I spoke with older FNs in Pemberton BC during the 80s. I was early 30s they would have been about 40. Many had gone to IRSs. They spoke well of it. One good buddy of mine said he learned to read and write. He wasn’t getting that at home. I didn’t hear any of the horror stories we hear about. But we know pedos go to where they can control and abuse children. I am sure some did things. Many wouldn’t.
Thomson Highway's *Permanent Astonishment* (2022) is the most obvious one (and it's a good read for whatever reason). Blair Stonechild's 2016 *The Knowledge Seeker* has a section suggesting his experience in the Qu'Appelle residential school was positive (and important in his forward path). Same with Len Marchand's *Breaking Trail* (2000). And *Indian School Days* by Basil H. Johnson is a really interesting read. *Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors* by Larry Loyie (2014). *Indian Residential Schools: Another Picture* (2009) by Eric Bays. Stephen Kakfwi's *Stoneface: A Defiant Dene* (2023) has a whole chapter dedicated to a Father Pochet who mentored Kakfwi through his high school years at Grandin Home.
None of these are "all positive." Your own school experience probably wasn't all positive. Some of the most positive anecdotes on residential schools actually appear in the memoirs of survivors whose intentions were primarily to condemn the schools. Or in the collections of multiple student reminiscences (such as the Loyie book above, or the one on St. Mary's that was narrated by Terry Glavin and recently republished as *St. Mary's: The Legacy of an Indian Residential School*). There are usually a few voices in those collections that acknowledge, "If it were not for the school . . ."
And of course there's *From Truth Comes Reconciliation* (Clifton/DeWolf). Start with that if you haven't read it yet.
These are just some of the titles I can see on my shelf. There are others that I've read from the library and would have to look at my checkout history. I'll come back here if I think of any more important ones that I should have mentioned, and hopefully others will also.
tangentially related although not specifically to the point of your request: everyone should read William Wuttunnee's Ruffled Feathers, described as "a rebuttal to Harold Cardinal's Unjust Society. He received death threats when he published this book in 1971. in the book he encouraged change so that Indians could fully integrate as members of Canadian society (G&M December 2015). "The main thrust of his argument was to rebut the position of the Indian leaders who saw the White paper as a threat to their control of the money spent by Indian affairs which mainly benefitted them and the Indian industry around them. In Wuttunees opinion, these leaders “….believe it is the white society which is guilty and which should pay retribution for their pain and suffering,…they don’t seem to like anything except the white man’s money” (p. 1, Ruffled Feathers)."
You can read it on the Internet Archive, Greg. You just have to sign up for a free membership. I was going to provide the direct link to the Wuttunee book, but the Archive site has been down all morning, for some reason. I hope it doesn't have to do with the legal battle they've been embroiled in since 2020.
Just an update, Greg. On Wednesday, the Internet Archive was hit by an ongoing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. They've informed users that they hope to be back up "in a matter of days."
I spoke with older FNs in Pemberton BC during the 80s. I was early 30s they would have been about 40. Many had gone to IRSs. They spoke well of it. One good buddy of mine said he learned to read and write. He wasn’t getting that at home. I didn’t hear any of the horror stories we hear about. But we know pedos go to where they can control and abuse children. I am sure some did things. Many wouldn’t.
Can you recommend any books by indigenous authors who wrote about their positive experiences with Residential Schools?
Thomson Highway's *Permanent Astonishment* (2022) is the most obvious one (and it's a good read for whatever reason). Blair Stonechild's 2016 *The Knowledge Seeker* has a section suggesting his experience in the Qu'Appelle residential school was positive (and important in his forward path). Same with Len Marchand's *Breaking Trail* (2000). And *Indian School Days* by Basil H. Johnson is a really interesting read. *Residential Schools: With the Words and Images of Survivors* by Larry Loyie (2014). *Indian Residential Schools: Another Picture* (2009) by Eric Bays. Stephen Kakfwi's *Stoneface: A Defiant Dene* (2023) has a whole chapter dedicated to a Father Pochet who mentored Kakfwi through his high school years at Grandin Home.
None of these are "all positive." Your own school experience probably wasn't all positive. Some of the most positive anecdotes on residential schools actually appear in the memoirs of survivors whose intentions were primarily to condemn the schools. Or in the collections of multiple student reminiscences (such as the Loyie book above, or the one on St. Mary's that was narrated by Terry Glavin and recently republished as *St. Mary's: The Legacy of an Indian Residential School*). There are usually a few voices in those collections that acknowledge, "If it were not for the school . . ."
And of course there's *From Truth Comes Reconciliation* (Clifton/DeWolf). Start with that if you haven't read it yet.
These are just some of the titles I can see on my shelf. There are others that I've read from the library and would have to look at my checkout history. I'll come back here if I think of any more important ones that I should have mentioned, and hopefully others will also.
Thanks, incredibly helpful. I want something in the house to counter the one-sided narrative my kids get in school in Ottawa.
Hurry....let's buy all those up before they go missing....... censorship is real when there is an agenda.....
Can you recommend any book titles?
tangentially related although not specifically to the point of your request: everyone should read William Wuttunnee's Ruffled Feathers, described as "a rebuttal to Harold Cardinal's Unjust Society. He received death threats when he published this book in 1971. in the book he encouraged change so that Indians could fully integrate as members of Canadian society (G&M December 2015). "The main thrust of his argument was to rebut the position of the Indian leaders who saw the White paper as a threat to their control of the money spent by Indian affairs which mainly benefitted them and the Indian industry around them. In Wuttunees opinion, these leaders “….believe it is the white society which is guilty and which should pay retribution for their pain and suffering,…they don’t seem to like anything except the white man’s money” (p. 1, Ruffled Feathers)."
I tried to find a copy of his book without success.
You can read it on the Internet Archive, Greg. You just have to sign up for a free membership. I was going to provide the direct link to the Wuttunee book, but the Archive site has been down all morning, for some reason. I hope it doesn't have to do with the legal battle they've been embroiled in since 2020.
Just an update, Greg. On Wednesday, the Internet Archive was hit by an ongoing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. They've informed users that they hope to be back up "in a matter of days."
Thank you.
Someone ought to show that to the so called Truth & reconciliation dweebs