By Carly Smith
Content warning: residential schools, suicide, child abuse, alcohol abuse, racism
In the 30th anniversary edition of My Name is Seepeetza, Shirley Sterling brings to light the events and emotions that arose from attending residential school. The journal entries which comprise this book are preceded by a beautiful dedication to all residential school attendees, a poem entitled Coyote Laughs, and two maps which readers can reference as the setting changes.
This autobiographical book begins with Sterling as a young girl at Kalamak Indian Residential School. We learn of her hardships, both minor and significant, as well as periodic moments of joy. Sterling discusses the dispositions of her teachers, their lack of compassion, and their inclination to use shame as a means of rectifying undesired actions and behaviour. Throughout the entries, she weaves in other, less immediate yet still significant outcomes of residential school, like substance abuse, loss of language, and suicide. Sterling breaks up the accounts of attending Kalamak with more positive memories of returning home to the family’s ranch to be reunited with her parents and siblings over holidays. An afterword by Tomson Highway recapitulates Sterling’s life at residential school, the brief visits home during Christmas and summer, and all of the feelings that surround these two very different living situations.
Sterling’s writing is simple yet powerful. She doesn’t rely on an abundance of descriptors or strong words to evoke emotion and reflection. Written in the voice of a young adult, she chronicles her memories and thoughts plainly, but this is not to say her writing is underwhelming. In fact, it’s often quite the opposite. Her crisp, unembellished details of her childhood bring up feelings of disappointment, shame, sadness, and worry, and at times contentment and joy, too. Even more, her words act as a catalyst for deep reflection and necessary conversation about Canada’s dark past regarding the residential school system. In less than 150 pages, Sterling offers a more concise and frank account of the cultural and human rights atrocities caused by residential schools than any textbook I have come across.
This moving book is a must read for any Canadian. Certainly appropriate for adults, this book may also be suitable for young adults at the discretion of their guardians. Heavy and triggering topics are present in My Name is Seepeetza, and this should be considered prior to reading. I strongly recommend this book for those whose understanding of residential schools in Canada is limited.
Thank you to House of Anansi for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.