A Matter of Conscience

May 28, 2018
Bartleman (As Long as the River Flows), a former lieutenant governor of Ontario and a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, uses this novel to delve into the disturbing reasons why an estimated 4,000 indigenous women in Canada have been murdered or gone missing in recent decades. He opens the story in 1972 as Brenda, an infant born on a northern Ontario reserve, is—like thousands of other indigenous babies—taken away from parents who are deemed unfit by government officials and adopted by a white family. As an adult, she learns about her origins and struggles to find meaning and belonging. She meets and marries Greg, a man who is hiding a dark secret about his involvement in the murder of a young First Nations girl in northern Manitoba. Their marriage plays out the complications of their past: her lack of identity, his guilt and anger. The text can be didactic, but Bartleman clearly intends it to be a teaching tool; the second half of the book is resource documents about the “Sixties Scoop” of indigenous children taken from their own families and adopted by white ones, missing and murdered indigenous women, and Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Bartleman’s strength as a writer is his compassion. He respects each of his characters and sets the stage for real-world discussions of Canada’s past, present, and future.