Book Review Of Five Little Indians By Michelle Good

Unveiling the Untold Stories of Survival: A Review of Five Little Indians by Michelle Good By: Rylee MacKenzie #220168 68:152 Introduction to Native Studies II Professor Maud March, 14th 2024

The book Five Little Indians, written by author, Michelle Good, is a heart-wrenching and moving novel that sheds light on the lives of five Indigenous children who were forced to experience the horrors and hardships of the Canadian residential school system. Residential schools were government-sponsored institutions established in the late 19th century and were run until the late 20th century, with the intention of assimilating Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian cultures and practices. Five Little Indians (First Edition) is a fiction novel

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need for truth, reconciliation and healing in Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (established 2008) documented the history of residential schools and issued a series of recommendations aimed at addressing the ongoing impact of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples. While progress has been made, there is still tons of work that needs to be done to continue to address the systemic injustices and to foster meaningful reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. I enjoyed reading Five Little Indians. I thought it was a very engaging read that discussed harsh topics in a way that made you feel empathetic about the characters and their lives. It gave me more insight into the lives that the children had while they were in St. Joseph. One of the things that shocked me most, was the fact of how brutally the children were ripped from their homes and thrown into a world that was alien and unfamiliar to them. I knew that these things had happened, but reading it in such a context opened my eyes to what it was like for these children. I enjoyed how each individual character had a chance to tell their own story and I found it very