Wiijiwaaganag: More Than Brothers

by Peter Razor

Overview

Niizh Eshkanag is a member of the first generation of Anishinaabe children required to attend a U.S. government boarding school—schools infamously intended to “kill the Indian and save the man,” or forcibly assimilate Native students into white culture. At the Yardley Indian Boarding School in northern Minnesota, far from his family, Niizh Eshkanag endures abuse from the school staff and is punished for speaking his native language. After his family moves him to a school that is marginally better, he meets Roger Poznanski, the principal’s white nephew, who arrives to live with his uncle’s family and attend the school. Though Roger is frightened of his Indian classmates at first, Niizh Eshkanag befriends him, and they come to appreciate and respect one another’s differences. When a younger Anishinaabe student runs away into a winter storm after being beaten by a school employee, Niizh Eshkanag and Roger join forces to rescue him, beginning an adventure that change their lives and the way settlers, immigrants and the Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes think about each other and their shared future.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938065224
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2023
Series:	Makwa Enewed
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,020,630
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Peter Razor is the author of the award-winning While the Locust Slept, a memoir chronicling his time as a ward at the State Public School in Owatonna, Minnesota, in the 1930s and the farm indenture he suffered thereafter. He is an enrolled member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Nahgahchiwanong).

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2022

When the father of white 13-year-old Roger Poznanski dies of tuberculosis in 1891, Roger is sent to live with his uncle, who’s the headmaster of Poleville Indian School, a boarding school in northern Minnesota where Indigenous teens are forcibly educated in Eurocentric values. At first Roger fears the Indigenous students, having grown up with his father’s xenophobic tales, until he meets Niizh Eshkanag, an Anishinaabe boy and the first of his generation to attend the school. Through their developing friendship, Roger learns how Native peoples are treated harshly—and sometimes killed—by white men. Roger is also frequently mistreated by white elders for his relationship with Niizh (“The whipping was light, though it stung, and Roger struggled to understand why friendship needed to be punished”). Roger eventually flees to spend the summer with Niizh and his family, who teach him about Anishinaabe culture. Paragraphs written in Ojibwemowin feature prominently throughout this novel by late Nahgahchiwanong author Razor (While the Locust Slept), who provides a solid foundational narrative of an often underreported time in history via an endearing friendship. An Ojibwemowin glossary, character notes, and historical facts conclude. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

01/20/2023

Gr 4–6—Two boys meet at Yardley Indian Boarding School in Minnesota, each from a vastly different background, and learn about each other's cultures as they form a deep connection. Although this is a work of fiction, Razor details the difficult life Indigenous students endured in government-run residential schools. On March 3, 1891, the U.S. Congress authorized the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to require Native children to attend boarding schools, the intention of which was to strip Indigenous children of their culture and identity so they would better assimilate into American society. Indigenous children were taken from their families and forced to live at these institutions where they were not allowed to speak their own language or participate in their culture. They were subject to forced labor, abuse, and neglect. Writing in straightforward language, Razor details the friendship and adventures between Anishinaabe student Niizh Eshkanag and Roger Poznanski, the principal's white nephew who is also attending Yardley. After overcoming their differences, the two find themselves on a life-changing rescue mission to find their young schoolmate who runs away when he is abused. The text has dual language features; many of the conversations are written in Ojibwemowin, an Anishinaabe language. There is a helpful glossary at the back of the book to guide readers. Descriptions of life in Indigenous households during the 19th century will appeal to dedicated readers of historical fiction. The novel highlights the impact American culture and government had on Indigenous peoples of this time period. VERDICT This in-depth, thoughtful novel would be a strong choice for a book report, or for civic and historical projects.—Meaghan Nichols

School Library Journal