April Raintree Identity Quotes

In the book In Search of April Raintree there is a lot of struggle for identity. April Raintree was a Metis girl who was ashamed of her background from the beginning. She was ashamed because she was bullied about her culture from the time she was a child. April’s parents were drunks and she was forced to take care of her little sister Cheryl. From the time April was a young child to the time she was an adult she wanted nothing more than to be accepted in white society. April tried to hide her background in order to be accepted. She was not forced to identify with her Aboriginal culture because she was lighter skinned than Cheryl. April could pass for a white person. April’s parents were often drunk and unable to take care of April and her

April found work in a lawyer’s office. While April was at work one day she met a handsome white man who was in Winnipeg to purchase land for expansion for his wholesale furniture business. The man asked April out for lunch and April accepted the offer. Over lunch, he introduced himself as Bob Radcliff. He told April he was from Toronto and owned a business there with his mother. Over the next few months April and Bob spent a lot of time together and Bob proposes to April. On July 25, 1969 April was pronounced April Radcliff. April could now identify with white society even more now because she had a white last name. Soon after April and Bob are married they flew to Toronto to live in his and his mother’s house. Once the couple arrived at their house April realized how rich Bob really was, “But from the moment I saw their house, excuse me, mansion, I knew I had badly underestimated the wealth I had married into”. From the moment April met Bob’s mother, Barbara, she felt the disapproval. Barbara Radcliff threw a lot of extravagant parties and April was encouraged to invite Cheryl over for the Christmas holidays. April was embarrassed to introduce Cheryl to Barbara and her friends because everyone would know she was a half-breed. While Cheryl is in Toronto visiting April she knows that April is only married to Bob and puts up with mother Radcliff because she is finally in with the