6 X 9 inches, 96 pages
Sammy Goes to Residential School
Illustrations by Susan Ross
THIS IS THE TROUBLED STORY about a seven-year-old Cree child, Sammy, who is removed from his northern reservation in order to attend residential school. Assigned identification number 122, Sammy experiences many of the humiliations of residential schools, such as the deprivation of one's personal space as well as one's own language and culture.
Mary Lingman sensitively deals with the personal impact of enforced assimilation of Native children by concentrating on their preparation for education away from home and on the role of the grandparents in that education.
There are some happy adventures as well, such as Sammy's first plane ride (as a stowaway), a fish-up, chasing whales, making moosomin jam, and winter sports.
Mary Lingman is a former teacher in residential schools in northern Ontario. She lives in Thunder Bay.
A well-known artist from Thunder Bay, Susan Ross's work was featured in Northward Journal 39.