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St. Michaels Residential School : lament & legacy  Cover Image Book Book

St. Michaels Residential School : lament & legacy / Nancy Dyson & Dan Rubenstein.

Summary:

One of the few accounts by care-givers in an Indian Residential School describing the horrific conditions. Nancy Dyson and Dan Rubenstein In 1970, the authors, Nancy Dyson and Dan Rubenstein, were hired as childcare workers at the Alert Bay Student Residence (formerly St. Michael's Indian Residential School) on northern Vancouver Island. Shocked when Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their families, punished for speaking their native language, fed substandard food and severely disciplined for minor offences, Dan and Nancy questioned the way the school was run with its underlying missionary philosophy. When a delegation from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs visited St. Michael's, the couple presented a long list of concerns, which were ignored. The next day they were dismissed by the administrator of the school. Some years later, in 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports were released. The raw grief and anger of residential school survivors were palpable and the authors' troubling memories of St. Michael's resurfaced. Dan called Reconciliation Canada, and Chief Dr. Robert Joseph encouraged the couple to share their story with today's Canadians. St. Michael's Residential School: Lament and Legacy is a moving narrative - one of the few told by caregivers who experienced on a daily basis the degradation of Indigenous children. Their account will help to ensure that what went on in the Residential Schools is neither forgotten nor denied.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781553806233 (paperback)
  • Physical Description: xii, 181 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm
  • Publisher: Vancouver, B.C. : Ronsdale Press, [2021]

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:
Foreword -- Introduction -- 1970: Nancy's Story. -- Chapter 1 The Fly-In -- Chapter 2 The First Supper -- Chapter 3 We Start Here -- Chapter 4 The History -- Chapter 5 Day By Day -- Chapter 6 The Lord's Day -- Chapter 7 The Totem Raising -- Chapter 8 The Potlatch -- Chapter 9 The Minister Speaks -- Chapter 10 The Finn -- Chapter 11 Visiting The Parents -- Chapter 12 The Flying Minister -- Chapter 13 The Puppy -- Chapter 14 Gathering Support -- Chapter 15 A Week Of Crises -- Chapter 16 A Letter From Home -- Chapter 17 An Eventful Weekend -- Chapter 18 A Departure -- Chapter 19 Lucy's Arrival -- Chapter 20 The Dentist Comes -- Chapter 21 The Attack -- Chapter 22 Three Men From Ottawa -- Chapter 23 Life In Sointula -- Chapter 24 The Indian Agent -- Chapter 25 Christmas -- Chapter 26 Leslie And Saul -- Chapter 27 Leaving The Island -- 2015: Dan's Story. Chapter 28 The Legacy -- Chapter 29 Three Questions.
Subject: Dyson, Nancy, 1948-
Rubenstein, Daniel Blake.
Alert Bay Student Residence > History.
Off-reservation boarding schools > British Columbia > Alert Bay > History.
Indigenous children > Abuse of > British Columbia > Alert Bay > History.
Indigenous peoples.
Topic Heading: First Nations
Residential schools

Available copies

  • 10 of 11 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
  • 0 of 0 copies available at Prince Rupert Library.

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  • 0 current holds with 11 total copies.
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