A review by dashadashahi
They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars

5.0

This book provides significant insight into the process of trauma and healing that the Canadian government, in relationship with Protestant and Catholic churches, inflicted upon multiple generations of Indigenous children. Her book sheds light on these personal experiences which are often obscured by statistics and reports used in other histories detailing residential schools. Sellars work is important for returning the narrative back to Indigenous people and allowing them to reclaim the traumas experienced, as well as the healing that followed for some, but not all residential school attendees. Moreover, Sellars highlights the importance of kinship and family in the healing process. Finally, Sellars also demonstrates the kindness she experienced at the hands of some white individuals, such as an instructor who helped take her to the dentist as a student. Such rare moments highlight the nuance and complexity of these experiences.