I am not a number

by Jenny Kay Dupuis

Other authorsKathy Kacer (Author.), Gillian Newland (Illustrator.)
Hardcover, 2016

Status

Available

Collection

Publication

Toronto, ON : Second Story Press, [2016]

Description

"A picture book based on a true story about a young First Nations girl who was sent to a residential school. 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 to force her to do otherwise. Based on the life of Jenny Kay Dupuis' own grandmother, I Am Not a Number brings a terrible part of Canada's history to light in a way that children can learn from and relate to"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member Lindsay_W
This picture book is the story of the author’s grandmother, Irene Couchie Dupuis, and the year she endured in a residential school in Ontario. While there, she was stripped of her name, her hair, her language and culture, and endured abusive punishments.

It is essential to the reconciliation
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process that we share stories like Irene’s to understand the damaging effects of residential schools and colonization on our indigenous people. Powerful watercolour illustrations by Gillian Newland.
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LibraryThing member Carlathelibrarian
This book tore at my heart. The residential schools were a black mark on Canadian History as well as the Christian Church. To tear children away from their families and force them to live a life that is completely unfamiliar to them is awful enough, but to tell them their language, life, beliefs
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etc. were evil is devastating. I cried as I read this story about young Irene Couchie and her brothers. The way she was treated was despicable. It is no wonder so many Native Canadians had/have mental health issues. The threats to her parents of arresting them if they did not turn over their children was extortion at best. Kudos to Irene for sharing this story with her granddaughter to publish. The way it is written is wonderful for children to learn about this shameful time in Canadian History without them dealing with trauma. It is sad, but I know there is so much more that could have been added that would have been too much for children to hear. A definite must for all Canadian History classes in elementary schools.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
In an afterword by Jenny Kay Dupuis we learn:

I Am Not a Number is based on the true story of my granny, Irene Couchie Dupuis, an Anishinaabe woman who was born into a First Nation community that stretched along the shores of Lake Nipissing in Northern Ontario. Granny’s father was chief of the
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community, and her mother looked after their fourteen children.”

In 1928, when Irene was eight years old, an Indian Agent came to their house and demanded that her father hand over the children for the residential school: “They are wards of the government, now. They belong to us.” When her father objected, he was told that otherwise he would be fined and sent to jail. It was the law, and they had to go.

The stories taken from Irene’s memories of the school are pretty horrific. She was given a number and not allowed to use her name. Irene became "759." She was not permitted any regular contact with her parents. She was told to “scrub all the brown off” her body when she washed. The food was awful, and she and the other children were always hungry. They were beaten if they were heard using any words in their own language - “the devil’s language” according to the nuns.

When they attended mass (every morning and twice on Sundays) she recalled that she “secretly begged God to let me return to my family.”

After a year, she was allowed to return home for the summer. She loved being home, but had nightmares about the school every night. She begged her parents not to make her go back. Her parents decided to hide her and her brothers in the father’s taxidermy shop. The Indian Agent searched everywhere, including the shop, but didn’t find them. Her father claimed the children went up north and he didn’t know when they would be back. Finally the agent left, and they came out laughing and crying and shaking:

“We were safe. I was Irene Couchie, daughter of Ernest and Mary Ann Couchie. And I was home.”

An Author’s Note reports that Irene was among approximately 150,000 children - some as young as four - who were were removed from their homes and sent to live at residential schools across Canada. [There was a similar system in the United States.] She writes:

“Of the over 80,000 students who either returned home or relocated to cities and towns across Canada, many felt they didn’t belong anywhere and strugged all their lives.”

The last residential school did not close until 1996. In 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada issued a statement of apology.

There is an afterward by Jenny Kay Dupuis, the granddaughter of Irene Couchie Dupuis. She says her granny rarely would speak about what happened to her.

Illustrator Gillian Newland, using watercolor, ink, and pencils, manages to convey the hurt and fear and sorrow of the children in the schools with her spare lines and colors.

Evaluation: This is a story that should be known by all North Americans. What happened to Native Americans in both Canada and the United States is a sorrowful and shameful chapter of North American history. While the subject matter is difficult, it will help children develop empathy and understanding of the situation of others. Kids need alternate perspectives. There is no moralizing in the story; readers will have to think about what happened and draw their own conclusions.

In an interview, Jenny Kay Dupuis said:

"Co-writing I Am Not a Number with Kathy Kacer gave me the opportunity to reflect on the value of literature for young people and how educators and families can make use of picture books to start conversations about critical, real-world issues."
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LibraryThing member widdersyns
Beautiful art and a very important story.
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Picture book sized story about the author's granny being abducted and forced into residential school. Grim story, but a history that needs to be spoken, and this one is well done, with a bit of hope at the end.

Language

Physical description

29 cm

ISBN

1927583942 / 9781927583944

Barcode

259

Lexile

640L
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