David Alexander Robertson Analysis

David Alexander Robertson is a Canadian writer who works alongside Scott B. Henderson, an illustrator, to create graphic novels about Residential Schools and Aboriginal history and culture. He comes from a mix of European and Cree heritage, and he has worked as an advocate for Aboriginal youth (Robertson, n.d.). Robertson and his works are respected and valued by prestigious members of the Aboriginal community. In Robertson’s biography, Justice Murray Sinclair is quoted saying, “Dave Robertson’s graphic novels take advantage of an important means of communicating that history to Canada’s youth, especially Aboriginal youth, who have gravitated to this genre [graphic novels]” (David Alexander Robertson, n.d.). As a person, Robertson’s heritage
The novel follows a high school student named Daniel as he researches Residential Schools for a school assignment. His friend introduces him to her grandmother, Betsy, a Residential Schools survivor. During the interview, Betsy shares about her experiences being kicked out of the house by her mother, a Residential School survivor struggling to cope with the years of trauma. She is cared for by a loving family, but is soon forced to go to Residential School. Betsy was made to feel inferior and she had her culture stripped away (Neegan, 2007, 7). She tells Daniel and her granddaughter of her experiences of physical and emotional abuse and trauma as well as how she found
The English curriculum requires that students read different types of texts, and graphic novels are slowly being incorporated. Due to the historical and social justice perspectives I chose, I will focus on how to use this in a history classroom. In my experiences, Residential Schools are typically taught as a series of facts such as when Residential Schools opened and closed and how many students probably attended. While students learn about Residential Schools, the horror is hard to recognize through this manner of learning. I would use these books as a textbook while discussing Residential Schools. Robertson even includes a free teacher’s resource for classroom use (Robertson, n.d.). As I teach the facts in class and show students documentary clips and bring in other resources, students would read through the books. As we read, students would make connections between the graphic novels and the other materials I present. I appreciate the graphic novels because they do not just deal with the Residential School time, they also show how the schools affect Aboriginal peoples today. I would spend several classes discussing current problems caused by Residential Schools and have students make these connections. I would ask students to pull out images from the graphic novel and add them to the timeline of Aboriginal history, alongside images from the Blanket Exercise. I believe the personal,