Summary Of Out Of The Depths By Margaret Knockwood

On the surface, many of the children at the Residential schools appeared to be well looked after, and were often given new clothes when they were leaving the school, or for special photographs. Knockwood recounts the experiences of children being given special clothes for appointments and photographs (145), and how these outward appearances did not accurately depict the everyday treatment. One example from Out of The Depths that highlights the high illness rates, lack of appropriate clothing, and inauthentic outward appearances come from the story of Imelda Brooks. Brooks recalls being taken into town to treat her polio (a highly contagious infectious disease) but, “remembers that, although she had no warm outdoor clothes at school, she was

Children were often expected to operate machinery that was very large and not designed for amateur use, especially by children so young (Out of The Depths 67). In the kitchens there were large machines like dough mixers and milk/cream separators (Out of The Depths 68), and in the laundry room there were dangerous washing machines. Knockwood incorporates the stories of many children who witnessed horrific working accidents, many of which resulting in permanent deformity of the hands and fingers, and longer lasting emotional scars. One of the most shocking elements in Out of The Depths “Work and Play” section comes from Knockwood’s own experience, in recalling the story of Teresa Ginnish’s hand being caught in the mangle of the laundry machine (70). Knockwood recalls how the emergency stop lever broke off, and all of the girls were too small to reach the off-switch, which powered the machine. She recalls that eventually, “the Sister-in-Charge, Pi’jkwej, came running from the kitchen where she was having a tea break and reached up over the girls’ heads and switched off the button. She acted like she saw herself as a heroine (Out of The Depths 71). For the Sister to act as though she had done something heroic is appalling, not only because these girls should never have been expected to use such dangerous machinery,

His Aunt believed that because, “the experience had killed the spirits of so many people. She didn’t want me to be infected by its insidious force. She worried it would drag me down, and would never produce anything positive. She gave me this counsel over twenty years ago” (Borrows 486). Despite this advice, Borrows was unable to stay away from the topic, like many other Indigenous scholars. The atrocities that the children of residential schools had to endure is not something that can be ignored, just as the lessons these children learned, like shame, humiliation, hate, compassion, and forgiveness cannot be overlooked (Borrows 486-7). Borrows raises an important point, which is that the children of the Residential schools, who survived, grew up to eventually become elders (487). Although there are some who feel Residential schools had positive impacts, the high suicide rates in Indigenous communities cannot be