Flowers on My Grave: How an Ojibwa Boy's Death Helped Break the Silence on Child Abuse [Hardcover]

Ruth Teichroeb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

When a young Ojibwa boy named Lester Desjarlais took his own life, the inquest into his death became one of the longest in Manitoba's history, unearthing a story of sexual abuse, family suffering, and, finally tragedy. Award-winning journalist Ruth Teichroeb covered the story, and it was the Native women, themselves survivors of abuse, who taught her about the courage it takes to break the code of silence surrounding abuse.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Canada; 1st edition (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002554291
• ISBN-13: 978-0002554299
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,675,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, January 9, 2002

By 

Alison Benedict MSW (Akwesasne, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flowers on My Grave: How an Ojibwa Boy's Death Helped Break the Silence on Child Abuse (Paperback)

This book thoroughly and thoughtfully examined the complexities of providing child welfare services in First Nations communities. The story of Lester's suicide was heartbreaking but the strength of the people who wanted to help was inspiring. This would be an excellent text for use in Native social work programs to highlight the many challenges on reserve social workers face.

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, Heartbreaking, Tragic, September 28, 2011

By 

Dolores Ayotte (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flowers on My Grave: How an Ojibwa Boy's Death Helped Break the Silence on Child Abuse (Paperback)

Flowers on My Grave was published well over ten years ago; however, I only found it to be in my possession a few short months ago. When I located it on my husband's book shelf, I was eager to read the content of this well-written, non-fiction book. Ruth Teichroeb is a fellow Canadian who accepted the responsibility of writing a book about the tragic death of a young Ojibwa boy by the name of Lester Desjarlais. Unfortunately, Lester Desjarlais fell through the cracks of the aboriginal child welfare system and eventually committed suicide.

An inquest that was scheduled to take place over a short period of time, stretched into months as more and more facts were revealed about the sexual abuse and family suffering that was taking place on the Sandy Bay reserve in Manitoba. There was a code of silence that the people of the reserve were reluctant to break but with perseverance and persistence, Teichroeb managed to break through and discover the heart wrenching truth about the lives of those being abused. She also discovered the fear and backlash that influenced the code of silence adopted by the abused.

Lester Desjarlis' story grabbed me by the heartstrings. I live in Manitoba and the sad plight of our oldest ancestors has always been of great interest and sadness to me. Reading this true story reminded me of the courage of others who find the strength to speak out but it also makes me realize that so little has actually changed over the last fourteen years. Many of our First Nations people live in sub-standard housing with unsafe water supplies and very few amenities. Flood waters have recently brought a reserve's people to live in the city of Winnipeg and it has been difficult for them to fit in. Many live in hotels in the core area and continue to fall through the cracks. Their children have not been integrated into the public school system as the powers that be grapple to find makeshift classrooms so the young children can attend school. According to The Edmonton Journal, Flowers on My Grave is a "powerful, heartbreaking and impressively researched examination of the epidemic extending far beyond any single community". I couldn't agree more. Every time I drive through the core area of my city, I am faced with the tragedy of our First Nations awkward place in our supposedly civilized society. It is not a pretty sight and not one with a solution near at hand.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book Tells The Truth, October 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Flowers on My Grave: How an Ojibwa Boy's Death Helped Break the Silence on Child Abuse (Hardcover)

So many of the Canadian reserves suffer the same problems.
Only if all the reserves could open up and deal with the abuse problem.