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807 reviews for:
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City
Tanya Talaga
4.58 AVERAGE
807 reviews for:
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City
Tanya Talaga
4.58 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This book is really phenomenal. This is really a study on the legacy of trauma Canadian society has caused to First Nations peoples. It's heartbreaking and really necessary. I think the US we often look at our own racist history (and present) and assume that we're so much worse than Canada but, unfortunately, and due to the long worldwide history of colonization, this damage is present in nearly every country, particularly in relationships between white/European colonizers and the indigenous peoples of the countries they're inhabiting. Well-written, with good pacing and a very narrative non-fiction feel.
The trauma suffered by our indigenous communities is wrapped up in one highlighted city over a short period of time. Tanya Talaga has done a good job of making us feel a tiny fraction of the pain experienced as the remote communities give up their children to a hostile community where they must go if they wish to get a high school education. Despite many efforts by Indigenous groups on the ground, too many fall through the cracks. Is it suicide or are they pushed off a riverbank? It also injects many various inquiries and commissions in one read.
Every time I educate myself on Indigenous relation, I go through such a roller coaster of emotions, but mostly anger. Canada is deplorable. If you've head Highway of Tears, this book is similar to that in both the structure and writing style. There were times throughout the book I felt completely sick to my stomach.
Highly recommend and it should be required reading.
Highly recommend and it should be required reading.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
I follow several Bookstagramers on Instagram and have come to discover that many of them are Canadian. (So when President Calliou inevitably causes the collapse of American society, I’ve got a head start on knowing people up north). Several of them read and mentioned this book one-after-another so I picked it up this month. It’s a narrative nonfiction story about the essentially uninvestigated, suspicious deaths of First Nation children who were sent away for school in Canada. As part of the narrative, Talaga provides background on the racist residential school system designed to destroy indigenous families and cultures (it was literally a model for apartheid South Africa) as well as revealing the rampant racism still prevalent against indigenous peoples in Canada today (Et tu, Canada?).
Seven Fallen Feathers was well-paced and Talaga did well in switching back and forth between narratives of different families while keeping everyone straight and distinguishable. I did have a bit of trouble with knowing absolutely nothing about Canada or its geography–even with a map, I probably didn’t fully appreciate the scope of how far some of these kids had to be sent away for school. I would love to read a book like this about America–it’s well and good that I know the specific details of Canada’s racist past but I really should know more about my own county’s. If you have suggestions on where to start on this, I’m all ears. I’m also hoping the DBC book club looks at Indigenous Peoples soon.
More bookish thoughts can be found at http://lisaanreads.com if you enjoyed this mini-review
Seven Fallen Feathers was well-paced and Talaga did well in switching back and forth between narratives of different families while keeping everyone straight and distinguishable. I did have a bit of trouble with knowing absolutely nothing about Canada or its geography–even with a map, I probably didn’t fully appreciate the scope of how far some of these kids had to be sent away for school. I would love to read a book like this about America–it’s well and good that I know the specific details of Canada’s racist past but I really should know more about my own county’s. If you have suggestions on where to start on this, I’m all ears. I’m also hoping the DBC book club looks at Indigenous Peoples soon.
More bookish thoughts can be found at http://lisaanreads.com if you enjoyed this mini-review
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
audiobook - I am so glad that this book was written and that I was able to read (listen to) it. It was incredibly difficult to listen to, and I was privileged to have the option of pressing pause and taking a break, while the real people and real lives within the book could not.
I work for a business that receives funds from some of the bodies detailed in this book, and knowing the history has strengthened further my resolve to use that money to its absolute fullest for the needs of indigenous youth.
My thoughts will be with the families who shared these stories for a long, long time.
I work for a business that receives funds from some of the bodies detailed in this book, and knowing the history has strengthened further my resolve to use that money to its absolute fullest for the needs of indigenous youth.
My thoughts will be with the families who shared these stories for a long, long time.