September Virtual Book Club – MEDICINE RIVER: A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND THE LEGACY OF INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS

Wednesday, September 24
7PM – 8:30PM
This is a virtual event.

Looking to expand your reading list and discuss a variety of issues and topics important to Native people? Please join our virtual book club, As They Speak: Native Voices in Today’s Literature. Based on a variety of topics and featuring a range of genres, all of the books we will be reading have been written by contemporary authors. This month, in recognition of Orange Shirt Day on September 30 – a day to raise awareness about the impact of Indigenous residential schools in Canada and the United States – we’re reading Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools by Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Band, Wisconsin Ojibwe). From the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1930s, tens of thousands of Native children were pulled from their tribal communities to attend boarding schools whose stated aim was to “save the Indian” by way of assimilation.  Amongst those thousands of children was Ojibwe journalist Mary Pember’s mother, who  was sent to a boarding school in northern Wisconsin at age five. In this month’s selection, Pember paints a stark but hopeful portrait of communities still reckoning with the trauma of acculturation, religion, and abuse caused by the state. Through searing interviews and careful reporting, Pember traces the evolution and continued rebirth of Native cultures and nations in relation to the country that has been intent on eradicating them. Join IAIS staff for virtual discussion on Zoom. 

Please note: Due to the nature of this month’s selection and the topic of discussion, this month’s book club meeting might trigger strong emotions for some participants. Resources for survivors, their descendents, and community allies can be found via The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.

In order to have a more intimate conversation, space is limited. Please register online to receive the Zoom link. Questions? Please call (860) 868-0518 or email [email protected]. This is a free event, but donations are appreciated. This event will NOT be recorded.