They called me number one: secrets and survival at an Indian residential school
Canadian non-fiction, Canadian authors (Non-fiction), Indigenous peoples, Indigenous peoples in Canada
Human-narrated audio
Summary
Like thousands of other Aboriginal children, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions attempted to "civilize" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture;… and strict discipline. Perhaps the most symbolically potent strategy used to alienate residential school children was addressing them by assigned numbers only, not by the names with which they knew and understood themselves. Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family - from substance abuse to suicide attempts - and articulates her own path to healing. 2013.