‘Seven Fallen Feathers’ Reveals Disturbing Truths Every Canadian Should Know
You can tell how well read a book is by the creases on it’s spine and the folded corners of its pages. When I picked up Seven Fallen Feathers from my local library, I was pleasantly surprised to find that that was the case for an important read like this.
This was my first read by an Indigenous author, but it will not be the last. Seven Fallen Feathers covers the deaths of seven Indigenous students in Thunder Bay, Ont. from 2000 to 2011. But along the way, author Tanya Talaga goes into depth about the circumstances that contributed to these incidents, as well as the lasting trauma of residential schools in Canada. Unfortunately, Canadian schools don’t really teach kids much about Indigenous history or culture, so this book was incredibly eye-opening for me.
Here are some hard truths I found the most unexpected:
🧡 “The Indian Act was such a successful piece of legislature for the Canadian government that it was used as a model by white South African legislators when they set up their brutal system of apartheid.” Let that sink in.
🧡 “In traditional Indigenous culture, it was rare for people to take their own lives — and it was especially rare for children to do so.” But despite this, Indigenous communities have been plagued with a suicide epidemic as a result of undealt trauma due to colonialism and a lack of medical and mental health services.
🧡 After residential schools closed in Canada, Indigenous youth still had to leave their homes in order to get an education. This often meant leaving their families and moving to a big, unfamiliar city where they were treated like outcasts. “We would get egged by white kids,” said Thunder Bay student James Benson from Weagamow First Nation in the book. “People would yell out of passing cars, ‘Go back home! Go back to your land!’ Meanwhile, this is our land.”
I am so ashamed of this dark part of Canada’s history, but I’m committed to educating myself. If you’re wondering how else you can learn about Indigenous issues in Canada outside of books, the University of Alberta is offering a FREE online course called Indigenous Canada that is a great place to start.
💥𝐓𝐋;𝐃𝐑: This is a disturbing but eye-opening read about the tragic deaths of seven Indigenous youths in Thunder Bay, Ont. The book gives readers a better understanding of the lasting impact of residential schools on Indigenous communities, as well as the racism and ongoing challenges Indigenous people face.
Read more about Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga:
