Medicine River Audiobook By Mary Annette Pember cover art

Medicine River

A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools

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Medicine River

By: Mary Annette Pember
Narrated by: Erin Tripp
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Buy for $19.80

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A sweeping and deeply personal account of Native American boarding schools in the United States, and the legacy of abuse wrought by them in an attempt to destroy Native culture and life

FINALIST FOR THE PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, TIME, Smithsonian, The History Channel

“With a government that is rewriting history in real time, Medicine River stands as a testament to the truth.”—The New York Times

“Powerful. . . . An important work.”—Los Angeles Times

“Everyone, absolutely everyone, should read this book."—Javier Zamora, author of Solito

From the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1930s, tens of thousands of Native children were pulled from their tribal communities to attend boarding schools whose stated aim was to "save the Indian" by way of assimilation. In reality, these boarding schools—sponsored by the U.S. government, but often run by various religious orders with little to no regulation—were a calculated attempt to dismantle tribes by pulling apart Native families. Children were beaten for speaking their Native languages; denied food, clothing, and comfort; and forced to work menial jobs in terrible conditions, all while utterly deprived of love and affection.

Amongst those thousands of children was Ojibwe journalist Mary Pember's mother, who was sent to a boarding school in northern Wisconsin at age five. The trauma of her experience cast a pall over Pember's own childhood and her relationship with her mother. Highlighting both her mother's experience and the experiences of countless other students at such schools, their families, and their children, Medicine River paints a stark but hopeful portrait of communities still reckoning with the trauma of acculturation, religion, and abuse caused by the state. Through searing interviews and careful reporting, Pember traces the evolution and continued rebirth of Native cultures and nations in relation to the country that has been intent on eradicating them. Social justice Indigenous Peoples United States Biographies & Memoirs Americas
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What a heartfelt book this is. Mary Annette Pember has put an amazing story and history together in her book Medicine River. She is so strong and incredibly brave in so many ways. I strongly recommend this book. All walks of life can gain from this book and walk away a better person having read it.

Heartfelt

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It is an incredible story of truth, told with facts and personal life trauma and healing!

Great

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I finished listening with tears of remembrance falling down my face.. if you know, you know. Gratitude to Mary Annette Pember.🙏🏽♥️🌿🪶

Medicine River really brought a lot of feelings to the surface from my own experience with my family.🪶💔🥀

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The author does an amazing job interweaving their personal experience and family history with the tragic and horrible abuse the US Government and Catholic Church perpetrated/ perpetrates on native people.

Eye opening

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this was well written and covered a subject that is not easily talked about in a well a respectful way!

great!

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