OVERVIEW
This audiobook has seven beautiful kids on the cover. I do not know if it is an antique or a contemporary picture. They are the archetype of children whose lives were destroyed by the U.S. and Canadian Indian boarding schools. Heartbreaking!
My brain and heart are filled with so many emotions after listening to this audiobook. I feel guilt, shame, and anger for what happened to these children, but I also feel deep love and concern for their welfare. Too many emotions, too much to process, and too much shock to cry.
This book needs to be read by California students in the high school ethnic studies class required for graduation. It should be mandatory reading for all high school U.S. History classes. It is THAT important!
California had the horror of Junipero Serra and the mission system, and now we have the legacy of the Indian boarding schools.
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars.
Writing: 5.0 stars
The writing was beautiful, emotional, powerful, and thought-provoking. Mary is a journalist by degree and occupation, but this was a passion project and family memoir.
The writing was supplemented by intensive research, including interviews and boarding school paper trails. Unfortunately, many of these schools were run by religious organizations that block access to their records. Mary did an outstanding job breaking down the bureaucratic and administrative walls!
Narration: 5.0 stars
Mary did not narrate the book. Erin Tripp narrated, and she is a citizen of the Tlingit of the Disheetaan clan, born and raised in Juneau, Alaska.
Erin does a phenomenal job of narrating. She pronounces the tribal names correctly, which was important for me to learn and understand.
Character development: 5.0 stars
The main characters were the Indian boarding schools in all their horrific splendor. The schools were meant to "assimilate, civilize, and educate" (my words) the children (which were lies, lies, lies). Instead, they destroyed the culture, language, and family relationships by forcing families to send their young children away for years at a time. Finally, the Indian boarding schools were workhouses where the children lived in inhumane conditions with minimal food and rampant deadly diseases.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
Mary had a challenging childhood with epigenetic and inherited pain from the Indian boarding schools. By writing this book, she learns about herself, her family of origin, and her extended family. The biggest and most beautiful takeaway is that Mary understands herself, her mother, and their relationship at the end of the book.
I also learned much about the Native healing being utilized today through traditional methods. This gives me so much hope for future generations impacted by the Indian boarding schools.
Entertaining/Educational: 5.0 stars
This is not an entertaining book, but rather an educational one. It is the non-whitewashed horror stories of the Indian boarding schools. We must learn from this history, be educated about it, and correct the outcome.
My biggest concern is that the current administration will erase all of the history education of the Indian boarding schools for natives and non-natives. What happened at the Indian boarding schools could have happened to any culture, and that is terrifying and sobering.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Love!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect. The Ojibwe community in northern Wisconsin.
HIGHLY recommend
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow: audiobook
Medicine River by Mary Annette Pember
9 hours, 46 minutes
Random House Audio
Release date: 4/22/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
TRIGGER WARNING: Cursing, classism, colonialism, war, violence, lack of food and water, xenophobia, forced institutionalization, rape, physical violence, sexual violence, blood, racism
NOTE: This book is very explicit, but not gratuitously. It is difficult to believe that religious and/or educators treated children this way, but it DID happen.
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
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