Content Warning This section includes depictions of anti-Indigenous racism and substance abuse.

“Before I look down, I know it’s there. The crow’s head I was clutching in my dream is now in bed with me.”

Mackenzie’s macabre dream begins the action of this novel, and as she continues to reflect on her nightmares, it becomes apparent that the dreams connect to her unresolved grief over the death of her sister. Bad Cree uses supernatural elements to explore the processes of grieving and healing, and Mackenzie’s dream is one of its most central supernatural experiences.

“You can always tell the time of day in Vancouver by the crows. In the winter, they fly to roost in Burnaby at 5 pm, at 8 pm in the summer. They move through the sky like a thunder crowd, collecting more kin as they fly home.”

Crows are one of this novel’s key symbols. They represent unresolved grief and the pain of losing a family member. As the narrative unfolds, Mackenzie learns more about crows and begins to understand why they seem to haunt her, following her everywhere she goes.

“The dreams I’m having now are different. I can move and speak. But both types feel like a warning, a deep siren of something to come.”

Dreams are one of the novel’s most important motifs. Like crows, they speak to the narrative’s interest in unresolved grief and healing. Dreams are messages, but they also signal to Mackenzie and everyone in her family that she has not yet processed Sabrina’s death.