Wawahte

WAWAHTE
As told to Robert P. Wells By Indian Residential School Survivors
Wawahte is a non-fiction book. Although this is the story of Esther, Bunnie and Stanley, it is not unique to the three of them, it was much the same for more than 150,000 Aboriginal children who, between 1883 and 1996, were forced to attend 130 residential schools in Canada.
Written in five parts:
1. Esthers Story - a little Cree girl growing up on the land west of James Bay, her horrible years at an Indian Residential School, and the regaining of her self-worth.
2. When Bunnie was one-year-old, her father placed her and her two year old sister in the care of McIntosh Indian Residential School. Here, she felt loved and was well cared for.
3. Stanley Stevens was allowed to attend an integrated day school. His steadfast belief in self-honour foiled the systems attempt to beat the Indian out of him. Now a community elder, Stanley reflects on the strength of Aboriginal people and the challenges of the past and the present.
4. Charting a new course.
5. The history of the colonial treatment of Canadas Aboriginal people, forced assimilation and Indian Residential Schools. Why and the how this happened.