![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Edmund Metatawabin: Up Ghost River
Mar. 3rd, 2018 12:48 amUp Ghost River: a chief’s journey through the turbulent waters of Native history, Edmund Metatawabin’s memoir, is at once a survivor’s recollection of violence and oppression, and an activist’s declaration of Indigenous resistance and power.
Chief Metatawabin writes with courage and brutal honesty about his life, about the abuse he experienced as a student at a residential school, about the cultural genocide experienced by the Indigenous peoples, about the ways these things affected him, and came close to destroying him and his family. He offers his earliest recollections, before going away to school, about the damage done by oppressive laws that made the exercise of traditional ways a crime, the divisions created by Christian priests and ministers persuading Indigenous people that their culture was sinful and evil, abut the ways that Indigenous people were kept poor, hungry and in debt.
He writes about the almost unthinkable tortures, humiliations, abuses forced on him and others at residential schools, and the psychological damage from years of mistreatment and trauma, the way that pain led him to addiction.
He writes about his struggles to overcome alcoholism, to hel from trauma, finally learning that white men’s treatments in white institutions only perpetuated the damage. He became part of the indigenous healing movement, and began to rediscover self knowledge, and Indigenous pride.
As a chief and activist, he spearheaded court cases against residential schools, began to demand more autonomy for his nation, and supported the recovery of the almost lost traditions of indigenous people, working closely with the Idle No More movement.
These courageous personal accounts are important, both in exposing the history of white abuse, oppression and genocide, and in restoring the hope and the power of indigenous people, through making the truth known. I thank Chief Metatawabin for sharing his story with the world, and I honor him.
“What was accomplished by Idle No More? With Stephen Harper’s parliamentary majority, it was hard for us to stop the Acts from becoming law. And yet, it soon became apparent that the movement was bigger than the original legislation that sparked it. We organized and demonstrated politically and spiritually, championing those aspects of our culture that the residential schools had tried to destroy. At the protests worldwide, we raised our voices and sang to the four directions to show that we are still here. We banged the moosehide drum because it symbolizes the union between the heartbeat of Mother Earth and our people, still beating strong after centuries of oppression. We rose up, strong and united, to return to the Red Road. We took to the streets and retraced the ancient trails. We found our spirits and our voices, and told our stories of renewed pride and strength in powerful traditions. We took a healing journey, as I have been doing ever since I left St. Anne’s. We honoured the memories of our living ghosts.”
Chief Metatawabin writes with courage and brutal honesty about his life, about the abuse he experienced as a student at a residential school, about the cultural genocide experienced by the Indigenous peoples, about the ways these things affected him, and came close to destroying him and his family. He offers his earliest recollections, before going away to school, about the damage done by oppressive laws that made the exercise of traditional ways a crime, the divisions created by Christian priests and ministers persuading Indigenous people that their culture was sinful and evil, abut the ways that Indigenous people were kept poor, hungry and in debt.
He writes about the almost unthinkable tortures, humiliations, abuses forced on him and others at residential schools, and the psychological damage from years of mistreatment and trauma, the way that pain led him to addiction.
He writes about his struggles to overcome alcoholism, to hel from trauma, finally learning that white men’s treatments in white institutions only perpetuated the damage. He became part of the indigenous healing movement, and began to rediscover self knowledge, and Indigenous pride.
As a chief and activist, he spearheaded court cases against residential schools, began to demand more autonomy for his nation, and supported the recovery of the almost lost traditions of indigenous people, working closely with the Idle No More movement.
These courageous personal accounts are important, both in exposing the history of white abuse, oppression and genocide, and in restoring the hope and the power of indigenous people, through making the truth known. I thank Chief Metatawabin for sharing his story with the world, and I honor him.
“What was accomplished by Idle No More? With Stephen Harper’s parliamentary majority, it was hard for us to stop the Acts from becoming law. And yet, it soon became apparent that the movement was bigger than the original legislation that sparked it. We organized and demonstrated politically and spiritually, championing those aspects of our culture that the residential schools had tried to destroy. At the protests worldwide, we raised our voices and sang to the four directions to show that we are still here. We banged the moosehide drum because it symbolizes the union between the heartbeat of Mother Earth and our people, still beating strong after centuries of oppression. We rose up, strong and united, to return to the Red Road. We took to the streets and retraced the ancient trails. We found our spirits and our voices, and told our stories of renewed pride and strength in powerful traditions. We took a healing journey, as I have been doing ever since I left St. Anne’s. We honoured the memories of our living ghosts.”
