The Fire Still Burns
Life In and After Residential School
Sam George author Jill Yonit Goldberg author Liam Belson author Dylan MacPhee author Tanis Wilson author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of British Columbia Press
Published:31st May '23
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The Fire Still Burns is a tale of survival and redemption through which Squamish Elder Sam George recounts his residential school experience and how it led to a life of addiction, violence, and imprisonment until he found the courage to face his past and begin healing.
“My name is Sam George. In spite of everything that happened to me, by the grace of the Creator, I have lived to be an Elder.”
Set in the Vancouver area in the late 1940s and through to the present day, this candid account follows Sam from his idyllic childhood growing up on the Eslhá7an (Mission) reserve to the confines of St. Paul’s Indian Residential School and then into a life of addiction and incarceration. But an ember of Sam’s spirit always burned within him, and even in the darkest of places he retained his humour and dignity until he found the strength to face his past.
The Fire Still Burns is an unflinching look at the horrors of a childhood spent trapped within the Indian Residential School system and the long-term effects on survivors. It illustrates the healing power of one’s culture and the resilience that allows an individual to rebuild a life and a future.
Unflinchingly honest…
-- Mina Kerr-Lazenby * North Shore News *Once in a blue moon…I’m faced with a story that creeps into my bones and will not let me forget it. Like Sam George’s recently released memoir…I could not put Sam’s book down…I did not eat, sleep or shower: I read it cover to cover in one day
-- Linda Pfeil * The Beacon *"The Fire Still Burns is a formidable rendering of the survivance of the human spirit in residential schools, a book that should be read by Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences as a testament to the power of healing."
-- Vanessa Mitchell, University of Northern British Columbia * BC Studies *It’s a harrowing tale that adds to the growing record of the horrific legacy of residential schools in Canada. George’s personal story culminates with the lessons he learned for rebuilding his life after the mountain of trauma he suffered: by embracing his traditional culture–the very ways the nuns had tried to beat out of him.
-- Graham Chandler * BC Book World *George is unsparing in his accounts of the years lost to drugs and alcohol, and the damage he did to people close to him. But he is also able to tell the story of how reconnecting with his Indigenous roots and culture helped him heal and become a loving, contributing elder in his community…Highly recommended.
-- Tom Sandborn * The Vancouver S- Commended for Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, BC Historical Federation 2024 (Canada)
- Short-listed for Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, BC and Yukon Book Prizes 2024 (Canada)
ISBN: 9780774880855
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 180g
152 pages