Trying to use DPKG on Scribe. Getting error: can't open '/var/lib/dpkg/status'

When I run: dpkg -i dpkg.deb (renamed to shorter file name) I get:

can't open '/var/lib/dpkg/status' : No such file or directory.

Basically, I know dpkg is broken, and I'm trying to reinstall a full version:

https://packages.debian.org/sid/armhf/dpkg/download

Any suggestions? I ran mntroot rw...

While we're at it. Should I be using ARM64 or ARMHF?

I would really like to have apt working instead. Is it possible?