On a journey with his father
Prominent aboriginal voice delves into the impact of the residential schools on survivor and his son
The tyranny of the residential school system robbed generations of aboriginal people of their culture and freedom. Though the schools are shuttered and the apologies have been inked, the effects continue to reverberate through generations. Wab Kinew’s The Reason You Walk is a story of reconciliation. His generation — sons and daughters of survivors — is coming back to its own cultures — cultures Canada’s government and churches tried to exterminate. The world has changed, though, and much has happened.
Kinew’s memoir explores his relationship with his father, with his own children and with the world at large.
“What does a deep tie to my traditional homeland mean if I can visit only a few times a year? What role does a traditional indigenous culture, or any local culture for that matter, have in a globalized, interconnected world?” he writes in the book. “The answers to these questions underline why we need to think of the path my father walked, and his vision of unity.”
The book is an intimate telling of the life of Kinew’s father, Tobasonakwut, his struggle with reconciliation, and his ultimately pivotal role in the truth and reconciliation process.
Kinew’s father grapples with alcoholism and deep-seated trauma that was inflicted on him in the school, which he overcomes by reconnecting with his traditional culture.
This book is a rarity — it is a secondgeneration memoir that explores the impact of the residential school system through the lens of a survivor’s child.
Kinew is the associate vice-president for indigenous affairs at the University of Winnipeg and a correspondent with Al Jazeera America.
He is a member of the Midewin, was an honorary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is one of Canada’s most prominent indigenous voices.
Much of the book focuses on the sundance ceremony and its role in the reconciliation of Kinew and his father. The traditional ceremony is outlined in exacting detail: four days of fasting followed by piercing of the dancer’s flesh.
Kinew writes that the ceremony defies description, but he does himself a disservice — his description is excellent. He presents both a textured evocation of the ceremony itself as well as what it means for him and his family. Tim Alamenciak is a digital media producer with TVO’s current affairs and documentaries department, a voracious reader and stalwart book club member.