Keeper'n Me

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.

Richard Wagamese explores the way students in residential schools were subjected to systematic physical and mental abuse. They were stripped off their Indigenous traditions, learning only English and being punished for practicing their faith or speaking their language. The text conveys that the schools distorted the inner selves of young Indigenous people and had a lasting impact on their mental health: “Got the Indyun all scraped off their insides. They scraped it all off and never put nothin’ there to replace it but a bunch of fear and hurt” (53). The word “scraped” is another onomatopoeia that conveys the violence of cultural erasure.

The text indicates that addiction and mental health crisis in Indigenous communities are directly related to colonialism. Both Keeper and Garnet’s mother developed alcohol addictions. As residential schools made young Indigenous people “ashamed of their heritage,” they became “hurt and angry” (129). Addiction exacerbated cultural loss: “Lots more got caught up in the booze and drugs and it sorta washed away all the Indian from their insides” (129). This imagery continues the vision of being “scraped” inside and suggests a continuation of colonial harms into adulthood. However, Keeper and Alice recovered, emphasizing that their traditions cannot be fully destroyed.

Wagamese explores the way colonial policies of assimilation also affect the younger generation of Indigenous people. Garnet’s story shows the persistence of colonialism that sought to dismantle the traditional structure of their communities. Even though Garnet was born in a traditional Ojibwe home, he was abducted and removed from his family by the authorities of the foster care system. As a result, Garnet lost all sense of self, growing up in white society.

Land loss is also a crucial issue in the text. Land is central in the culture and worldview of Indigenous people who lost their ancestral lands due to European colonial expansion. Wagamese underlines Indigenous people’s connection with land, emphasizing that land is a main issue of conflict. The text stresses that white settlers seized Indigenous lands and created the reserve system for their own benefit. The reserve system changed the communal life of the Ojibwe: “[Keeper] says putting us on all these reserves kept us Indians from talking a lot to each other” (223). The connection with the land is key in the Ojibwe mindset and the loss of the tribe’s ancestral lands equaled the loss of their identity. Ultimately, Garnet’s quest for self-discovery is also a process of healing from colonial trauma.