Summary

In Chapter 11, the white men bring Saul to a missionary school called St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School. Saul is brought their with another native boy. The school is run by nuns and priests. They shave the two boys’ heads, and they make the other boy change his name, as he does not have a Christian-sounding name. Saul immediately feels cut off from his life.

In Chapter 12, Saul learns that at the school, speaking the Ojibway language is forbidden. Saul also observes how abusive the nuns and priests are. One boy kills himself by hanging. One girl is forced to recite catechisms so frequently that she eventually becomes insane. The punishments are often brutal, especially for children who run away and are recaptured. Saul and the students often refer to the school as St. Germ’s.

In Chapter 13, the children briefly play by a...