The Sels’ Return to Mi’kma’ki

Barkskins

This flow follows the Sel siblings as they leave a settler property, recover kinship, and attempt to rebuild a Mi’kmaw life amid continuing dispossession.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Family at René’s The Family at René’s from "Barkskins". The Family at René’s A Fragile Household Achille, Noë, and Zoë maintain René’s home through hunting, gathering, and small-scale work, while Renardette claims…

The Family at René’s from "Barkskins". The Family at René’s A Fragile Household Achille, Noë, and Zoë maintain René’s home through hunting, gathering, and small-scale work, while Renardette claims…

The Family at René’s A Fragile Household Achille, Noë, and Zoë maintain René’s home through hunting, gathering, and small-scale work, while Renardette claims the property. Kinship Calls Them Away Elphège and Theotiste return, arguing that the siblings belong together and should seek their mother’s homeland.

The Lost Claim The Lost Claim from "Barkskins". The Lost Claim A White-Law Transaction Renardette and Démon Meillard assert ownership, and the property record no longer supports the Sel siblings’ claim.

The Lost Claim from "Barkskins". The Lost Claim A White-Law Transaction Renardette and Démon Meillard assert ownership, and the property record no longer supports the Sel siblings’ claim.

The Lost Claim A White-Law Transaction Renardette and Démon Meillard assert ownership, and the property record no longer supports the Sel siblings’ claim. Departure Under Threat Jean Mague raises his gun; the siblings abandon the house rather than fight for a form of ownership imposed by settlers.

Arrival at Odanak Arrival at Odanak from "Barkskins". Arrival at Odanak A Larger Community At Odanak, the siblings encounter relatives, craftspeople, and traditions absent from their isolated woodland childhood.

Arrival at Odanak from "Barkskins". Arrival at Odanak A Larger Community At Odanak, the siblings encounter relatives, craftspeople, and traditions absent from their isolated woodland childhood.

Arrival at Odanak A Larger Community At Odanak, the siblings encounter relatives, craftspeople, and traditions absent from their isolated woodland childhood. Learning Before Departure They wait through winter, prepare food and snowshoes, and learn that their remembered homeland will be difficult to reach and changed.

A Changed Homeland A Changed Homeland from "Barkskins". A Changed Homeland Bounty and Loss The family reaches Mi’kma’ki and finds rich rivers and coastlines, but also drained marshes, scarce game, and shrinking…

A Changed Homeland from "Barkskins". A Changed Homeland Bounty and Loss The family reaches Mi’kma’ki and finds rich rivers and coastlines, but also drained marshes, scarce game, and shrinking…

A Changed Homeland Bounty and Loss The family reaches Mi’kma’ki and finds rich rivers and coastlines, but also drained marshes, scarce game, and shrinking Mi’kmaw territories. Kinship Reassembled Cache Emil welcomes the siblings and assigns traditional hunting grounds, even as settler property rules undermine those customs.

The Broken Homecoming The Broken Homecoming from "Barkskins". The Broken Homecoming A Destroyed Wikuom Achille returns to find English settlers occupying his home and his wife and children killed in a burned dwelling.

The Broken Homecoming from "Barkskins". The Broken Homecoming A Destroyed Wikuom Achille returns to find English settlers occupying his home and his wife and children killed in a burned dwelling.

The Broken Homecoming A Destroyed Wikuom Achille returns to find English settlers occupying his home and his wife and children killed in a burned dwelling. Exile Rechosen He leaves for Maine, choosing to despoil settler forests in revenge, while the family’s attempt at return remains unfinished.

After René Sel’s death

During the siblings’ attempted property sale

After leaving René’s property

Spring, after the journey to Mi’kma’ki

After Achille’s northern hunting journey