Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, colonialism, and alcoholism and includes prejudicial terminology for Indigenous people. The study guide uses the term “Indian” only in quotation to convey the tone of the text and not as an acceptable characterization term.

The impact of colonialism is evident in the characters’ social, communal, and individual lives. The novel conveys that colonial trauma, cultural erasure, and loss of tradition are central issues in Indigenous communities, and they are the sources of the protagonist’s distress. Garnet loses his family and identity due to the colonial policies of the Canadian government. Keeper’s narration delineates the repercussions of colonialism in the Ojibwe tribe. He states that the government has a long history of targeting Indigenous youth: “They been comin’ for our kids long time now. Nothin’ new. Not for us. They been comin’ on the sly for years” (52). This narrates the way residential schools in Canada promoted cultural erasure and exacerbated colonial trauma for Indigenous people. Keeper notes that the Ojibwe lost many of their youth due to the residential school system, and he and Garnet’s mother are survivors. The novel traces colonial attempts to destroy Indigenous tradition, partly through schools and foster care systems, yet suggests that Indigenous tradition cannot be completely destroyed due to the will of the people.