Status
Call number
Call number
Collection
Description
Capricious, big-hearted, joyful: an epic memoir from one of Canada's most acclaimed Indigenous writers and performers Tomson Highway was born in a snowbank on an island in the sub-Arctic, the eleventh of twelve children in a nomadic, caribou-hunting Cree family. Growing up in a land of ten thousand lakes and islands, Tomson relished being pulled by dogsled beneath a night sky alive with stars, sucking the juices from roasted muskrat tails, and singing country music songs with his impossibly beautiful older sister and her teenaged friends. Surrounded by the love of his family and the vast, mesmerizing landscape they called home, his was in many ways an idyllic far-north childhood. But five of Tomson's siblings died in childhood, and Balazee and Joe Highway, who loved their surviving children profoundly, wanted their two youngest sons, Tomson and Rene, to enjoy opportunities as big as the world. And so when Tomson was six, he was flown south by float plane to attend a residential school. A year later Rene joined him to begin the rest of their education. In 1990 Rene Highway, a world-renowned dancer, died of an AIDS-related illness. Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up in the Land of Snow and Sky is Tomson's extravagant embrace of his younger brother's final words: "Don't mourn me, be joyful." His memoir offers insights, both hilarious and profound, into the Cree experience of culture, conquest, and survival. … (more)
Genres
Publication
Original language
Language
User reviews
Tomson's parents, Joe and Balazee, are returning to Brochet from their caribou hunting trip on December 5, 1951. They are travelling by dog sled with Balazee and three children seated in the sled pulled by eight huskies. Suddenly, Balazee realizes she is not going to make it to Brochet to give birth and the family heads to a nearby island that shows evidence of people staying there from the smoke rising into the sky. When Tomson is born he is the eleventh child of the Highway family; however, five of those children died before reaching adulthood which makes a new child even more precious. Tomson is loved by his parents and he returns that love. He also loves his siblings but he is closest to the boy who comes after him in a few years, Rene. Rene is the twelfth and final child in the family. Neither Joe nor Balazee had any formal schooling but they wanted their children to have more choices than they had. So, when the children reach school age, they are sent off to a Catholic residential school where they stay from September to June. There is probably not person now living in Canada who doesn't know the horrible effects the residential school system had on the children who attended them. Nevertheless, Tomson Highway managed to succeed and prosper in the system. There was one priest who sexually abused the boys, including Tomson, but he does not dwell on that. Instead he describes eating great meals, studying hard, learning to play the piano, and the wonderful time of Christmas concerts. Interspersed with his descriptions of life at the school and the summer months spent back with his family. His love of sub-Arctic Manitoba,its flora and fauna, is mixed up with loving his family and friends. Although he left the North to continue his education and work, he says he still returns as often as he can.
One of the joys of this book is Highway's use of the Cree language throughout.and his explanations of how funny the language can be. Be sure to read the Author's Note at the beginning to learn how to pronounce words. The note about the names of people will be especially important as you continue to read the book. (I don't think I'll ever look at the name Jean-Baptiste whithout thinking "Samba Cheese" in my mind!) Since this book only takes us up to the time in 1967 when Tomson Highway graduates from Grade 8, I really hope he will write another memoir about the years that follow.