The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir
Image courtesy of Prince Albert Herald
This post is sponsored by the University of Regina Press
WANT TO GET A HEAD START ON RECONCILIATION?
Teach your students the story of a survivor.
Last October, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their final report—with calls to action recommending, in part, that educators begin developing and implementing mandatory curricula on the history and traumatic legacy of Indian Residential Schools.
As an educator, you may be looking for material that can help show your students the truth about Canada’s history, while inspiring them to build a better future.
For a sensitive, engaging and forthright account of what it was like to be a child attending Indian Residential School, try The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir.
Image courtesy of University of Regina Press
Written by 87-year-old retired Cree trapper Joseph Auguste (“Augie”) Merasty, and edited by the award-winning author David Carpenter, The Education of Augie Merasty tells the story of a boyhood lost at Residential School, where Merasty was sent when he was just five years old. As Merasty recounts, these schools did more than attempt to mould children in the ways of white society. They were taught to be ashamed of their heritage and, as he experienced, often suffered physical and sexual abuse.
Named the fourth Best Book of the Year by the National Post in 2015, covered on the front page of the Globe and Mail, chosen as the inaugural book for One Book, One Province Saskatchewan in 2017, and already used in classrooms from Regina to Toronto, The Education of Augie Merasty has struck a chord with audiences. Its features include:
- A short, appealing format: “Well suited to a teenage audience because of its brevity and frankness.” – J.D.M. Stewart, Bishop Strachan School
- An empathetic main character whom students can read about in the media
- A story that demonstrates how residential schooling impacted the lives of many Aboriginal people
- An introduction and afterword that shows readers how the book came to be published, and how important it was for Augie Merasty to tell his story to the world
- Applicability to multiple subjects, including Language Arts, Social Studies, History and Indigenous/Aboriginal Studies
NOW THROUGH JANUARY 2017
Purchase a copy of The Education of Augie Merasty, and email us a picture of the receipt to receive an advance copy of the book’s Teaching Guide! Developed by a veteran teacher and administrator with Regina Public Schools, the Teaching Guide provides prompts, discussion questions, reading strategies, and everything else you’ll need to make this memoir a moving and unforgettable part of your class.
Other Reads for Reconciliation: