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Connection
BOOK REVIEWS
16
PRESBYTERIAN
FALL 2018
presbyterian.ca
A Review of Seven Fallen Feathers
Review by Cathy Finlay, Elmvale Presbyterian Church in Elmvale, Ont.
Seven Fallen Feathers:
Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City
Written by Tanya Talaga
House of Anansi Press Inc., 2017
In Seven Fallen Feathers, Tanya Talaga tells the stories of Jethro Anderson, Curran Strang, Paul Pa- nacheese, Reggie Bushie, Robyn Harper, Kyle Morrisseau and Jordan Wabasse. From 2000 to 2011, they each left remote communities in the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation to attend secondary school in Thunder Bay, Ont. This book explores the many unanswered questions surrounding their deaths. Talaga is a wonderful storyteller. She grounds and con- nects the biographies of these stu- dents in a history of colonial mistrust and racism, treaties, the Indian Act-
and the Indian Residential Schools System. In doing so, she helps read- ers to understand how events from many generations ago have contrib- uted to the vulnerability of Indigenous students in Thunder Bay.
Talaga describes how the fail- ure of the British Crown (and later Canada) to fulfill their responsibilities outlined in the Robinson-Superior Treaty (1850), the Robinson-Huron Treaty (1850) and Treaties 3, 5 and 9 (1873–1930) continues to adversely affect the lives of Indigenous peo- ples. Federal funding for schools on reserves falls well below the fund- ing available for the same services offered by provinces and territories across Canada. Inadequate funding and a lack of appropriate secondary schools on reserves is one reason children leave their communities to attend school in Thunder Bay.
The quality of elementary educa- tion available on fly-in reserves var-
ies, so students arriving in Thunder Bay for secondary education face expectations they are often unpre- pared to meet. Other obstacles are created when students move from a small community surrounded by family to a large city where the stu- dents often board with strangers. Su- pervision levels vary. The city offers many distractions and little support for teenage students who are away from home for the first time.
When Talaga interviewed Alvin Fid- dler (Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation) for Seven Fallen Feath- ers, he suggested that Talaga also tell Chanie Wenjack’s story. Fiddler believes the experiences of all these students started far in the past and that they are part of the legacy of bro- ken treaties and residential schools.
When Chanie Wenjack was nine, he flew away from his parents and his home in Ogoki Post (in Northern Ontario) to the Presbyterian-run Ce-
cilia Jeffrey Residential School near Kenora, more than 600 km away. Chanie was starting grade one. He was taught his lessons in a second language, of which he knew only a few words. In 1966, when Chanie was twelve, he ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey, and died from exposure while trying to return home. Seven Fallen Feathers includes a chapter about Chanie Wenjack and readers are re- minded throughout the book of the similarities between children attend- ing residential schools and children from fly-in communities attending high school far away from home.
As Presbyterians and Canadians, we need to know Chanie Wenjack’s story and the stories featured in Sev- en Fallen Feathers.
Despite living in Ontario, I fre- quently found myself flipping to the map to locate the communities of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. I won- dered: How could that escape my
geography and history lessons in the past? Talaga’s extensive notes and index were helpful, and her sug- gested reading list offers possible directions for further learning. While I was angered and saddened while reading this book, I am aware that I need to know the extent of the dam- age caused by colonization to begin healing. This book is pivotal in that learning.
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