#ALEXANDRA SHIMO HOW TO#

She also serves on the advisory board of Grimanis' charitable organization Up With Women. It was one of the Globe and Mail's best books of the year.A former editor at Maclean's, Shimo is a freelance journalist who has contributed to The Guardian, the Toronto Star, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Maclean's, the National Post, The Globe and Mail and Toronto Life, she is also the author of The Environment Equation: 100 Factors That Can Add to or Subtract From Your Total Carbon Footprint.An out lesbian, she is the partner of activist Lia Grimanis. The book was longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, and a finalist for the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. Based on first person reportage of the four months Shimo lived in Kashechewan First Nation reserve in northern Ontario, the book describes how inhuman conditions had decimated the local community and the legal, economic and political circumstances that trap many northern indigenous communities in poverty. Paul's Secondary School in Islington before attending Oxford University.In 2016, Shimo published Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve.

In February 2015, it was named one of the winners of the CBC's Bookie Awards.Alex spent her formative years in London, attending St. The book became a national bestseller, and was named one of the best books of 2014 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Hill Times and Quill and Quire. The school is considered one of the worst in North America, where children were regularly sexually and physically abused. Anne's, a residential school in Fort Albany, northern Ontario, a place where there was a home-made electric chair to punish the children. The book describes Metatawabin's life during and after St. For Indigenous readers, you will start to understand what may have happened to your family members and why they don’t talk about that time very often.Alexandra Shimo is a Canadian writer, who was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2014 Governor General's Awards as cowriter of Edmund Metatawabin's memoir Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History. Join Facebook to connect with 'alexandra Shimo and others you may know. For many non-Indigenous readers this will give you a firsthand account of what happened in residential schools and foster empathy towards the inter-generational problems this has created. View the profiles of people named 'alexandra Shimo. I strongly recommend this book for Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers alike.

#ALEXANDRA SHIMO HOW TO#

After the epilogue Edmund gives tips on how to get involved in healing Canada from the monstrosity residential schools were. He ultimately becomes chief of his band and begins a process of communal healing for the St. He does overcome his demons when he places his wife and children alongside his healing journey. These punishments are part of a daily cycle of sexual and physical abuse the kids experience as they are assimilated towards Canadian society.Įdmund continues to struggle as he matures and marries, dealing with alcohol addiction, identity and self esteem issues. Two of the more horrific punishments are the electric chair for running away and eating one’s puke for not having correct manners. Anne’s Residential School, in Northern Ontario, Edmund starts with having his culture stripped by punishment. This sole action starts a chain of events that find Edmund having to switch from support to survival mode.Īt St. Times are getting tougher in the trapping business so Edmund’s parents feel he should attend the local Residential school to acquire new skills. His story starts with him as a child in the most ideal environment, with his parents, being trained in the skill of trapping. Emma Prestwich The Huffington Post Canada.

This book is Edmund’s experience and he shares it so we can awaken to the damages inflicted by the Canadian Government via the education system.Įdmund’s story describes how he moved from childlike innocence to an environment that damaged his soul for years to come. Alexandra Shimo said she was made to feel like she was doing something shameful. But who is Edmund Metatawabin? He lived off the land, attended Residential School, experienced torture/abuse, married a white girl, became a parent, struggled with alcohol abuse, and in due course becomes Chief. Up Ghost River is the autobiography of Edmund Metatawabin. Winner 2015 – CBC Bookie Award for Non-Fictionįinalist 2014 – Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction Up Ghost River: A Chief’s Journey through the Turbulent Waters of Native History

Alexandra shimo