by providing him a hare and signposts, and eventually weeps over his death. Contrastingly, the Creature is also treated as a noble savage, capable of learning but distinctly separate from Victor. In addition to Victor’s intent to create a new race, his description, and his familiarity with the land, the Creature’s education and language acquisition reflects realities of children in residential schools. The Creature is continually at the threshold of becoming, unceasingly asking Victor why he has created him and left him abandoned without a father. Residential schools were a paternalistic project which envisioned Native parents as insufficient and unable to care for their own, yet the schools sexually, physically, and emotionally abused the very children under their care. Like the claim that England was entrusted with “the weaker races,” Victor ultimately decides that the “duties towards the beings of my own species had greater claims to my attention,” reflecting the British view that they had a greater Wehrenberg 14 responsibility to the “civilized” (Piper 68-69, Shelley 184). Victor views himself as superior to the Creature, regardless of his learning or abilities–like the colonized, he will always be inferior. As already noted by Bugg and Piper, the Creature’s English language acquisition is an attempt to either be “incorporated in—or rejected from–European culture”; similarly, children in residential schools were punished if they spoke their home language, and learned English in order to survive (Piper 63). Yet the Creature discovers that he will not be treated as an equal in the very pursuit of knowledge. While the Creature’s body makes it clear that he is different, “as the Creature learns to read and speak, he also learns that his body will condition the terms of his existence, and this same principle rules the imperial arena” (Bugg 659). Similarly, the children’s separation from their land, language, and people did not erase their Native identity but a cultural genocide. The project of erasure is exemplified by the destruction of the Creature’s mate out of fear of reproduction reflects the systematic attempt to eliminate Indigenous people. The creator of the Carlisle residential school, which inspired the Canadian system, famously stated “kill the Indian, save the child.” The sterilization of Native women, the removal of Indigenous children from their homes and put into foster care disproportionate rates, the missing and murdered Indigenous women, and the residential schools all attempted to erase Native peoples. The idea that Native governments and people are sovereign, sufficient on their own, separate from the Eurocentric and Christian influence, is impossible and outside the binary of Eurocentric beliefs. Victor’s response to the Creature reflects a European fear that the “savage… are also capable of desiring and invading British life” (Piper 68). The Creature shows what is possible and impossible–contentedly living separate from Victor, making autonomous choices, is too transgressive. Like Piper notes, “wherever he is, he does not belong there” and “the reader is Wehrenberg 15 given the feeling that there must be no contact–or even exchanges of looks–between the Creature and the ‘civilized’ world;” like the Indigenous peoples, the Creature’s only approved location is destruction (68, 69). Victor specifically fears that the Creature will find happiness with his mate and procreate, which leads to the destruction. Interestingly, it is the grin from the Creature that compels the destruction–as if contentment is a crime. The Marrow Thieves According to Sarah Iliot, the postcolonial Gothic of the twenty-first century appropriates the literary aesthetics of the Gothic while centering those that the imperial Gothic sought to make monstrous (19). Concerned with the Story of the past, exploitation of resources, and erasure of people, Cherie Dimaline’s (Métis) The Marrow Thieves (2017), published 200 years after Frankenstein, combines the horrors of residential schools and the endurance of Native youth to convey a post-apocalyptic future in which there is shrinking water, less people, and, for all non-natives, no more dreams. Furthermore, the choice to create an uncertainty of the future for settlers is ironic considering the attempt to erase Native peoples in Canada (Lypka 38). The inevitable result of environmental collapse and racial hierarchies is reflective of postcolonial Gothic, which Dimaline uses to re-engage with the generational trauma from residential schools (Iliot 24). The novel explores what it means to find Métis identity while reimagining colonial violence in the future, restorying and reclaiming Indigenous ways of being and knowing. The off-page nature of the residential schools keeps them shadowing, unknown until Minerva enters them–and even then, “the miracle of minerva” is told in hearsay. The residential schools are a form of slow violence, or a violence that “occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space” (Guerrero 2). During the boarding school era, Indigenous peoples were forced to give up their children or go to jail. While Wehrenberg 16 some families protected their children by hiding them, most children were ripped apart from their parents, and once in the schools, siblings were separated as well. Analyzing fictionalized children’s residential school diaries, Melanie Braith states that many children practiced “generative refusal,” in which they continued their relationship with their families through memory and internal storytelling as a way to restore their isolation and stay connected to their Indigeneity (88). The isolation was by design–the schools wanted to “save the child, kill the Indian,” and one of the main strategies of cultural genocide was to detached these children from their home language and community. In The Marrow Thieves, the school system is reinvented, with each kidnapping like a horror movie, a “repetition of violence.. The violence supersedes time and gives readers a sense of timelessness. The violence was always present albeit hidden” (Guerrero 2). The novel begins with Frenchie’s brother, Mitch, sacrificing himself to “recruiters” for the residential schools, where Indigenous people are taken and do not come out. This scene, where Frenchie clings to a tree long after the recruiters are gone and the sound of Mitch’s screams no longer echo, shaking in fear, aches of familiarity. By creating an “irreal” setting in the near apocalyptic future, Dimaline allows the reader to make connections to their own reality, making clear the fiction is not an escape but “re-engagement with the lived realities… in the face of systemic violence” and erasure of Native voices and stories (Illiot 23). Furthermore, both the capture of Isaac and Miig are due to not listening to their intuition, leading to betrayal from “inside the house,” or among those they assume to be trustworthy. When Frenchie climbs a tree and sees the schools being built, Miig stops him from sharing this knowledge with the group, stating that not all knowledge needs to be shared. Furthermore, when Miig recalls how he returned to the residential school to save Isaac, he recounts how he could not enter that space again, once again keeping it in the Wehrenberg 17 shadows. Lastly, when the residential schools are shown on the page, Minerva’s use of language destroys them. As Kavka states “with the ghostly occupant of the eerie house or the corpse in the coffin, we strain to see, but the enticing scene is barred, shadowed, distanced, or wrongly dimensioned. It is thus not just that we do not see, but precisely that we cannot see, which has metaphorical and affective import” (227). In this case, Dimaline doesn’t show us inside the schools–instead, the slow violence leaking from the schools legacy surrounds the family of characters, revealing the long lasting legacy of colonial violence. In this way, The Marrow Thieves utilizes a Gothic code to depict a horrific reality–residential schools are sites of horror, whose haunting nature remains relatively unknown and untold. Furthermore, by explicitly centering Story, community, and land, throughout the narrative, Dimaline provides hope for Indigenous youth that decolonizes Western practices and centers Indigenous epistemologies. According to Patricia Encisco, transformative literature “centers multidimensional nondominant characters’ perspectives and explores unequal power relations and dehumanization” which imagine futures where characters realize “that they belong to deeply rooted communities… [and] characters’ experiences also illuminate the value of non-Western educational practices, intergenerational knowledge, a kinship with the land, and the ways multiple languages and histories reveal and sustain all of these relationships” (85). By recounting Story, Miig educates his “patchwork family,” largely made up of young people, of the colonial project to take their land, erase them, ignore them, or appropriate their practices (Dimaline 150). As pointed out by Jeff Corntassel (Nuu-chah-nulth), “Indigenous storytelling is connected to our homelands and is crucial to the cultural and political resurgence of Indigenous nations” and is an act of decolonizing, providing “counternarratives” which seek restitution above purely reconciliation, which centers the Canadian status quo rather than survivors (138). Wehrenberg 18 Story is more than fairy tales or myths. As pointed out by Dian Millon, “story has always been practical, strategic, and restorative. Story is Indigenous theory” (Lypka 32). Within the novel, each character’s coming to story is shared with the group in their own time and in their own way in addition to Miig’s Story of their identity. These stories help the characters “return to themselves,” navigating their past traumas by restorying them in community (Lypka 32). Corntassel insists restory must live alongside action built on community healing, which Minerva’s character symbolizes. Minerva’s passing on of language, literally called “magic words” to Rose, a character who was raised by Elders, and telling stories such as the Rogarou becomes the building blocks of revitalization efforts for the characters of various tribes at the conclusion of the novel (32). Frenchie’s characters’ search for identity reflects the legacy of residential schools in Native youth, particularly the systemic violence against them. Throughout the novel, Frenchie relies on Miig as his Elder, seeking to establish his “Indian” identity since he lacks language and cultural memories (Dimaline 190). For example, Frenchie describes his family’s move away from their homes by mentioning the “old people called it the New Road of Allowance,” which was the displacement of Métis people from the end of the 1900s, forcing them from the Red River Settlement (Dimaline 6). Importantly, Frenchie doesn’t have full knowledge of this event–his father did not pass on the Métis history of the Road of Allowance, which creates a further disconnect to Métis identity and claims to land (Lypka 31). Similarly, Celiese Lypka (Métis) sees “their division from Métis knowledge and the land as a reminder of the insidious ways in which colonialism is always working to sever Indigenous claims and kinship” (30). Frenchie’s longing to know language and his true identity through Story is a reaction to that Wehrenberg 19 severing. As Eric Anderson notes, both overt acts of language reclamation and “resurgence of traditional lifeways” are resistance to the erasure against him (267). While Riri and Frenchie are the only characters explicitly named Métis, Frenchie remarks that his “own history seemed like a myth along the lines of dragons” due to the climate disaster, causing him to rely on his found family for Story, language, and community (Dimaline 21). As Sarah Iliot states, twenty-first-century Gothic’s “focus on actual (continuing) and systemic colonial violence,” such as Frenchie’s search for his Métis identity, which is fractured due to systemic erasure (22). This can be seen in Frenchie’s descriptions of his braid, which he uses as a signifier of his “indian” identity, showing he is “complicit with settler colonial understandings of what makes an Indian: how Indigenous they look based on colonial notions on cultural signifiers” (Lypka 35). For example, when Frenchie feels jealous of Rose learning language from Minerva, he shows off his braid as “some kind of proof” of his identity, and later, in comparison to his rival for Rose’s affections, Derrick, he remarks that his hair “made [him] a better Indian” (Dimaline 38, 190). While Frenchie’s connection to his Métis identity is not contingent on his hair length, hair is culturally significant. One of the first ways residential schools forced assimilation is by cutting children’s hair. At the same time, colonial appropriation of Indigenous people has traditionally insisted on one way to look Indian–even without his hair, Frenchie would still be Métis. Rather than cultural signifiers, Frenchie learns his true identity is found in the “bundle [he] carried in [his] chest,” ultimately choosing to stay in the community, learning language and story as reclamation and resistance (229). Culturally Sustaining & Revitalizing Pedagogy: Theory & Practice As educators familiar with stating our why, it is important to reframe pedagogical commitments as statements which are meant to be lived out in the classroom practice. I am Wehrenberg 20 committed to a culturally sustaining approach in the classroom. To implement that, I use the frameworks of textured teaching (Germán) and historically responsive framework (Muhammad). Additionally, I want to center Indigenous peoples’ stories and epistemologies, reflecting my commitment to honor students who are in my classroom or underrepresented in my curriculum. Therefore, I created the curriculum design through the First Peoples Principles of Learning (Chrona) and promoted multiple Indigenous storytellers, while still acknowledging the distinct nationhood of each. Lastly, my commitment to push all students to an intellectually rigorous curriculum that emphasizes criticality of power structures is enacted by teaching students monster theory, red readings, and the making of race throughout the unit. Building on Gloria Ladson-Billings’ work of culturally relevant pedagogy, Django Paris pushed teachers to consider their work as culturally sustaining pedagogy with the "explicit goal [of] supporting multilingualism and multiculturalism in practice and perspective for students and teachers” (2011). Taking the call for culturally sustaining pedagogy, Lorena Escoto Germán created the Textured Teaching (TT) framework for English Language Arts (ELA) teachers. She argues as educators, we are either dismantling the unjust system that is education, or we are complicit in it,” with it meaning the “project of whiteness” that has created so much harm for students. She goes on to quote John Lewis, a Representative who spoke at the March on Washington and called his constituents, to get into “good trouble” (135). Lewis went beyond his civic duties and was heavily involved in the civil rights movement. Similarly, teachers cannot simply teach–we must be willing to get into good trouble in our pedagogical choices and framings to do what is right for our students. The textured teaching framework is informed by the values of love and community, justice, and truth and knowledge, leading to the traits of Student-Drive and Community centered; Interdisciplinary; experiential; and flexible. Wehrenberg 21 Several pedagogical moves demonstrate these traits in practice. Background research groups not only center student voice, but also encourage interdisciplinary knowledge steeped in history. Before reading The Marrow Thieves, students research a number of topics to become familiar with the cultural knowledge and aim of decolonization Dimaline is doing in the text. Another interdisciplinary approach is destigmatizing vocabulary terms, a practice in which students are informed of the historical context of a term and why this term has weight and should not be spoken or written. For example, in Wab’s story, a racial slur is used against her. To handle this term with care, students are shown a clip from a documentary about the impact of the s-word, explaining why we do not use this word, then read an article about the Palisades Tahoe which changed their name. Another practice throughout the curriculum is the choice to treat both written, oral, and visual texts as equally worthy of study, reflecting Germán’s idea of flexible texts. For example, students learn horror tropes through Stranger Things season 1 episode 1, plus children’s scary movie clips. Additionally, students analyze Indigenous representation through children’s film clips that show Native Americans. Lastly, while reading Frankenstein, students experience connection to nature through spending time on their own school site, which is located in view of mountains, reflecting on their own experience with nature through poetry. These activities reflect a texturized teaching approach that honors historical context, language power, layered texts, and experiential knowledge. Promoting a historical assets view through centering Black literacy societies, Gholdy Muhammad explains the Historical Responsive Literacy (HRL) Framework in Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy, which emphasizes five tenants of equitable, culturally relevant teaching: Identity, Skill, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy. She argues that “if we aim to get it right with all youth, a productive starting point is to design teaching and learning to the group(s) of Wehrenberg 22 students who have been marginalized the most in society and within schools” (11). With this in mind, Muhammad argues that students’ identity is central to their ability to learn anything, emphasizing that our students have inherent genius within them. Additionally, while she agrees that it is our job as educators to teach them skills, she pushes educators and school leaders to look beyond standards. Skills, she argues, should not be where we end instruction, but instead our skill instruction should build up their confidence to be change makers through a rich intellectual background and criticality, or the ability to be critical of power, equality, and oppression (58). Finally, in Unearthing Joy, Muhammad emphasizes that our teaching and learning ultimate goal should be in the “pursuit of joy–helping students to uplift beauty, aesthetics, truth, ease, wonder, wellness, solutions to the problems of the world, and personal fulfilment,” not test prep or graduation (17). Focusing on joy as our end goal is reflected in the curriculum through naming the language revitalization in The Marrow Thieves to build identity through Story as the hope and joy of resistance of Indigenous peoples. Muhammad’s framework is the backbone of the curriculum, since the ultimate goal is for students to build intellectual depth and critical lenses when analyzing stories, including those that expose and disrupt oppression. Since The Marrow Thieves emphasizes Story as a central way of knowing, which, as Dian Million argues is “practical, strategic, and restorative,” containing Indigenous theory, meaning “ narratives are always more than telling stories,” students are taught about the purpose of Story in Métis nations as informative of cultural knowledge and Indigenous epistemologies, similar to Muhammad’s analysis of Black literary societies as cultivating genius (Lypka 34). The skills students learn throughout the unit are grounded in the Utah State Standards concerning narrative writing, citing textual evidence, and analyzing the literary structure of the novels as reflections of cultural practices. The discussions and class activities Wehrenberg 23 throughout the unit are meant to build these skills while analyzing Frenchie’s pursuit of his identity in Story and language reclamation, thinking how Dimaline shows Frenchie’s desire to “return to [him]self” through story, language, and cultural signifiers as reflective of survivors from residential schools (Lypke 35). Students final assessment is a comparative analysis of the two literary texts' use of horror tropes, which pushes them to analyze the cultural anxieties of the time, practicing a more critical lens of monstrosity that goes beyond skill or test prep. Building on criticality, I explicitly teach students monster theory by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen and a racialized analysis of the Creature through a red reading lens to enhance their ability to analyze and interpret the texts. Emphasizing the Creature’s identity as Sami or Inuit, in line with Piper’s view, students practice Scott Andrews red reading, analyzing the distribution of power between Victor and the Creature through this lens, and thinking through the revitalization efforts at the end of The Marrow Thieves as full of hope and resistance to elimination. Students have a socratic seminar in which they discuss both texts through these lenses, demonstrating intellect. Additionally, students practice criticality through the lens of literary whiteness, as described by Carlin Borsheim-Black and Sophia Tatiana Sariganides, when we study Indigenous representation in film, such as naming racism, racial identities, and the role that film plays in perpetuating stereotypes of race (11). According to Black and Sariganides, "whiteness maintains power, in part, through maintaining invisibility,” therefore one of the main goals as an antiracist teacher is to make it visible, such as Native actor representation in film masking a white director’s stereotypes of Native peoples. Similarly, after reading Frankenstein, students create a restory or counternarrative through a critical lens, asking what would change in the story if Shelley explicitly named Native people in the Arctic (10). By encouraging students to interrogate Wehrenberg 24 how race is socially constructed in Frankenstein and film clips, the curriculum is explicitly antiracist, making whiteness visible. The frameworks of Germán and Muhammad build on Ladson-Billings and Paris, while Jo Chrona’s Wayi Wah!: Indigenous Pedagogies An Act of Reconciliation and Anti-Racist Education acknowledges culturally sustaining frameworks as important while centering Indigenous epistemologies. Chrona is set in the Canadian context, which has implemented systemic changes as a response to the United Nations report and the Truth and Reconciliation commission, both developed partly as a result of the residential schools system and the calls to action that the final report from Truth and Reconciliation outlined, including a call to develop an education plan with the government and aboriginal groups. The United States’ model of residential schools, particularly the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, inspired colonial societies throughout the world, including Canada; therefore, Canadian insights into residential schools are apt for application in the United States, which has not implemented curriculum mandates as a result of either reports. Both wanting to promote Indigenous epistemologies and avoiding a pan-Indigenous view, I will rely on the principles of learning alongside the other two frameworks to promote a culturally sustainable and revitalizing pedagogy, described by McCarty and Tiffany S. Lee as essential when educating Native American students (101). The First Peoples Principles of Learning show up throughout the unit, specifically “learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, family, community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors,” “learning is embedded in memory, history, and story,” and “learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge,” including that some “knowledge is sacred.” Students begin the unit with a land acknowledgement and information about the Métis, since the Wehrenberg 25 land and community Frenchie is a part of is essential in his Métis identity development, which is explored in discussion questions and the socratic seminar. Additionally, the concept of Story, which are specific chapters capturing Miig’s oral storytelling to the group of their past, is essential to the knowledge and, as Minerva’s character shows, the key to resistance against the colonial violence of residential schools includes language revitalization. Minerva and Riri’s significance in the novel, as the hands of our future and our Elders, students consider “generational roles and responsibilities” within the community through discussions and Socratic seminar questions. In one assignment, students create collages of beings such as the Wendigo, Rogarou, and Deer Woman to align with Dian Million’s observation “Story is Indigenous theory” (Lypka 34). However, in order to honor the power these beings possess, students are not allowed to say their names aloud and must utilize Indigenous sources for information. Furthermore, while students are investigating the missing and murdered women and girls reports, students analyze advocacy beadwork and Indigenous female poetry to show Indigenous joy to counteract “damage-centered narratives” in which Indigenous peoples are only shown through the violence done to them (Tuck). In these activities, as well as emphasizing language revitalization, the unit seeks to honor Indigenous ways of knowing and acknowledges some knowledge is sacred. Textured Teaching Framework Historical Responsive Learning First Peoples Principles of Learning Student-driven and community centered Identity ● Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits and the ancestors ● Learning involves exploration of one’s identity ● Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities Experiential Skill ● Learning Involves Patience & Time Wehrenberg 26 ● Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational Interdisciplinary Intellect ● Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story ● Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge Flexible Criticality ● Learning Involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions ● Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations. Joy As a whole, this project has set out to synthesize a theoretical approach to The Marrow Thieves and Frankenstein, hoping to disrupt the typical pedagogical moves made when teaching these texts. While typical approaches center the canon and supplement with YAL, this curriculum flips that paradigm, placing Frankenstein in the middle of The Marrow Thieves. While still following district mandates to teach the canon, the curriculum successfully centers more culturally relevant messages for students. Furthermore, by centering the work on the land and context of my school site, the curriculum acknowledges the settler violence to steal the land and resists the on-going curriculum violence of erasing Native peoples by centering The Marrow Thieves and layering multiple Indigenous voices throughout. Critiquing the monstrous messages of Frankenstein and The Marrow Thieves implements literary theory for students in accessible language, inviting them to practice criticality of monstrous messages they hear in political speeches, horror movies, or fairy tales. Building students who are able to not only write narratives, but critiquing the power dynamics within texts reflects a culturally sustaining approach that does more for students than test preparation. Wehrenberg 27 Works Cited Anderson, Eric G., Angela Calcaterra, and Christopher Pexa. "Indigenous Young Adult Novels: An Introduction." Studies in the Novel, vol. 54, no. 3, 2022, pp. 265-273. Andrews, Scott. “Red Readings: Decolonization through Native-centric Responses to Non-native Literature and Film. Transmotion, vol 4, no. 1, 2018, pp. i-vii, https://journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/transmotion/issue/view/29 Bishop, Rudine Sims. “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.” Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, Vol. 6, no. 3, Summer 1990, p. 1-2. https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Gl ass-Doors.pdf. Accessed 27 Nov. 2022. Borsheim-Black, Carlin and Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides. Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students. Teachers College Press, 2019. Braith, Melanie. “‘We Are Here Now’: The Generative Refusal of Fictional Residential School Diaries.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 32, no. 3/4, 2020, pp. 88–106. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27013429. Accessed 12 May 2025. Bugg, John. “Master of Their Language: Education and Exile in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 4, 2005, pp. 655-66. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1525/hlq.2005.68.4.655. Accessed 12 May 2025. Chrona, Jo. Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies: An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-Racist Education. Portage & Main Press, 2022. Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” Monster Theory: Reading Culture, edited by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1996, pp. 3-25, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=c8f4e376-8fbe-3851-9b99-7b6652c8dbed. Wehrenberg 28 Corntassel, Jeff and Chaw-win-is, T’lakwadzi. “Indigenous Storytelling, Truth-telling, and Community Approaches to Reconciliation.” ESC: English Studies in Canada, Vol 35, Issue 1, March 2009, pp. 137-159. https://doi.org/10.1353/esc.0.0163 Dahlen, Sarah Park, and David Huyck. Diversity in Children’s Books 2018. 2018, Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, https://socialjusticebooks.org/diversity-graphic The #DisruptTexts Collective. “#DisruptTexts: An Empowerment-Centered Pedagogy.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 55, no. 1, 2020, pp. 82-84. Dimaline, Cherie. The Marrow Thieves. Cormorant Books, 2017. Dutro, Elizabeth. “Writing Wounded: Trauma, Testimony, and Critical Witness in Literacy Classrooms.” English Education, National Council of Teachers of English, Vol 43, No. 2 (January 2011), pp. 193-211. www.jstor.org/stable/23017070. Enciso, Patricia. “Transformative Literature and the Politics of Literature Education.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 54, no. 1, 2019, pp. 84–88. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26802774. Accessed 12 May 2025. Guerrero, Zeno Deleon. The Story of Slow Violence. 2021. Student Research and Creative Works. University of Puget Sound, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.36514408. Accessed 12 May 2025. Hadley, Heidi Lyn and S.R. Toliver. “The Monstrous Hospitality of Canonical Text Selections: The Need for a Hospitable Literacy Framework.” Journal of Literacy Research, vol. 55, no. 4, 2023, pp. 428-449. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X231215325. hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge, 1994. Wehrenberg 29 Ighodaro, Erhabor, and Greg A. Wiggan. Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue. Nova Science Publishers, 2010. Ilott, Sarah. “Postcolonial Gothic.” Twenty-First-Century Gothic, edited by Brigid Cherry and Caroline Joan S. Picart, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 19-30. Jones, Stephanie. “Curriculum violence and Text Selection.” English Leadership Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 2, 2022, pp. 1-5, https://doi.org/10.58680/elq32105 Kavka, Misha. “The Gothic on Screen.” The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction, edited by Jerrold E. Hogle, Cambridge UP, 2002, pp. 209-229. Ladson-Billings, Gloria. “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: aka the Remix.” Harvard Educational Review, Vol 84, No 1, 2014, pp. 74-84. Lypka, Celiese. “Métis Survivance: Land, Love, and Futures in Cherie Dimaline’s Dystopian Novels.” American Studies, vol. 60, no. 3/4, 2021, pp. 27–49. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48775954. Accessed 12 May 2025. McCarty, Teresa L. & Theresa Lee. “Critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and Indigenous education sovereignty.” Harvard Educational Review, vol. 84, no. 1, 2014, pp. 101–124. Mellor, Anne K. “Frankenstein, Racial Science, and the Yellow Peril.” Nineteenth-Century Contexts, vol. 23, no. 1, 2001, pp. 1-28. Muhammad, Gholdy, and Bettina L. Love. Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Scholastic Inc, 2020. Muhammad, Gholdy, and Pharrell Williams. Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning. Scholastic Inc, 2023. Wehrenberg 30 Paris, Django. “Culturally Sustained Pedagogy: A Needed Change in Stance, Terminology, and Practice.” Educational Researcher, vol. 41, no. 3, 2012, pp. 93–97. PEN America. “Banned in the USA: Beyond the Shelves.” PEN America, 2024, https://pen.org/report/beyond-the-shelves/. Accessed 30 May 2025. Piper, Karen Lynnea. “Inuit Diasporas: Frankenstein and the Inuit in England.” Romanticism, vol 13, no 1, 2007, p. 63-75. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/214804. Rogers, Andrea L. Man Made Monsters. Levine querido, 2022. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 3rd ed., edited by J. Paul Hunter, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Toliver, S.R. and Heidi Lyn Hadley. “Ca(n)non Fodder No More: Disrupting Common Arguments that Support a Canonical Empire.” Journal of Language & Literacy Education, Vol 17 Issue 2, Fall 2021. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Volume One: Summary. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future. Lorimer, 2015. Tuck, Eve and K. Wayne Yang. “Decolonization is not a metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, & Society. vol. 1, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1-40. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18630 Tuck, Eve. “Suspending Damage: A letter to communities.” Harvard Educational Review, Vol 79, No 3, Fall 2009, pp. 409-427. https://pages.ucsd.edu/~rfrank/class_web/ES-114A/Week%204/TuckHEdR79-3.pdf Wester, Maisha L. “The Gothic and the Politics of Race.” The Cambridge Companion of the Modern Gothic, edited by Jerrold E. Hogle, Cambridge UP, 2014, pp. 103-118. Wehrenberg 31 Wilson, Chase. “Decolonizing Memory: Erasure and Resurgence of Indigenous History in the Intermountain West.” Masters thesis, Utah State University, 2023, https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/8837/. Dear Educator, “Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you’re not the one that’ll be alive to see it.” -Cherie Dimaline THE MARROW THIEVES is set in the near future, where the climate has been destroyed and water is scarce. Additionally, non-Indigenous people have lost the ability to dream, and have reinvented the residential school system to hunt down Indigenous people for their bone marrow in the hopes for a cure. Frenchie and his found family head North as they run from school recruiters and other threats. When asked about The Marrow Thieves, Dimlaine has repeatedly spoken about how she desired to show the hope, survival, and resistance of Native people and the colonial violence against them. The Marrow Thieves isn’t just another popular dystopian fiction for young adults. Cherie Dimaline (Métis) tells the story of the dystopian future from the perspective of Native people who have already experienced the apocalypse. The Residential School system attempted to erase Native people and assimilate them, or “kill the Indian, save the child.” Setting the story in the near future, Dimaline pushes readers to consider how the colonial project to eradicate Natives continues and is resisted through revitalization efforts. Frenchie’s search for his identity, Miig’s utilization of Story to teach, Minerva’s “old timey” ways, Rose’s strong sense of self, the twins’ unity, Chi boy quiet pursuit of Wab, Wab’s resilience and fierceness, Slopper’s growing leadership, and Riri’s curiosity–each character draws you in, wanting to hear each of their coming to stories, wanting to learn from them. Each chapter is intriguing, both an individual tale and a collective hope. The Marrow Thieves will spark conversations with your students even during non-reading times, and will stick with them beyond your class. According to the PEN Report, young adult literature is disproportionately banned in the classroom, leading teachers to reach for canonical comforts. However, the beloved texts we expect students to be familiar with are written for an adult audience–they were not intended for children. Toni Morrison first spoke about the White Gaze as a result of her own novels being critiqued for not centering the white reader. Similarly, adults tend to have an adult gaze of reading–determining which novels are appropriate for adolescence. Students should be getting books that were written for them, about them, authentically. When we continually give students books that were never meant for children to read, we might be implying that reading is not for them either. When we disparage YA Lit in favor of the canon, we are not fostering a long term love of reading and discovery. Dimaline’s story depicts traumas and Indigenous joy that are important to witness. As a teacher reader, it will be a vulnerable text to read and teach. Afterall, as teachers in the school system, we have immense power to enact hope or harm. One way of harm is the tradition of curriculum violence, in which our curriculum recreates societal harm through our choices. For example, if representation of BIPOC is always through a harmful lens, it reiterates the harm it is attempting to describe. Similarly, avoiding teaching Indigenous studies contributes to the tradition of erasure. Teaching about residential schools in the United States is, I would argue, even more important than Canada, since the conversations. May I remind you that teaching United States has not had a reckoning with our has never been apolitical or neutral. Along with history like Canada has, despite the fact that the John Lewis, I invite you to get into “good United States was the inspiration for residential trouble.” Teach The Marrow Thieves schools throughout the world. unflinchingly and without hedging–our students As a call-in, we must teach Indigenous stories. This deserve and crave the truth. land is not ours–it was stolen by settlers–and John Lewis, a civil rights activist, encouraged us to our curriculum must reflect that truth. I am get into good trouble for the sake of justice. committed to anti-racist work in the classroom, James Baldwin famously wrote a letter to working within the system, a pedagogical teachers, trying to get them to consider both the commitment that is enacted through this immense power and influence they have as an curriculum guide. Some educators may be educator in the school system. Teaching is a concerned about appropriating culture. This is vulnerable act–it is not apolitical, and it is a valid concern—instead of comforting words, I impossible to be neutral. This curriculum guide offer you the challenge and opportunity to learn. invites you to get into good trouble, scheming Don’t avoid teaching about Indigenous peoples how to best teach our students. Our curriculum due to guilt, and don’t do harm due to lack of must reflect our commitment to a democratic knowledge. Research the land your school society that is pursuing equality. Our building is on. Feel assured that teaching texts classrooms must respect students and meet like this one is doing the work–keep at it. them where they are. After Trump’s re-election in 2024, the residential Thank you for being an educator. Thank you further school system is an eerie, timely study. for being an English educator, as I know the Kidnapping, hunting, and government holding book banning and “supplementary resources” spots for those determined to be monstrous are conversations are directed at us. You are doing not images of the past. The ICE detention powerful work in teaching this novel. Teach centers recreate violence against those the bravely, vulnerably, wholly. government is determined to erase and de-legitamize. Your students are intelligent and politically aware–they will make this connection. Guide them and don’t shy away from these Yours, Jaid Pre-Reading Considerations for Teachers A Text Set for Educators As English teachers, it sometimes feels like we have to know everything. Our job is not just about reading and writing–but the choice to get into what John Lewis called “good trouble.” We must be knowledgeable about the books we teach, the harm they perpetuate, and how to resist the current political tide that is turning back human rights victories we’ve had for decades. One way we do that is by reading ourselves to create artful curriculum design that cultivates the genius and fosters the joy in learning for our students (Muhammad). The materials below are not exhaustive–yet I feel they cover a breadth to get you started in your own curiosity. Most teachers return to the classroom because we succeeded at school–my hope is that pursuing these texts (films, novels, podcasts, and nonfiction) gives you the thrill of being a student again. Texts for Personal Study & Cultural Enrichment Background Research & Study Bones of Crows (2022) Blood Quantum (2019) Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) Ancestor Approved edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Nation) The Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People by Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo Nation) Smoke Signals (1998) These Are My Words by Ruby Slipperjack (Anishinaabe) Geniesh: An Indian Girlhood by Jane Willis (Cree) Porcupines and China Dolls by Robert Arthur Alexie (First Nation) The Land You Are On: Native Lands Man Made Monster by Andrea L. Rogers (Cherokee) I am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis (Anishinaabe) When We Were Alone by David Alexander Robertson (Norway House Cree Nation) Shi-Shi-Etko by Nicola I. Campbell (Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Métis) The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad (Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation) When I was Eight and Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (Inuvialuk) My name is Seepetza by Shirley Sterling (Interior Salish Nation) Texts to Inform Classroom Pedagogy & Practice Letting Go of Literary Whiteness by Carlin Borsheim-Black and Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides Wayi Wah! By Jo Chrona (Kitsumkalum First Nation) “Writing Wounded” by Elizabeth Dutro Textured Teaching by Lorena Escoto German Cultivating Genius & Unearthing Joy by Gholdy Muhammad Essential Questions & Framing: “How do both authors utilize horror tropes to communicate the monstrous, and what does that communicate about cultural anxieties in each of their time periods?” ❖ How do we define ourselves? ❖ How do we define “the Other” ❖ What does monstrosity mean? ❖ How do representations of people impact them? Pedagogical Framing: Utilizing Textured Teaching by Lorena Escota German, Cultivating Genius & Unearthing Joy by Gholdy Muhammad, and Wayi Wah! By Jo Chrona, this unit creates a culturally sustaining approach to teaching, meaning teaching pushes towards a multicultural view of society (Paris). Textured Teaching Framework Historical Responsive Learning Student-driven and community centered Identity ● Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits and the ancestors ● Learning involves exploration of one’s identity ● Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities Experiential Skill ● Learning Involves Patience & Time ● Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational Interdisciplinary Intellect ● Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story ● Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge Flexible Criticality ● Learning Involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions ● Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations. Joy First Peoples Principles of Learning Standards The standards used here are based on Utah’s Education standards, though can easily be applied to common core. This chart can be used with students to take agency of their own learning. The non-academic standards listed are adopted from Learning for Justice’s standards, because, as Borsheim-Black points out, we must assess students’ knowledge of these as well if we truly care about them. Standard: Confidence Before Unit: Activities: When reading texts, including those from diverse cultures, determine two or more themes and analyze their development, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account, and provide an objective summary that includes textual evidence. Confident ● ● ● ● Thematic Chart Horror Bingo Book Review: Bingo 2.0 Socratic Seminar Confident Determine the meaning and impact of words and phrases on tone and mood, including words with multiple meanings. Analyze figurative language, connotative meanings, and figures of speech. Examine how the author uses and refines the meaning of domain-specific vocabulary and how language differs across historical time periods, cultures, regions, and genres. Confident ● Demystifying Vocabulary Terms Allusions & Thematic Chart #MMIWG Infographics Film Study 1 & 2 Seeing Whiteness Podcast Confident Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of structures across multiple texts about similar topics/themes, including whether the structures make points or events clear, effective, convincing, or engaging. Confident ● ● ● Discussions Socratic Seminar Comparative Essay Confident Analyze two or more texts of literary significance across and within time periods with similar topics and themes, drawing on their purposes, stylistic choices, and rhetorical features. Confident ● Thematic Comparative Chart Restorying Narrative Film Clip Research Days Horror Scavenger Hunt Bioethics Case Studies Confident Write narrative texts to develop real or imagined experiences or Confident Restorying Frankenstein, using the structure Confident ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Confidence After Unit: (epistolary) and Gothic tropes–keep things in the shadows. events using effective technique, well-structured event sequences, well-chosen details, and provide a resolution with closure. Students will express empathy when people are excluded or mistreated because of their identities. Confident ● ● ● ● Land Acknowledgement Residential schools Writing Wounded Reflection #MMIWG slides Confident Students can explain the short and long-term impact of biased words and behaviors and unjust practices, laws and institutions that limit the rights and freedoms of people based on their identity groups Confident ● Demystifying & Destigmatizing terms Confident Students understand that diversity includes the impact of unequal power relations on the development of group identities and cultures Confident ● Residential Schools Memoirs Book Study Background Research Groups Mini Lit Circles Confident ● ● Students recognize traits of the dominant culture, their home culture and other cultures, and are conscious of how they express identity as they move between those spaces. Confident ● ● ● Thematic Charts Discussion Questions about Story Quotes and Clips from Dimaline Introduction of Novel Activities Within the text are historical references that will be essential for students to understand, plus the concepts of monster theory that they will be expected to know and utilize throughout the unit. Lastly, students will need to know the genre tropes within the horror genre. Before beginning the unit, we must connect to the land we are on, then the lands that the two novels are set in. Using Native Lands Interactive map, I direct students to type in our school address, then point them to the sources to explore more. Here I point to local scholars’ work such as Darren Parry and Chase Wilson, to specifically discuss the Bear River Massacre. After researching, students create infographics in groups of three, like a jig saw, and share with each other. This assignment is meant to counteract two myths and misconceptions about Indigenous peoples: that they are in the past and that they are homogenous. Be sure students create infographics that reflect the distinct government and Nationhood of each tribe. Research land your school is on Provide information provided about Métis Research Anishnabee language Mention that Canada comes from Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) term, Kanatiens, which means ‘they sit in our village,’ or squatter (Corntassel 139) Research Sami and Inuit Nunangat of the Arctic and Greenland According to Muhammad, historical context is essential so we can respond to it, and Germán notes how essential interdisciplinary studies is to our discipline. Students use inquiry to investigate through a Tic-Tac-Toe Choice menu, which gives them 9 options to explore, including photographs of children in schools, videos about the schools, and podcasts from survivors. Furthermore, centering on restorying, which means to provide a counternarrative to the dominant one and also means to restore and reclaim outside of state sanctioned “reconciliation,” this unit demonstrates Indigenous ways of knowledge and restitution. The following children’s books are from the survivors (or descendents of), which is always who we must listen to (Corntassel). As students select each children’s book, set the reading purpose: as you read, identify the four tenets that survivors want people to know about residential schools: homeland, family, restitution–of land, sovereignty, language primarily, as well as financial–and restorying (Corntassel). I am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis (Anishinaabe) When We Were Alone by David Alexander Robertson (Norway House Cree Nation) Shi-Shi-Etko by Nicola I. Campbell (Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Métis) The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad (Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation) When I was Eight and Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (Inuvialuk) My name is Seepetza by Shirley Sterling (Interior Salish Nation) Building background on a text is meant to achieve multiple purposes, including giving students tools to unpack complexity in the text and the potential bias and cultural understandings of the author (Germán 52). However, background knowledge should be more than vocabulary and setting–instead, like the four tenets Muhammad emphasizes, background knowledge should enrich students’ ability to be critical and intellectual about what they will study, while practicing the skill of researching and presenting. Indigenous people are not homogenous–each nation has specific governments, language, and a rich, distinct culture. Nations have the right to sovereignty, or the supreme authority to govern itself without outside government interference. It is important to avoid the misconception that all Native American people are the same–this contributes to the tradition of erasure of Native peoples. While not wanting to give a Pan-Indigenous view of Native American issues, these topics are meant to give students a view of the relationship between the United States, Canada, and British colonial exploitation of Indigenous peoples. When assigning, reiterate to students that each nation is unique and their presentations should reflect this distinction. Here are some topics that I’ve selected for students to unpack the literary and sociopolitical implications within The Marrow Thieves. 1. #MMIWG 2. Métis Nationhood and history 3. Road Allowance 4. Oka Crisis (Mohawk Nation) 5. Bears Ears (Utah) 6. Canadian Indian Act 7. Indian Child Welfare Act 8. Land Back Movement 9. Idle No More (Canada) 10. Standing Rock (US) 11. Mauna Kea (Hawaii) 12. Canadian restoration Committee Timeline 13. Language Revitalization 14. Osage Murders in 1920s (Oklahoma) 15. Wounded Knee (South Dakota) 16. Trail of Tears (Relocation) Note: As students research, they might feel many emotions–be prepared to guide them emotionally as they are researching. Although students are experts and knowledge-bearers in this assignment, they still need the teacher’s guiding hand emotionally. Providing an intellectual framing for this unit, monster theory from Jeffrey Jerome Cohen will be taught explicitly to students. Because it is theoretical, students will be exposed multiple times to the theory: 1) Monster’s body is a cultural body - represents anxieties of society 2) Monster Always Escapes - the monster and what it represents always returns 3) Monster is a harbinger of categorical crisis - a hybrid by nature, refuses to be categorized 4) Monster dwells at the gate of difference -difference made flesh, come to dwell among us (with us being heteronormative, dominant culture) 5) The Monster Determines what is Possible vs Impossible 6) Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desire - monster attracts and disgusts simultaneously 7) The Monster Stands at Threshold of Becoming First, students can be taught the theory using popular culture images, such as Edward from Twilight (thesis 6), Ursula (thesis 3), Luca (2021) (thesis 4), Beast (from Beauty & The Beast) (theses 1), Wanda (theses 7). Next, analyzing myths and fairy tales, students will answer who is monstrous and what warnings they are supposed to reflect. Lastly, to make sure students understand we aren’t necessarily talking about literal monsters, students will analyze the argumentative rhetoric in anti-immigration clips from 2016-2025. This is extremely relevant to the cultural moment and my student population. Analyzing rhetorical strategies, and how the monstrous is a part of that, is imperative for students. Since analyzing tropes will be central to our study of genre in both texts, students begin their investigation into horror with a bingo full of tropes that they mark off while watching Episode 1 of “Stranger Things.” Following these analyses, I pair horror and monster theory together by having students list children’s horror movies, such as Corline, Paranorman, Monster House, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Scooby Doo episodes, and Frankenweenie, and analyze who the monster is and what cultural warning or anxiety they represent. During Reading Activities (The Marrow Thieves) While reading the novel, explore the historical connections that Dimaline is making with students in and , plus create #MMIWG instagram advocacy slides and Indigenous Ways of Knowing collages. Additionally, to further analyze Indigenous representation, students will spend time looking at Native representation in film. According to Lorena Escota Germán in Textured Teaching, the first day of any novel study should be spent demystifying and destigmatizing the topics you will be encountering, because “often these are concepts or terms that create discomfort, that have heavy connotations, and whose presence causes apprehension for students” (46). Furthermore, students (and adults) might use these terms but not be clear on the meaning, and without clarity, students can continue to use or not understand why terms are slurs. Teaching terms like this is vulnerable, but an important practice. Where else will students learn than in your classroom? Depending on your pedagogical approach, the lesson can go differently. The terms should be handled with care, as they can be damaging upon being heard or read. Be sure to also set expectations that protect your students; do not engage conversation at first–invite students to write and not speak aloud. Be sure to insist that students respect people both in and outside the room and avoid disparaging language. Beyond these considerations, it is important to know your students. Courageous conversations like these should not happen on day one. For my classroom practice, I reference the term without saying it or displaying it; instead, I use videos from the community explaining these terms, and then, if the terms come back up in the novel, I refer back to this conversation to remind students of how we honor people by not using or writing these terms. The videos are provided in the day-by-day breakdown. The terms provided here Indigenous, Indian, Native, Native American terminology Squaw (Marrow Thieves) Eskimo (in Frankenstein) A whole class novel can feel hard, especially when it feels like you are reading everyday for most of the class. To help students master the chapter while still promoting choice, optimize a choice menu for exit tickets. I created 18 options (one set of 9) for each half of the book) that are creative ways for students to recall what they read that day. Students have told me repeatedly this is their favorite and helped them remember the book! A Note on Sensitivity: I do not have students make a choice after Wab’s story–instead, implementing Elizabeth Dutro’s “Writing Wounded,” I ask students to refuse to see her story from a distance–to be a witness to Wab’s story–reiterating, as she does, “stories 'constitute a ‘plea by an other who is asking to be seen and heard, this call by which the other commands us to awaken,” asking them to respond with stories of their own (Dutro 209). As Dutro notes, “testifying and witnessing the hard stuff is a reciprocal process,” which means the educator should model a writing response for students that exposes a corner–or whole page–of your own life that witnesses and testifies with Wab. Choice Exit Tickets Set 1 Choice Exit Tickets Set 2 Writing Wounded: Witness & Testimony Because the novel is steeped in history and historical allusions/references, I highly recommend doing discussions throughout each chapter. I have provided discussion questions for each chapter set in the full unit breakdown below. As I’ve already mentioned, the most vulnerable chapter in the novel is “Wab’s Story.” Students must have a guiding hand to read this chapter, and prep work beforehand. There is no value in shocking students when hearing about sexual assault in a classroom. Providing adequate background, processing time, and counternarratives of joy are imperative. Therefore, spend time having students research the reports in Canada and the United States about #MMIWG before reading that chapter. Students should use their research to create Instagram Advocacy Slides with information and resources using Canva. Due to the vulnerable nature of Wab’s story, I suggest doing the above activity before the chapter and the below activity after the chapter to give the story the time and honor it deserves, guiding students to appropriately witness Wab’s testimony. To avoid a narrative of damage only, have students utilize art by Indigenous women, such as poetry or beadword, in their calls to action. Indigenous peoples cannot be seen through “damage-centered narratives” and should be focused on through Indigenous joy. This could be a good place for a book talk featuring Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) (Tuck). A specific section of the novel depicts women’s way of implementing justice–this section would be poignant to share here to demonstrate both the reality of violence against women and the ways in which they are agents of justice within that. Pairing with this book talk, have students hear from Indigenous female poets and view “walking with our sisters” art project, which displays beautiful unfinished moccasins to represent the unfinished lives of women and girls (“Walking with Our Sisters”). Split the class into two groups and then switch halfway through to expose to both text types. Students' understanding of the white gaze and literary whiteness can be best explained through the practice of red face, in which Native characters are played by non-Native people. Analyzing this practice and the cinematic tropes which center white characters, such as in Dances with Wolves, helps students understand representation issues. Covered in two days, I have students begin investigating literary whiteness through listing some movies that might fit the definition I give them. Then, using A People’s History of Native America with Tai Leclaire (Mohawk Nation of Kahnawà:ke) PBS episode called “What Hollywood Got Wrong” we specifically look at Hollywood’s representation of Native peoples. Secondly, students complete a scavenger hunt investigating a Native-made film guide called “The Time is Now.” On the second day, students analyze children’s films' depiction of Native people through films such as Pocahonotus, Brother Bear, Spirit, and Molly of Denali. The goal is for students to identify stereotypes and myths, or in the rare case, positive representation. “Red Face” Film Day 1 “Red Face” Film Day 2 Teaching allusions is a common way of teaching the canon, and one important fact about Dimaline’s novel is how steeped it is in particular cultural knowledge. The Marrow Thieves expertly weaves information about Windigos and Rougarous in the text without actually explaining them. Because the narrative is focalised by Frenchie, the reader learns alongside him and is similarly frustrated and eager for knowledge like he is. Minerva, Miig, Isaac, and Frenchie’s dad all hold knowledge that Frenchie himself does not–he longs to have this knowledge as he learns to return to himself. I provide students with these two choices, adding the Deer Woman, as she’s my personal favorite, and have them research them, then create collages to represent why they exist. I take this as an opportunity to teach students about credibility and reliability of sources–students must find information from Native sources rather than settler summaries. However, in your teaching of them, do not speak these beings' names out loud because of the harmful power they represent. Like Chrona mentions, there is some knowledge that is sacred, and our way of honoring and legitimizing that is by not speaking these beings’ names out loud. After Miig’s story, students complete a scavenger hunt to review the book so far. Reusing the horror bingo, students hunt for monster theory, dystopian, and horror tropes present in the novel so far by finding textual evidence to support their claims. Frankenstein During Reading Graphic Novel: Unconventionally, I am opting to subvert the traditional canonical and YAL pairings by having Frankenstein be taught as a graphic novel towards the end of The Marrow Thieves. As Hadley and Toliver rightly noted, so often YAL is considered the “gateway” to canonical literature, as if those texts are the serious literature we want our students reading. To disrupt this paradigm, I’m teaching Frankenstein (in graphic novel form) as the supplemental text that enriches our reading of The Marrow Thieves rather than the other way around. Students will be introduced to Frankenstein after the Miracle of Minerva chapter. Before this, the science of the residential schools is shrouded in mystery. Therefore, it made sense to me to wait to introduce it until then. I start by talking about Mary Shelley through Mary’s Monster, the YAL graphic novel. Her backstory largely informs how she writes about the Creature, which will be our central focus. While her famous parentage and whirlwind romance on her mother’s grave are well known, it will be important to establish with students how Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley connected over Mary Wollstonecraft’s radical politics. Wollstonecraft’s review of Equaino’s narrative, according to John Bugg, establishes she does not believe in the inherent inferiority of races. Mary Shelley’s obsession with her mother leads us to believe that she too would have not wanted to perpetuate that ideology. The science of race, and how it is socially constructed rather than biologically real, is essential for students to understand. Scholars such as Anne Mellor and Karen Lynnea Piper have pointed out that Shelley, as an avid reader, would have been familiar with The Quarterly Review pieces on topics such as polygenesium, and even been friends with Lawrence, who added onto Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s racial hierarchies by creating morality around the races. Therefore, it is essential to understand those in order to analyze the racial identity of the Creature. Residential schools conducted scientific experiments on children, called the First Nations Nutrition Experiment. The Father of Gynecology experimented on enslaved women, who he believed didn’t feel pain the same as white women, and a 1970 law allowed the mass sterilization of Native American women. Additionally, the Tuskegee Experiment, the infamous syphilis study which provided no care to patients intentionally, which led to the deaths and transmission of the disease to many within the study. Studying these three case studies is essential for students to understand that the experimentation and “race” creation in Frankenstein is directly related to science experimentation on people who others viewed as monstrous. Background on Bioethics Research Bioethics Case Studies During the textual reading, students will keep a thematic reading chart which helps them explicitly connect The Marrow Thieves to the canonical text. Additionally, the students will answer discussion questions with partners that relate to the novel’s racialization of the Creature. It is important students do not read a single story of what it means to be Native American. Therefore, here are a few layered texts to do mini literary circles in a single class period: Short Stories Children’s Books Man Made Monster by Andrea L. Rogers ● “Man Made Monster” ● “Ama’s Boys” ● “Lens” ● “Shame on the Moon” & Ancestor Approved edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom We’re Still Here! Justine’s confession and execution for the murder of William is revealing of Victor’s character, yet her confession is so little discussed. Take this opportunity with students to review their rights if arrested using the ACLU resources. Furthermore, mention a “show talk” featuring When They See Us, the Netflix show directed by Ava Duvernay about the Central Park 5, who infamously falsely confessed due to police pressure and lack of parental and legal representation. Germán writes that students should experience our classes, so this is meant to be an experiential and joyful (Muhammad) class activity. While criticality (Muhammad) is central to this unit, my school site is in front of a mountain range. I want students to embrace the joy and contemplation of nature, then create their own poetry to share. After Reading Activities: How does media affect what we remember? In this film study, students do a film analysis, showing how the James Whales’ 1931 film reproduced worries of the time. Additionally, students will analyze the “gothic on screen” through studying visual codes of the gothic, particularly the use of shadow within the film. Connecting to our study of filmic representations of Native Americans, we will look at how hollywood horror perpetuated racialized images, such as the burning of the mill at the end as similar to lynchings during the same time period. Building on Anne Mellor’s hypothesis that the Creature represents a “mongolian,” I begin our 1931 Frankenstein film study by analyzing the propaganda posters in a text set. While I am arguing with Piper that the Creature represents the Sami from the Arctic, the film gave credence to a racialization of the Japanese in the 1950s–this shows the cultural messages that texts embody and perpetuate. A list of curated questions about both novels, monster theory, and horror tropes and how they function within the text invites students to engage in intellectual discussions (Muhammad). Taking inspiration from our study of both The Marrow Thieves and Frankenstein, students are invited to re-story the text. As we’ve seen throughout The Marrow Thieves, restorying is a counternarrative to the dominant and a revisiting of memory. Therefore, students will rewrite the story in a way that better centers the Creature through the lens of his racialized identity. Answering the prompt: “How do both authors utilize horror tropes to communicate the monstrous, and what does that communicate about cultural anxieties in each of their time periods?” “Into” Bell Work “Through” “Beyond” Exit Tickets & Connection to Assessments What is a land acknowledgement? Emphasize/lesson on how tribal citizenship is not about race, but about sovereignty. Land acknowledgement. In this unit, we will be studying Gothic horror, residential schools, and the legacy of science experimentation through the novels Frankenstein & The Marrow Thieves. 1. Ogden 2. Anishnabe Language 3. Sami & Inuit In groups of 3, create an infographic for each tribe & their land. Alongside the land acknowledge, discuss Métis– “rather than a colonial notion of Métis nation as a liminal people who hail from First Nations women and fur traders, the Métis are a kinship community that arose under the particular conflict and violence experienced in the Red River area and grew into a specific Indigenous peoples (Lypka 30). Intro Video & Poem Tic Tac Toe background on residential schools What is one thing you learned today? Based on what we learned, what are you interested in learning about this unit? Bell Work: Residential Schools Interactive Map Direct Teach: “Generative Refusal” –the act of writing, whether memoir or fictionalized, is an act of resistance connecting to the land, What is “restorying”? Why relationships, and memory. Reading these is it important in the work stories from survivors is a gift given with we’re about to do in this trust–keep this resistance in mind as we read unit? today (Braith). Mini Lit Circles: Residential Schools Children’s Books memoirs I am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis (Anishinaabe) When We Were Alone by David Alexander Robertson (Norway House Cree Nation) Shi-Shi-Etko by Nicola I. Campbell (Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Métis) The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad (Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation) When I was Eight and Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (Inuvialuk) My name is Seepetza by Shirley Sterling (Interior Salish Nation) Direct Lesson: How do we research? What is a “reliable” source when it concerns tribal issues? Mrs. W Model Background Research Day 17. #MMIWG 18. Métis Nation 19. Oka Crisis 20. Environmental Racism & Environmental Stewardship 21. Bears Ears (Utah) Minilesson: a note on 22. Canadian Indian Act language choices: 23. Indian Child Welfare Act 1. Indigenous, Indian, 24. Land Back Movement Native American, 25. Idle No More (Canada) Native, tribe–which 26. Standing Rock (US) term? 27. Mauna Kea (Hawaii) 2. Past tense is 28. Canadian restoration Committee incorrect and Timeline contributes to 29. Reality of Dying Indigenous Exit Ticket: These are four tenets that survivors deeply care about (Corntassel): 1. Homeland 2. Family 3. Restitution–more than paying finances–loss of life, culture, language, land, and family 4. Restorying–hearing from individuals their stories about what really happened Pick one of the books you read and state where you saw the emphasis for all four items. Extra Credit: Bones of Crows trailer Exit Ticket: Be careful about framing your topic as “the past” that we should move on from–instead, be sure to speak about the present issues and ongoing restoration work that is happening as a result of these topics. narrative of erasure 3. When listing people, mention what tribe they are from in parenthesis after their name. Visual analysis: Doctrine of Discovery Languages 30. Osage Murders 31. (Oklahoma) 32. Wounded Knee (South Dakota) 33. Trail of Tears 34. (Relocation) Presentations & Class Discussion Journal Prompt: Monster Theory Introduction: What do you think of when 1. Using fairy tales, show how monster I say the word “horror”? theory is really a projection of our What comes to mind? own fears. What terrifies us? Why do 2. Discussion Questions for students to we enjoy the thrill? generate their own examples, Mrs. W silly including children’s horror movies stories–running & jumping from their childhood, such as Monster to get into my bed, running House, Coraline, Frankenweenie, to my car because I heard Paranorman, ect. And ask who is the that someone might slash real monster? your ankles at the grocery story, story about Chase on the landing, and finally, why I’m terrified of horror stories Reflection: Pick one clip from today and respond this way (IB Response questions) Bell Work: Tomorrow we will be watching Stranger Things to think through the visual codes of Gothic films and how monster theory and horror tropes show up in cinema. Before we do that, think back to your childhood: name some horror movies that are for kids (Coraline, Paranorman, Nightmare Before Christmas, ect) and name how they use monster theory. , Monster Theory in political rhetoric 1. Donald Trump “migrant crime” (9:43-16:20). 2. Donald Trump Central Park 5 ad & exonerated 5 responds 3. Trump claims Haitian immigrants are eating dogs in Ohio 4. Ronald Reagan & Bill Clinton “welfare queen.” 5. Trump calling MS 13 gang “animals” 6. The Crack Epidemic & the militarization of police & discrepancies of sentencing 7. 13th trailer & exception of “criminal” Exit Ticket: How do politicians use monster theory to target specific groups in order to stir up fear of the Other for political ends? Horror Film History Day Horror Tropes Bingo with “Stranger Things -What is a trope? Uncanny, Episode 1” Give one get one (3): Write down a horror trope and abject, ect. -What is the purpose of the horror genre? -We will be studying “Gothic horror”--what is it? Watch 10 minutes, spend 2 minutes on bingo & pointing out film choices, such as costuming, cinematography, reading visual code for Gothic cinema (shadows). evidence from the episode. Then go around and give away your sticky notes. How did we get here? & Instagram advocacy slides (Reversing protections for children) *Barren Grounds book talk Frenchie’s Coming To Story Horror Bingo revisited: What Gothic and Horror Tropes is Dimaline setting up in this first chapter? Although Indigenous peoples are only 4.4% of the overall Canadian population, “Indigenous children make up a staggering 52% of children in government care” today, and are 6.3 more likely to be admitted to care, and once accepted to care, 12.4% more likely to remain in the system. “In fact, there are more Indigenous children in government care today than at the height of residential schools” (Corntassel 151). Four minutes with Cherie Dimaline Dystopian Genre: How does this genre fit the book so far? How does it not? Like Dimaline, Kyle Whyte names that “Indigenous peoples ‘already inhabit what our ancestors would have Start Read Through Story Part 1 (p. 22). Display the following quote & question after chapter “This aligns with Dian Million’s observation that ‘Story has always been practical, strategic, and restorative. Story is Indigenous theory. If these knowledge are couched in narratives, then narratives are always more than telling stories. Narratives seek inclusion, Exit Ticket: 9 ways to respond option understood as a dystopian future’” (Lypka 28). they seek the nooks and crannies of experiences, filling cracks and restoring order’” (Lypka 34). What is story? Why does Dimaline title those chapters that way? How does this honor Indigenous epistemologies or oral storytelling? Explain the lack of dreaming in the novel alongside this view: “The irony of this reversal of settler societies, who have historically stolen futures from racialized peoples, losing the ability to imagine themselves in the future after decades of pillaging from the land and communities is surprisingly not often commented on in reviews or scholarship” (Lypka 38). How is Dimaline exposing colonial violence through reversing it? Furthermore, the knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples were removed from them–how does this connect to the lack of dreams. Bell Work: Read through “A Plague of Madness” What does it mean to be “haunted”? Nightmares are Teach “Language Revitalization” a common trope of the Gothic. Write a short story Discussion: nightmares/dreams & hunting of a nightmare you’ve had. rights advocacy work & Miig’s analysis of people–reinforce monster theory here #MMIWG Focused Day Students create advocacy slides through Canva after learning more about this issue. Demystifying Vocabulary: -Squaw Video: Don’t Use this Term & Palisades Tahoe written article, name change of Olympic Village Summary of Lit Charts for “Four Winds” Plus “Wab’s Story” Exit Ticket: 9 ways to respond option Extra Credit Opportunity: Singing Back the Buffalo trailer Writing Wounded response Indigenous Joy: Book Talk from Firekeeper’s Daughter Indigenous Joy: 1. Poetry from Indigenous women 2. Walking With Our Sisters Art Project Split the class into two groups and switch halfway through the period. Cherie Dimaline: “Society of children” What horror tells us? TED Talk Read through Miigwans ● Map out all the coming to stories & tribal identities ● Discuss betrayal and race–why is race less important than tribal identity in Indigeneity ● How does this chapter read like a horror story? Name the horror tropes you saw Art is meant to be shared! Go back to your advocacy slides from before Wab’s story. After reading the chapter and celebrating Indigenous joy today, what can you add to shift the narrative away from purely violence and instead showcase Indigenous female joy? Then post to your platform and on the Padlet in class, and decide who you will share this with outside of Mrs. W’s class. Exit Ticket: 9 ways to respond option Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Exit Ticket: Minerva, Miig, and Frenchie’s dad have ways 9 ways to respond option of knowing that the children do not. According to Dimaline, the Therefore, it is important to see Minerva Rogarou is different in all passing on Cree language to Rose and telling Métis cultures, but in her stories at the Four Winds as more than fairy culture: it is “a big black tales–these stories are meant to “return them dog who also kind of looks to themselves” (Lypka 29). Today we will like a man and talks… He investigate these stories and listen to what had this seductive quality they tell us–however, we will not be to him, but he would lure speaking these beings' names out loud [women] and could cause because of their cultural understanding. great harm. And for the Like Chrona mentions, there is some people who identified as knowledge that is sacred, and our way of male in our community, honoring that is by not speaking these beings’ the Rougarou was the story names outloud. you would hear for what you could turn into; so if Windigo you broke the rules of the & community.. In particular, Rogarou Day if you didn’t listen to or & take care of the women in Deer Woman the community, you could turn into a Rougarou. It was like a curse” (Lypka 36-37). Collages Share your colleges with a neighbor and cite your sources. Horror Scavenger Hunt: Apply Horror Tropes, Monster Theory & the Dystopian Genre – write down the scene in which this happened Poem The Other indians & The way it all changed Minutes: 45 minutes ● What does it mean to be a monster? ● What comfort does Miig give Frenchie? Exit Ticket: 9 ways to respond option Film Clip Day 1 After “The Time is Now” scavenger hunt, what is one thing you learned, and one Indigenous representation that is positive you’d like to check out? Journal Prompt: Yesterday, we discussed literary whiteness, specifically focusing on how Hollywood depicts Indigenous peoples. What community are you a part of, and how has Hollywood depicted that community? Film Clip Day 2: Indigenous (mis)representation in children’s media Discussion: What does it mean to be an “adolescent”? How does the media portray kids? Remains of Children “The Long Stumble” & “Rogarou comes hunting” How does the author use an extended metaphor of “the monster”? Use Monster Theory in your answer. Indigenous Film Representation & Literary Whiteness discussion–what examples can you think of what you’ve seen of this centricity of white characters/producers/storyt elling? “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” -George Orwell Plus Pocahontas true story Build on this throughout the unit Exit Ticket: 9 ways to respond op How is science being used here in a positive sense? ● How does Miig’s story give us more information about what the schools are doing? ● What is the danger of science and “progress”? How is science discussed within Story? ● How is Story a better way of knowing than scientific method? ● Miig’s advice to Frencie–what do we think of it? ● Why does the Rogarou title of this chapter apply? ● What does Frenchie’s decision to go get Minerva mean for him? Bell Work: On February 10, 2009, Peake Hall on Tseshaht First Nation territory was demolished. It was largely considered “one of the worst Canadian residential schools in terms of the violence” against children. The Tseshaht Nation hosted a ceremony for all survivors and their families, passing out crowbars and sledgehammers for anyone to break off pieces to throw into the fires. There were two fires burned all day with sage and cedar “in order to ‘cleanse and allow the trapped spirits to be finally freed’” (143). This community demolition shows the power of Indigenous people coming together to heal–”linking political action and cultural teachings” to restory justice and history (Corntassel 144). “On the Road” & “Found,” then “The Miracle of Minerva" ● How does Frenchie’s dad reunion give hope after so much loss? ● What literary techniques did Dimaline use to surprise us? tion Exit Ticket: What is the difference between restoration and restorying? Why does it matter? (Corntassel 145). Mini Lesson: The miracle of minerva plus Frankenstein anticipation guide Science experimentation is in the background of all the novel, yet we don’t see the facilities until this chapter. Instead of floating past this point, we are going to stop here and discuss the most famous science experimentation of all time: Frankenstein. Podcast for “Seeing Whiteness” explanation of the making of race, ep 2. What does “socially constructed” mean? How does this explain how race is very real, but not biological? The fascinating story of Mary Shelley, with help from the graphic novel Mary’s Monster What is the science of race? Bell Work: Primary Research What is horrific about Body Politics science? Read the article and write why this is actually terror inducing for the people involved. Georgia woman kept on life support with baby Journal: How does what you learned yesterday about body politics relate to you or someone you know? Bioethics Case Studies Today we will read Frankenstein in groups. We will be reading the graphic novel version and analyzing the thematic connections to The Marrow Thieves. Day 1 Reading ● Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane… the Victorians were OBSESSED with the Arctic–let’s get into it! Walton is carrying on this tradition of exploration–but it wasn’t just land or heroism. Part of what is happening in this chapter relates to the conversations that we had about (mis)representations of Indigenaeity in settler colonial England. It is interesting that Mary Shelley does not reference or include Indigenous people in Walton’s letters, since The Quarterly Review definitely did. ● Victor starts with family, benefitting Before reading, please go over this term using this video, as the erasure of Shelley should be corrected. “Understanding the Term” Aftershock Documentary trailer, offer as extra credit from his mom’s influence and his cousin-fiance Elizabeth’s friendship while Frenchie starts isolated, but finds his family. Mary Shelley is interested in how the domestic home shapes people–and how isolation and ambition are dangerous. ● On that same note, Henry Clervill is a “foil” to Victor. ● Victor pursues scientific knowledge as purely good, which Dimaline is critiquing in The Marrow Thieves. This is partly due to something called the Enlightenment–minilesson here. ● Additionally, pursuing science the way he does is in line with Eurocentric worldviews, directly contradicting the values of Indigenous storytelling, kinships, and ancestry. Contrasting Victor’s isolation, Frenchie learns more about his heritage among his community, emphasizing “so long as there are story-keepers, there remains hope to collect knowledge and share stories for future community-building (Lypka 29). The Creature & Race Day 2 Reading within the novel: ● Interestingly, Victor pursues language ● Remember the and travel of other cultures rather than science of race? returning home. Yeah–that’s gonna ● Nature connection–contrast this with come back up. “haunted in the bush” & Frenchie’s Victor is wanting to connection to the land & introduce create a “new race” “Romanticism” of beings–so he is a ● Baby William, killed: Did you know believer in the that Mary Shelley suffered the loss of Polygenism her own children, including a young theories we girl who died before she was named, discussed earlier. which inspired how she wrote the Here’s a refresher, Creature. and why that ● Justine: female victim to male affected the United protection of self. Discussion: Why States in the Dred doesn’t he speak up? Scott decision. Real Life Connection: Did you know that Juvenile false confessions are astronomically high due to pressure from police? ACLU guide here. Plus trailer for When They See Us Yellow Peril Propaganda Posters Nature Walk & Poetry: Write like a romantic poet. How does connection to our land here in Utah help bring home the message of land in both novels? What is linguistic justice? Video example of phone callers. Day 3 Reading ● The Creature speaks. In the tale, the Creature reveals that it was the English Language which helped him see what he is–yet this doomed him to inequality. Let’s look at that language & how that is opposite of the Indigenous language revitalization we discussed with Marrow Theives ● Chapters 11-16 are the Creatures own “Coming To” story, and contain quite a bit of racialization of characters. Let’s unpack that. ● How is the Creature’s search for his identity in Paradise Lost similar to or different from Frenchie’s when listening to Story, or Frenchie’s desire to know more about his Métis heritage that his Father didn’t tell him? ● The rage & violence center on white boyhood and white girl innocence. How has the white girl's innocence been “protected” by the patriarchy? Show Clip from 13th Day 4 Reading ● “Race of devils” comment ● Victor is fearful that the Creature will pro-create. How is this fear a similar cycle of colonial violence against Indigenous peoples? ● Victor has his own “plagues of madness” associated with Clerval death & Elizabeth ● Elizabeth and death ● Self Hatred, but questioning who gets to be called a criminal Cherie Dimaline Loss & the circle & word arrives in black Exit Ticket: “Survival” “Indigenous storytelling is paramount for sharing vital knowledge that holds power” and is “the radical potential for Indigenous futurisms” and combats the “‘always-already vanishing’’ of Native presence by colonial design and is an act of survival (Lypka 40). Biden Apologizes ● Frenchie jealousy–Rose neglected ● While it is easy to see Frenchie’s actions as immature jealousy, how are his actions really a desire to connect to his identity and a revelation of his gaps of knowledge? ● Frenchie relies on his braid to communicate how “Indian” he is–how is this re-enacting settler colonial depictions of Indigenous peoples, simultaneously revealing Frenchie’s desire to find his identity? (Lypka 35). ● Priest stirs up PTSD–analyze the catholic church involvement here 9 ways to respond option To End ● How is their elder’s death analogous to the children (who represent the future) who died and took with them traditions, language, culture? ● What does it mean to revitalize and restore? How does the community bring together knowledge from Inuit, Cree, Métis, Ojibwe communities to communicate a message of collective consciousness to build a future that counteracts colonial violence? ● Isaac & Miig reunion and definition of family ● Why does Frenchie run back to Miig after deciding to leave? What pushes him home? What does he realize? Exit Ticket: 9 ways to respond option Book Talk: Sequel Hunting for Stars book talk, specifically naming why Dimaline wrote a sequel (Mrs. W) What is intertextuality? Man Made Monster by Andrea L. Rogers Short Stories Lit Circles ● “Man Made Monster” ● “Ama’s Boys” ● “Lens” ● “Shame on the Moon” Collective consciousness and memory: how have you heard about Frankenstein up to now, and how did the book change your ideas Frankenstein Film Study (1931) ● Gothic on Screen: What visual codes are seen here? For example, when the Creature’s shadow is taller than Victor’s–what does that communicate about him? ● Yellow Peril reminders from gallery walk ● Ending revisited: lynch mobs ● 1931 also when mass deportation of Mexican Americans happened as a result of great depression–connect monster theory here. Exit Ticket: How does James Whales’ film communicate fear of the Other differently or similar to the novel? Introduce socratic seminars–what is the purpose, how do they run, ect. Socratic Seminar Discussion: Students select 5 of the questions and utilize text evidence from both novels in their answers. Then students discuss in smaller groups what they found. Exit Ticket: Socratic Seminar Debrief: What was something insightful you heard or learned today? Culminating Task 1: Restorying Frankenstein Write a restory of Frankenstein Share your piece with at least one person, either in class or outside. Culminating Task 2: Comparative Essay “How do both authors utilize horror tropes to communicate the monstrous, and what does that communicate about cultural anxieties in each of their time periods?”