A review by abbie_
Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age by Darrel J. McLeod

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
Over the weekend I read the second memoir in the lineup for @erinanddanisbookclub year of memoirs 2021 and it was devastating. Mamaskatch is told in vignettes rather than in a linear narrative, as Cree author Darrel J. McLeod picks out moments from his and his family’s lives to share with the reader.
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He demonstrates the lasting trauma caused by residential schools, as his mother Bertha was forced into one as a young girl and the abuse she suffered there is passed down to her children. While there, she is punished if caught conversing in Cree and later in life, if Darrel asked her what a phrase in Cree meant, she would tell him but also emphasise the fact she wanted them to only learn English, the lasting effects of the residential school divorcing her children from their heritage.
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There are also horrific accounts of the sexual and domestic abuse Darrel suffered as a child and teenager, as well as racism and homophobia, as Darrel spends much of the book questioning his sexual orientation. He points out that his ancestors had a much more fluid and open approach to gender and sexual identities, but then Catholicism stripped away those attitudes.
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It goes without saying that it’s a difficult read, but a necessary story to hear. Darrel overcomes so much, and I know he has another memoir coming out this year that I’m definitely adding to my wishlist!
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