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They Called Me Number One
- Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School
- Narrated by: Bev Sellars
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Social Sciences
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Publisher's Summary
Like thousands of Aboriginal children in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions endeavored to "civilize" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture; and strict discipline. Perhaps the most symbolically potent strategy used to alienate residential school children was addressing them by assigned numbers only - not by the names with which they knew and understood themselves.
In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family - from substance abuse to suicide attempts - and eloquently articulates her own path to healing. They Called Me Number One comes at a time of recognition - by governments and society at large - that only through knowing the truth about these past injustices can we begin to redress them.
Bev Sellars is chief of the Xatsu'll (Soda Creek) First Nation in Williams Lake, British Columbia. She holds a degree in history from the University of Victoria and a law degree from the University of British Columbia. She has served as an advisor to the British Columbia Treaty Commission.
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What listeners say about They Called Me Number One
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joni
- 2018-02-16
Important Canadian History
This is a story that should never have happened. Every Canadian should read this book. Bev is a bit dry to listen to as a narrator, but I couldn’t leave the book alone. I felt all of her pains and understand her hate. I am so sad and upset that the Native People Of Canada went through this- Good on you Bev for rising to the top. READ THIS BOOK.
9 people found this helpful
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- Pearl Miller
- 2018-07-01
AMAZING
Bev Sellars is a magnificent storyteller. Her truth and passion left me many times with goosebumps and the feeling that I wish I knew her and her family. I can’t speak highly enough of her book. Masterpiece.
7 people found this helpful
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- Julia
- 2019-02-23
Thank You!
as I listened to this book, as a native women. I had a lot of "wow moments". my grandma was in a Residential school in Alberta. my Grandma had eight children when passed away as a baby and my dad was the only boy. as my dad grew up I feel like he's been through a lot and has taken out his anger on his children and I think it has a lot to do with his mother being in residential schools as well as his father so it's kind of like a domino effect. even though I never went to residential schools my dad was raised by someone that did and it has messed him up which has messed me up my only goal in life is to be the best mother that I can take my children and not let this affect my children today. trust me when I say it is very difficult because sometimes I see my dad and myself, however at least I can recognize that and take a breath and start again. this was a great eye opener to me I have learnt a lot and even though my family has suffered and is still suffering all I can do is have my children appreciate their elders an understanding of history and be proud of who they are mentally emotionally spiritually. this book is a really good lesson I recommended 100% people need to know how bad residential schools were and how it still affects us today.
6 people found this helpful
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- Yness Boily
- 2018-06-22
A reality check for us Colonizing Canadians
I listened with difficulty as I struggle to come to terms with the darker side of my Canadian identity. This book and others like it MUST become part of the curriculum in our basic Canadian education!
4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-06-25
Every non-indigenous person living in Canada should listen/read.
This book will give perspective and break your heart. The author did an amazing job telling the story of her experience. Loved it and thankful for it.
1 person found this helpful
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- Cris Leonard
- 2020-12-17
Eye opening clear account of a terrible wrong.
Amazing and enlightening first hand account of the terrible history and treatment of our fellow humans. This is a story that should be told over and over so all can understand how bad it was, and to a large degree still is. I spent the 90’s in Williams Lake and I know the area well. Most of the places Bev talks about I have been to, so this added a mind visual element for me. Great Book!
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- Elizabeth W.
- 2020-12-06
Heart wrenching, honest and long overdue.
As a white Eastern European first generation Canadian born woman of the last surviving pioneer who homesteaded in the Peace River Country, I am very familiar with the area the Author is referring to and where she lived. So it’s history of Residential Schools, and abuse dished out by the Priests and Nuns and people in places of trust were kept totally silent until something happened to shake up the establishment to the core. We, white, people could have been slaughtered if the Native had chosen to. We, the whites chose to make Treaties with the Natives, so that we could all live together peacefully. It was not perfect. There were failures, mostly from the whites. But there was enough peace, safety and respect in Canada that Chief Joesph of the ‘Nez Pearce’ risked death by exposure and starvation of his tribe to reach the safety of this country. And, that’s not the end of their story. I am deeply grieved by what has occurred. Those who are guilty should be publicly hanged for their transgressions. Those who have been sinned against should be there to kick the trap-door open. In the HOLY BIBLE, Jesus gives a warning, specifically to those who harm children, it would be merciful for them to have a millstone hung around their neck and to be dropped into the ocean. I am in agreement with God’s word. Thank you Beverly, for writing this book. I look forward to more books like this, by any survivor. We need to know what happened. It must be brought out, into the light, and out of the darkness of secrecy. Show us the guilty, tell us of their sins, so that we may see justice for you, done!
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-11-26
Essential Canadian History
Through justified anger and compelled by truth, Bev walks us through 3 generations of destruction. At the hands of the Mission residential school in Williams Lake and the consequences of the Indian Act, her story is about victory despite the destruction.
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- Leah
- 2020-11-23
Shocking, eye-opening and moving
A shocking first hand account of life in a BC residential school over several generations, this book will crack your heart wide open. Informative and evocative, I think it should be mandatory reading in Canadian curriculum. Awareness and understanding are the beginnings of reconciliation.
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- Kelly Garrett
- 2020-11-16
Beautiful read
I was moved in every sense. Beautifully written and powerful. Bev Sellars is a human inspiration.
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- Susie
- 2017-08-22
Shame on Church and State
"Few people know anything about the collaboration of church and state to destroy races of people and cultures, genocide in the name of god."
Bev Sellars' often brutal testimony, gives insight into the cycle of poverty of indigenous peoples in Canada and (as she says) the United states, and even into Australia. She shows how dehumanization and cultural obliteration are passed down through generations.
She asks, "Is it possible to make others feel what I once felt?" The answer is yes. Her grandmotherly storyteller voice made me feel like I was hearing personal family history that I needed for my own survival.
Kindnesses shine like stars, but the bleakness is shameful and will be among the list of books that bolster my fight against systematic oppression.
6 people found this helpful
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- Christina
- 2020-02-07
A truth that must be told.
This should be required reading for all schools. I was lucky, my grandmother saved me from the 60’s sweep. And I escaped the res, school experience, but my mother let slip some of her horrid experiences.
2 people found this helpful
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- Melissa
- 2019-12-30
True story
Many of the stories Bev shares in this book are similar to the stories elders that have shared with us regarding boarding school life.
2 people found this helpful
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- Denise Stacey
- 2020-03-20
They call me number One
This book was excellent. The explanations of life in the residential schools was so well described. The author brought you into the world of the Indians and their struggles, physically, mentally and generationally. I learned so much and have a better understanding of the reservations and the residential schools. Bev Sellars tells a story that reaches one’s soul! She is an amazing author!
1 person found this helpful
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- emily
- 2021-01-20
Eye opening
It is so important that history is honestly recorded and shared. So many have been silenced. Thank you for your story from the Chilkat Valley
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- Misty
- 2020-02-21
loved it
thank you for sharing! sharing is healing for all as us indigenous people can relate and understand ther historical trauma in our own families