Edmund MetatawabinReseñas

A friend here on LibraryThing read this book and recommended it. As a person of white settler extraction I have been trying to learn about Indian residential schools and the legacy they have left in Indigenous lives. The author went to a residential school that was actually within walking distance of his family home but he was only allowed to see his parents and siblings at Christmas and summer. It boggles my mind that the government and the church would think it was better for a young child to be separated from his parents. Little wonder the Truth and Reconciliation Commission came up with 94 Calls to Action in 2015.

Edmund Metatawabin was raised in the James Bay area of Ontario by Swampy Cree parents. His mother was devoutly Catholic to the point that when Edmund's infant sister died when they were out on the land she insisted they take her to be buried by a Catholic priest. So when the priest in Fort Albany said that Edmund needed to go to the nearby St. Anne's residential school there was no argument. Edmund was only seven and he had never been separated from his family. From the beginning the students were dehumanized by being fgiven a number instead of a name.The nuns and priests in St. Anne's were some of the worst offenders in terms of how they punished the boys. Whippings were common and a device called the electric chair (just what you would imagine) was used when the offence was deemed particularly bad. Sometimes children were held in a small basement room overrun by rats for days. The food was poor and served at the same time while the nuns and priests were eating steaks and chicken and delicious desserts. When it was time to harvest the huge garden the school kept the young students worked for days in the cold and wet. One of the priests subjected the boys to a genital examination that was an excuse to fondle them. And sexual abuse went further and not just at the school. Somehow Edmund graduated from the school and was then sent away for high school. Foster parents in Kirkland Lake took in the students and, for once, Edmund had enough to eat. High school went pretty well for Edmund except for a traumatic incident one summer when he was sexually abused by a Northern Stores employee who took him to stay in Montreal (with his parents' approval). It took years for Edmund to come to terms with this trauma. In the meantime he met Joan, the woman who would become his wife, and he went to university. He had to drop out when his third child was born but a helpful professor arranged for him to complete his degree in Native Studies. Their marriage was under stress due to the fact that Edmund was drinking heavily as he tried to deal with the trauma he had experienced. When Joan moved out Edmund realized he had to get help. He accessed centres in Calgary and Edmonton which used native healing to help their clients. And Edmund started to open up about his traumatic experiences. When he and Joan got back together, they moved back to Fort Albany and Edmund ran for chief. He achieved significant changes for his band in terms of self-government during his time in office. Now he owns a sawmill and does consulting work aimed particularly at native youth.

The author's recollections are sometimes graphic and make for difficult reading. At times I had to put the book down and walk away and do something else for a while. I know some of the details about residential school life will stay with me for a long time.

8-year old Indigenous boy, Edmund, was forced to go to a residential school in Northern Ontario in the 1950s and ‘60s. He didn’t want to go but his mother insisted. His mother was very Catholic and trusted that they would take good care of him. Of course, while at St. Anne’s school, the nuns and priests were abusive to him and others. I was going to mention some of the abuses, but I’ve decided not to; a couple of things were not things I’d heard previously. And for Ed, it got worse after he left for high school in a bigger city.

He did marry and have children, and get a university degree, but he also became an alcoholic. In this memoir, Ed details all of this and more.

As mentioned in my summary, despite having read quite a bit about residential schools, there were still a couple of surprising things (not good surprising). Of course, when he finished school, he had issues (the alcoholism), but it was good to see how he got himself better and is doing good to help others, as well. I thought this was really good.

For those of us who are Canadian and not Indigenous, we need to know about our shameful history, and this book is a good way to start. Up Ghost River is a devastating look at the residential school system, intergenerational trauma, healing, and the ways in which the government still mistreats indigenous people today. Edmund Metatawabin also details some ways that you can get involved -- Canada has a sickening past, and there is still a lot that needs to change, and I think we all have a responsibility to make things better.

A beautiful and inspiring read. Edmund tells the tale of what went wrong in his life and his struggles in a detached manner. It makes you relate to the him the entire book. He possesses a sensitivity that makes you stand in his shoes and experience his life like how he experienced it.

The book was very gripping to me and I feel like I've learnt something out of the whole experience. I do hope their community keeps achieving proper freedom and the Indian Act and other laws get reformed for the better.

I have worked with the author, and know how difficult he found it, at times, to speak about his experiences even long after he left the residential school. This book is a testimony to his generous spirit in sharing his Knowledge to help others in their own search for healing.

This is a book about the modern-day Indian experience in Canada. It is an important lesson about our history that many should become more familiar with. It is written with honesty. Despite the many challenges Mr. Metatawabin faced, the book is a hopeful one as he works with young people to reclaim what has been lost by Aboriginal communities.

Up Ghost River is less "a chief's journey through the turbulent waters of native history" (as the subtitle suggests) than it is a record of his confrontation with the ghosts of his past. Born in Fort Albany in Northern Ontario, Metatawabin was sent, as a young child, to Saint Anne's, often described as the worst of the residential schools for Aboriginal children. Among the abuses Metatawabin (and others) endured and documents here were sexual abuse, being forced to consume his own vomit, and being made to sit in an electrified chair after he and another boy tried to run away. Along with Catholic Church officials, a Hudson's Bay Company employee is identified as a perpetrator. A good deal of the book looks at the impact this treatment had on Metatawabin. He is painfully honest about his downward spiral into alcoholism, its impact on his marriage and family, and his struggle to pull himself out of addiction with the aid of Aboriginal spiritual practices. The work concludes with reflection on the "Idle No More" movement, in which young Aboriginal Canadians have sought to take back their power. This is a hopeful, informative, and valuable work, which I highly recommend.