My Name Is Seepeetza

Author: Shirley Sterling Setting: Canada in the 1950s Protagonist's culture/ethnicity: Canadian aboriginal of the Salish tribe

My Name Is Seepeetza is the story of a young Salish girl growing up in the late 1950s who struggles to survive at an Indian residential school away from home and family. Based on the author's own experiences and writtenin journal form, the novel describes the strict, regimented existence at the school, and the cruel treatment suffered by students at the hands of the religious sisters.

Interwoven with Seepeetza's reflections on life at school are stories about the members of her family and life on their ranch. Seepeetza's journal includes moving passages about her love for her traditional way of life and her desire to be among people who share her understanding of what it means to be an aboriginal person. Except for vacation times, however, Seepeetza is forced to leave behind her culture and to endure the rigors of school life. Battling the racist attitudes of the religious sisters and of her fellow classmates, who dislike her for looking like a white person, Seepeetza struggles to hold on to an understanding of who she is and where she comes from.

Drawing on her heritage and the love she feels for her family, Seepeetza finds the strength to survive life at the residential school and still maintain her identity.

Back to the article