pokiak-fenton, margaret

Eight-year-old Olemaun begs her father to allow her to leave her Arctic home and attend school in order to learn to read. At school the nuns take away her Inuit name, cut off her braids, and force her to do manual labor. But brave Olemaun stands tall and teaches herself to read in spite of the meanness of those around her.

Two years ago, Margaret left her Arctic home for the outsiders' school. Now she has returned and has to relearn the words and ways of her people.

A memoir in which the author recalls her experiences as a ten-year-old girl returning home to her family in the Arctic after two years at a residential school, discussing her struggles to relearn the language, stories, and ways of her Inuvialuit people.

Margaret Pokiak-Fenton tells the story of her experiences as an eight-year-old Inuit girl in a church-run school in Aklavik, Canada, where her strong will made her the target of a mean-spirited nun.

Margaret Pokiak-Fenton tells the story of her experience as an eight-year-old Inuit girl in a church-run school in Aklavik, Canada, where her strong will made her the target of a mean-spirited nun.