I was on Twitter the other day and came across a post from @VoicEdCanada about a Summer book study with fellow educators. The book: "Seven Fallen Feathers" by Tanya Talaga. I have always been interested and perplexed by Canadian/Indigenous history, and thought it would be a good fit. Plus, it's the summer, and I get bored out of my mind, so it's a perfect way to break up the boredom, while also reading about an area of Canadian history that we often gloss over.
I quickly ordered my copy of the book from Amazon, and awaited its arrival. Not even 48 hours later, it arrived on my doorstop, and I quickly opened it up and took in the cover.
Immediately I knew I was in for an important, but emotionally heavy read. I've always been an empathetic or sensitive person. Things affect me whether I want them to or not. My first teaching practicum placement was with an amazing educator, whose name I won't share here since I haven't cleared it with him. He opened my eyes a fraction to the injustice and difficulties that exist for the Indigenous people of Canada. I got to see a struggling population of students that were bused to school and whose lives I never really understand, whose struggles and anger/resentment that I never really understood (or took the time to understand). I come from privilege; I am a white woman, with parents who supported me more than I realized at the time; and I come from privilege in society that blinded me, and still blinds me, to the injustices that exist in the world around me.
This practicum teacher shared information with his students that I absorbed and took in for my own learning. He showed me the soapstone carvings that he created as part of an extracurricular club; and he introduced me to the situation, and the movie that was created as a result, in Ipperwash - "One Dead Indian" is the film - strongly recommend watching it.
That being said, opening the package and the first few pages of this book brought to the surface a lot of different emotions. Please don't judge, as I am still processing it all, but here are some of the emotions that I have experienced today as I have dived into this book: shame, sadness, guilt, shock, anger, disbelief . . . and many more emotions that I can barely even name right now.
I was on hold with a company's customer service for over 2 hours, so I took that opportunity to read and jot down some notes as I read. I read up to Chapter 3, and may I say that it is not easy to read. It makes me question so much of what goes on around me. It makes me wonder how it could all happen - why was it seen as okay? How could the government do this and allow it to continue when they realized that it wasn't working?! What about all of the children who suffered in Residential Schools and the families that were kept in the dark?! As a mother, this crushes me, and as a teacher, I simply can't even begin to comprehend how people could take that position of trust and twist it into hate, pain and negativity.
This book is more than just history - it is about the present, and the future, and how we move forward as a nation, as a community, as humanity.
Each chapter is devoted to the story of a missing/dead Indigenous person, and while I have only read the story of 2 male teens, I am already deeply moved and troubled by what I have read. I will continue to read, as their stories are important, and they are stories that need to be read by all.
Feel free to join in the book study - it really is an amazing book. Tanya Talaga has done a great job at bringing their stories to life, sharing knowledge that needs to be more widely known, and starting a conversation. If you want to reach out, I can be found on Twitter at: @KatieAttwell; as can @VoicEdCanada, the group leading the book study.
Even just simply pick up the book and give it a read! I'd be more than happy to chat about it.
Stay tuned as I continue to reflect upon "Seven Fallen Feathers" by Tanya Talaga. . .
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