“Postapocalyptic Narrative and Memory and Identity Formation in The Marrow Thieves

Stories are one of the ways of learning and teaching. Through stories, knowledge about communities can be passed on from generation to generation. The truth about Indigenous communities is reflected in the stories that are narrated by elders. “Elders mentor and provide support and have systematically gathered wisdom, histories, skills, and expertise in cultural knowledge” (Iseke 561). Their stories can shape the identity of Indigenous people and empower them. Datta notes that storytelling empowers Indigenous people and through stories, traditions and values become “ours rather than theirs” (35). Assmann also emphasizes that “storytelling- creates a basis of belonging, of identity, so that the individual can then talk of ‘we’” (3). Oral narratives were used and are still used to share rituals, customs, and traditions of a community.