Trauma and Abuse

The main characters of the novel are all connected by the traumatic experiences they suffer as children at the Mission School. Torn from their homes and families when they are children, Kenny, Maisie, Lucy, Clara, and Howie are forced into a residential school that robs them of their freedom, innocence, and dignity. “Being totally helpless” is their “daily fare at the Mission” and even growing accustomed to this “feeling [makes] it no easier” (5). Throughout their time at the Catholic-run institution, the characters are not only separated from their families, but physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. They are taught that their Native traditions are savage and that their identities are shameful. They are assaulted and raped by the priests and nuns who run the school, and therefore subjected to constant fear and pain. Even after the five main characters escape the Mission, their traumatic experiences...