Wawahte
By: as told to Robert P. Wells by Indian residential school survivors
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Published: 2012
Place of publication: [Canada]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 173
ISBN-13: 9781466917170; 9781466917194
Subjects: Off-reservation boarding schools; History; Indians of North America; Education
Description: "Wawahte is a non-fiction book about three Aboriginal children born in the 1930's. Their experiences were much the same as it was for more than 150,000 Aboriginal children who, between 1883 and 1996, were forced to attend 130 residential schools and equally demeaning day schooling in Canada. For this reason imagine that you are there, as we tell of the history of European arrival to the new world, the fur trade, Christianization of natives, colonization, and the subsequent policies and actions that were to the disadvantage of Canada's original inhabitants. Most of all, envision yourself being taken from your parents and placed in a residential school at the age of seven or younger ...

Racism takes many forms. When it rises from simply being the opinion of a handful of people to becoming widely accepted by a nation, it can result in official programs that may to the public be touted as beneficial, but that can actually discriminate against entire ethnic groups. In his book about Canada's Indian Residential Schools, the author has compiled detailed information along with first-hand accounts of individuals affected by the country's former laws toward its original residents ...

The first part chronicles the experiences of Esther; a Cree whose early childhood was spent divided between winter and summer homes with her family and other villagers. Although marked by poverty and devoid of most of the creature comforts of urban dwellers in the time period, Esther's life was a happy one until she, along with 24 other Cree children in her village, were taken from their homes to Pelican Lake Indian Residential School 500 miles away. Once there she suffered mental, physical, and even sexual abuse at the hands of those charged to look after her. Bunnie's experiences were more positive, but the need to be separated from her family still haunted her. A third child, Stephen, was allowed to attend a village day school instead, but many of the same discriminatory practices that Esther faced became a part of his school life, as well. ..."--Publishers website.
Notes: "Subject : Canadian Indian Residential Schools."
Table of contents: title: Part One : Esther's story [Esther Faries]; title: Mammamattawa Village [Cree and Oji-Cree Hudson's Bay Post Village ; James Bay; title: Lake Nipigon Northern Ontario ; a.k.a. English River Village]; title: Fur trapping and the summer by the river [hunting, fishing, daily life]; title: Shattered innocence [Pelican Lake Indian Residential School, Sioux Lookout, Northwestern Ontario]; title: Runaways; title: Going home; title: Wawahte; title: Peace in the heavens; title: Part Two : They call me Bunnie [Bunny Galvin, childhood on an Algonquin Reserve on Golden Lake, McIntosh Indian Residential School, southeast end of Canyon Lake near Vermillion Bay, CNR stop of Quibell, near Kenora?]; title: In memory of a great man.; title: Part Three : Elder Stanley Stephens [Cree, lived in Mammattawa Village and Pagwa River Village]; title: A man of principle " As long as the river flows, grass grows and the sun shines" [Pagwa Village Day School, Constance Lake Indian Reserve Day School]; title: Canadian Rangers; title: Aboriginal "Indian" war veterans; title: Anti-sealing movement kills our way of life; title: Part Five : Introduction to the historical background; title: Knives, iron cooking pots, guns, traps, beads and blankets; title: Esther asks "Bob, why did they do this to me?"; title: Appendix I. List of the Indian residential schools; title: Appendix II : Indian Residential School Apologies; title: 2008; title: The Government of Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper; title: 1993; title: Anglican Church of Canada; title: 2009; title: The Roman Catholic Church; title: 1994; title: Presbyterian Church of Canada; title: 1998; title: The United Church of Canada; title: Appendix III : Selected exerpts from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples; title: The Ten Native American Commandments.