From Bear Rock Mountain: The Life and Times of a Dene Residential School Survivor

by Antoine Mountain

In 1949, Antoine Mountain was born on the land near Radelie Koe (Fort Good Hope) in the Northwest Territories just south of the Arctic Circle. At the tender age of seven, he was stolen away from his home and sent to a residential school--run by the Roman Catholic Church in collusion with the Government of Canada--three hundred kilometres away. Over the next twelve years, the three residential schools Mountain was forced to attend systematically worked to erase his language and culture, the very roots of his identity.

While reconnecting to that which had been taken from him, he had a disturbing and painful revelation of the bitter depths of colonialism and its legacy of cultural genocide. Canada has its own holocaust, Mountain argues.

As a celebrated artist and social activist today, Mountain shares this moving, personal story of healing and the reclamation of his Dene identity.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Canada, History

416 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2019

Reviews

[Anna Delphine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5!

[Natalie S · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to review when it's about one's own life. However, the subtitle says residential school survivor, so I expected more on that experience than I was given. The way it was written was like a slow chat over a campfire, which is nice in someways but also just very long.. I also found the repetition of comparisons between the genocide to the indigenous and the holocaust a bit much.

All in all I did learn a few things and it was still a book worth reading to understand the experiences he had and the struggles he went through from being ripped away from his culture.

[Anneke Alnatour · Rating 2 out of 5]

How I wish I could love this one more... It had some interesting bits, but often I felt my attention wavering, and I really did not finish this one. Did not dislike it, but just could not continue reading. It didn't grab me as much as I had hoped for.

[Adam Cormier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written, in a series of almost journal type entries. I appreciated his honest account of his life, of which residential schooling was some of his life experiences. He did a good job explaining the impact of being pulled out of his village and how it impacted him and his other family members that stayed behind. I learned lots of things for the first time and depended my understanding in other areas. Where I had only superficial knowledge. A good read for anyone looking to learn more about Indigenous ways of being.

[Denise Goodkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. It was a little unusual the author skipped around from one topic to another and back again via many short chapters. Sort of like free association. He wrote about life on the reserve with his family, activism, residential school, philosophy...and more. some good insights into the indigenous experience.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I’m glad I took a second run at this book-I think I needed more education and understanding to read and appreciate this author. I’ve learned a little better how to read Indigenous books by putting aside my settler expectations of what a book should be, and it helps me better appreciate what I’m reading. Great book.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but repetitive and rambling.

[M]

read

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

After meeting this interesting man I knew I wanted to read his book. Very well written and recommended to all . Many things I did not know.