Indian School Days

by Basil Johnston

Book Overview

This book is the humorous, bitter-sweet autobiography of a Canadian Ojibwa who was taken from his family at age ten and placed in Jesuit boarding school in northern Ontario. It was 1939 when the feared Indian agent visited Basil Johnston's family and removed him and his four-year-old sister to St. Peter Claver's school, run by the priests in a community known as Spanish, 75 miles from Sudbury. "Spanish! It was a word synonymous with residential school,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806122269
• ISBN13: 9780806122267
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

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Read everything this author writes.

From this book to Crazy Dave...we learn that a hard life breeds knowledge..and what you do with it depends on the individual. Mr Johnson was our teacher at Earl Haig and we were on the edge of our seats every day. He honored us with his presence at our reunions in 2002 and 2007...a really special man. Thank you Mr Johnson...

Indian Residential Schools in CANADA

During the past few years, many books have been written by former boarders of Canadian Residential Schools for natives. Most, if not all, were a means for their author to live through the anger that churned inside because of ill treatment and sexual abuse by the staff. Much to my delight, though, the author of INDIAN SCHOOL DAYS does not write of such events. He describes his educational experience under the tutorship of Jesuit priests and brothers whose purpose was to teach their native boarders the white man's ways and thus make good Christians of them. Throughout the book, the author describes the daily schedule of the school, the teachers' attitudes, the children's reactions, etc. all eye-opening for readers, who were expecting a "tell all tale," a scandal. All considering, the author did benefit from the discipline of the school to the extent that he freely decided to return the Residential School in Spanish, Ontario as a highs chool student after having etched out a living as a trapper for a short while. By that time, the highs chool had been approved by the Canadian government, and many native boys matriculated on a voluntary basis, contrary to their forced entry into the Residential School as small children, who had been "kidnapped" from their parents by order of Canadian Law. Times have changed since the 1940's and 50's and "conversion" of the natives is no longer part of 20th and 21st century standards. Natives are now rediscovering their culture and, as the author has done, are healing their wounds and that of their parents' generation.

BOARDING SCHOOL

As a daughter of one who attended this very school prior to the author, it brings to light how schooling still affects how my father deals with situations (he is now in his 80s). As an educator, this chapter of Indian Schools is not taught as part of history class -- not for the children or at the university for upcoming teachers. It should be mandatory reading for anyone searching for historical educational processes/pedagogy. J.Montour, educator

A page of history no one wants to see

When most kids skip school they don't get shipped off to a Residential School where they are treated less than human and have to learn quickly to get a long. From the opening sentence you are hooked as the boys armed with slingshots decide not to waste the day in school but go hunting instead. Trouble brews and soon the Indian agent shows up to take little Basil away to Spanish - a small town on the North Shore north of Manitoulin Island. The only problem is the Indian agent - (heartless white men who loved to play God) wanted a "pay" load and up and took the five year old sister of Basil too. Nobody got to say yes or no it was a done deal.To say this book is all serious - well it isn't. Humour comes through again and again these are surviors here people - not victims. Basil was gratefull for the education he got and where it lead him but the out come always depends on the person. What would challenge one person who drive someone else to the edge and over it. The boys rise to the challenge of chicken farming at the school - collecting eggs they'll never get to eat. A page turner for sure, take a closer look at Canada's dirty little secert that is just now being dealt with in court. A follow up list is in the back of the book to tell you what happened to these boys. Excellent read not to be missed