Fantastic! Unique book
Little Witnesses
"Council of Dolls" gives personality to the inhumanity suffered by three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women at the hands of "civilized" America. They were victims of the Indian boarding school re-education travesty which sought to strip them of any trace of their culture. This fiasco resulted in irreparable damage to the psyches of these children.
Cora, Lillian, and Sissy are the girls we followâ but Winona, Mae, and Ethel are their companions, dolls who speak as confidants and protectors. These dolls have been witness to massacres and tragedies and their mission is to do what they can to heal the ones they love. Are they magic? Can they really speak? Author Mona Susan Power leaves just enough leeway for the possibility these dolls are mechanisms allowing the girls to deal with life.
When Cora first arrived at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the early 1900's, her group was herded together to be photographed in their native attire with the few precious belongings they had brought along. Then they were stripped down, had their hair cut, had their things seized, and were forced to watch as their past lives were burned in a bonfire. Among the casualties was Winona, Cora's doll. It was not the last of Winona, though, it was just another hardship to overcome.
No one is ignorant enough to deny the atrocities committed here. It is hard to accept the lengths that people will go to in order to "convert" people considered inferior. The behavior of a nun in the story would be unbelievable if accounts like these were not relayed over and over again. It is not just an American quality, one only needs to see the parallels in the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland, where unmarked graves hold echoes of the voices of souls punished for not measuring up. It makes you question where this evil comes from.
"Council of Dolls" is not always an easy read. Not only is the brutality hard to witness, we also see the repercussions in these lives. Lillian is a wonderful and charming girl who watches an awful death and today call it PTSD, her personality changes so violently we hardly recognize her later in life. So, no, not always easy to read... but important for us to bear witness to.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
"Council of Dolls" gives personality to the inhumanity suffered by three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women at the hands of "civilized" America. They were victims of the Indian boarding school re-education travesty which sought to strip them of any trace of their culture. This fiasco resulted in irreparable damage to the psyches of these children.
Cora, Lillian, and Sissy are the girls we followâ but Winona, Mae, and Ethel are their companions, dolls who speak as confidants and protectors. These dolls have been witness to massacres and tragedies and their mission is to do what they can to heal the ones they love. Are they magic? Can they really speak? Author Mona Susan Power leaves just enough leeway for the possibility these dolls are mechanisms allowing the girls to deal with life.
When Cora first arrived at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the early 1900's, her group was herded together to be photographed in their native attire with the few precious belongings they had brought along. Then they were stripped down, had their hair cut, had their things seized, and were forced to watch as their past lives were burned in a bonfire. Among the casualties was Winona, Cora's doll. It was not the last of Winona, though, it was just another hardship to overcome.
No one is ignorant enough to deny the atrocities committed here. It is hard to accept the lengths that people will go to in order to "convert" people considered inferior. The behavior of a nun in the story would be unbelievable if accounts like these were not relayed over and over again. It is not just an American quality, one only needs to see the parallels in the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland, where unmarked graves hold echoes of the voices of souls punished for not measuring up. It makes you question where this evil comes from.
"Council of Dolls" is not always an easy read. Not only is the brutality hard to witness, we also see the repercussions in these lives. Lillian is a wonderful and charming girl who watches an awful death and today call it PTSD, her personality changes so violently we hardly recognize her later in life. So, no, not always easy to read... but important for us to bear witness to.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
