Mari’s Survival

This flow follows Mari through abduction, bereavement, coerced domestic labor, motherhood, and the preservation of knowledge under colonial pressure.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Abduction Across the Sea

Abduction Across the Sea Taken From Home French sailors seize Mari and other Mi’kmaq people, carrying them unwillingly to France. Return and Loss Smallpox kills her family and devastates her community after she returns to Mi’kma’ki.

A Life Rebuilt

A Life Rebuilt Marriage and Children Mari marries Lolan and raises Elphège, Theotiste, and Jean-Baptiste before colonial forces reshape her life again. Domestic Coercion Claude Trépagny hires her as a housekeeper and forces himself on her, making her survival inseparable from constrained choices.

Knowledge at Home

Knowledge at Home Medicine and Food Mari applies plant knowledge, prepares food, and teaches practical ways of living that René initially dismisses. Quiet Instruction Her knowledge becomes a foundation for her children’s future, even when French authority tries to silence it.

A Forced Separation

A Forced Separation Expulsion Trépagny orders Mari and her children away, using money and authority to displace the family he has exploited. A Partial Refuge Mari leads them toward mission protection, while René escorts them and begins to understand how little he knows of her past.

Stories That Remain

Stories That Remain Cultural Memory Mari tells her children stories and language games that preserve Mi’kmaw memory within a changing household. A Lasting Inheritance Her death leaves her family bereaved, but her teachings endure in their return to Mi’kma’ki.

Mari’s childhood, before her years in Wobik

After returning to New France

During Mari’s years in the Trépagny household

When Trépagny returns with a French bride

Later years, before Mari’s death