Muinji’j Asks Why: The Story of the Mi’kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School

Some topics seem too difficult to talk about with children. The horrors of residential schools, which are reported in the media more and more, can be difficult for adults, let alone children. When Muinji’j comes home from school and asks her grandparents why her teacher’s description of what happened at residential schools is not what they have taught her, they sit with her for a difficult conversation. Simple colour illustrations reinforce the story her grandparents tell her, beginning with the Mi’kmaq culture and beliefs, and their way of life pre-contact, and ending in the present. The conversation begins with an image of her grandparents comforting her, preparing her, and the reader, for a difficult story. The aspects of Mi’kmaq culture Muinji’j’s grandparents focus on are the same aspects they talk about losing when they were taken from their families and put in residential schools, reinforcing how the intent of residential schools was to erase their culture.

The description of children being taken from their homes by force may be the most upsetting part for readers who are of similar age as many of the children taken from their homes. When Muinji’j says she would have run away, her grandparents tell her that some children did, and, like many of the children forced to go to residential schools, they didn’t return.

Muinji’j Asks Why: The Story of the Mi’kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School deals with a topic in a way that can be difficult for adults but that children will be able to understand. The book also models how parents can answer questions about other difficult subjects in an honest and supportive fashion. When Muinji’j asks questions, her grandparents don’t tell her she’s too young to understand - they tell her the truth in a manner that someone her age can understand, no matter how hard the truth is to say.

A note at the bottom of the title page tells the reader there is difficult material in the book and to be aware of feelings it may bring up for them or those to whom they’re reading the book. The page also provides the phone number for the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line for anyone who needs support.

While the story is difficult, it ends with resilience. While residential schools have closed, the harm they caused is still evident today. Muinji’j and her grandparents vow to teach people about the realities of residential schools and to remind people they cannot let anything like them happen again. The final image, Muinji’j and her grandparents looking out at the reader, lets readers know it’s their job, too.

Muinji’j Asks Why: The Story of the Mi’kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School should be required reading for all ages.