Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii: I Am Not a Number

Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii: I Am Not a NumberDual language edition in Nishnaabemwin (Ojibwe) Nbisiing dialect and English. When eight year old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school, she is confused, frightened and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns in charge at the school, who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her. When she

A young Native American

As a child

and the seasonal round though key players and place names

A terrific read-aloud pick

They speak of growing up at a time when their Hawaiian culture was in danger of extinction

sorrowful tale of justice

injustice and betrayal

and natural objects (including mountains

together with the English translation

[ Future Home of the Living God] is an eerie masterpiece

shattering vision of Indigenous life

ultimately buoyant dramatization of the way unexpected kinships heal us