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In the Shadow of the Red Brick Building
Residential school survivor Raymond Tony Charlie exposes the sexual, emotional and physical abuse he suffered while attending two schools in British Columbia. More than 150,000 Indigenous youngsters attended the schools that operated in Canada for more than a century.
Now in his seventies, the author has endured numerous challenges including substance abuse, lack of self-esteem and health issues throughout his lifetime. “In some ways I became developmentally delayed from the point of abuse from these brothers who were my supervisors at these residential schools. I was literally a bruised lost soul, indecisive and insecure within myself.”
Now in his seventies, the author has endured numerous challenges including substance abuse, lack of self-esteem and health issues throughout his lifetime. “In some ways I became developmentally delayed from the point of abuse from these brothers who were my supervisors at these residential schools. I was literally a bruised lost soul, indecisive and insecure within myself.”
115 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2022
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432 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 26, 2023
I want to start this review by saying Chi Miigwetch (big thanks) to Raymond Tony Charlie for his bravery and courage for sharing his story. After reading his words, I can only imagine how hard that must have been. This made me cry, made my heart break, and somehow managed to uplift me in the end by seeing how much strength he has obtained over the years. You can hear it in his words as the story progresses, and it’s so apparent with his raw honesty.
The book really does feel like a conversation with him. Often feeling like you were sitting before him as he detailed his life. It does not have a heavily edited, detailed feel to it which I personally enjoyed. A conversation, especially one as important as this, would not be so perfect. There was a moment where information was placed randomly in a section you could tell it didn’t belong to, but other than that, everything flows in a stream of consciousness. I appreciate his words endlessly.
In here we learn about several aspects of his life, all detailed by each chapter’s name. We hear of families being torn apart, his in particular, some of his family history like who he was raised by or what happened to his mother and siblings, or how some of his family members and their stories in residential schools. He details his own time, and the things he saw and heard, as well as experienced. Often he expresses how everything made him feel, at the time and in the present, fitting into that stream of consciousness. He also provides history of the schools he went to, and some of the people included. I liked that he included first names of pthers he remembered from his time at the schools. It makes it feel really personal by putting their named forward.
There is also mentions of what came after and the ramifications, such as meeting his wife and his worries and insecurities. How he confessed what happened to him, and moving forward with trying to get justice. Like being in films documenting his experiences, going to court against his sexual assaulter, how awful people were toward him when getting his settlement, his health issues that came from his painful times in residential schools.
Eventually we shift to the work he put in after, trying to get better for himself and his family, as well as a new duty he felt to help other survivors and the youth of survivors/first nations children. We end with the full end of the school and his thoughts summarized in how he managed to perservere and how his thoughts changed over time to now.
There is also a follow up informational section after the acknowledgements to lay out statistics of the accused/sentences abusers.
Ultimately, this is a heart breaking and incredible story. It constantly moves like a roller coaster, as we see the points in his life and how he processed everything as we moved along. Above anything else, he was not only speaking of his story, but for all residential school victims/survivors. He was truly putting a voice to those who never had one, whether from passing on or feeling like they cannot speak about it.
Although it hurt to read, I am glad to have heard and learned about it. As an indigenous person in thr United States, we have a similar history. I never went to a residential school, obviously, as it was before my time, but the ramifications are still the same. I don’t speak my native language, and everything I know about my culture has come from a reconnecting process. Along the way that was taken from my family too, and even though I cannot come close to relating to him on his experience in residential schools, I could still relate because od the ripple effects those schools had across the USA and Canada. He has given all of us a voice, and I am so honored to have read his story.
TW: ptsd, harmful stereotypes, mention of alcoholism, guilt, stripping of culture, abuse, death, suicide, SA, teenage pregnanyc, incinerators, drowning, malpractice, assault, lashings, murder, teeth removal, starved, punished for speaking language, loss of parent, fires, prejudices, suicidal thoughts, cellulitis, car crash, hospitals, surgeries, illness, medical experimentation, eating disorder.
The book really does feel like a conversation with him. Often feeling like you were sitting before him as he detailed his life. It does not have a heavily edited, detailed feel to it which I personally enjoyed. A conversation, especially one as important as this, would not be so perfect. There was a moment where information was placed randomly in a section you could tell it didn’t belong to, but other than that, everything flows in a stream of consciousness. I appreciate his words endlessly.
In here we learn about several aspects of his life, all detailed by each chapter’s name. We hear of families being torn apart, his in particular, some of his family history like who he was raised by or what happened to his mother and siblings, or how some of his family members and their stories in residential schools. He details his own time, and the things he saw and heard, as well as experienced. Often he expresses how everything made him feel, at the time and in the present, fitting into that stream of consciousness. He also provides history of the schools he went to, and some of the people included. I liked that he included first names of pthers he remembered from his time at the schools. It makes it feel really personal by putting their named forward.
There is also mentions of what came after and the ramifications, such as meeting his wife and his worries and insecurities. How he confessed what happened to him, and moving forward with trying to get justice. Like being in films documenting his experiences, going to court against his sexual assaulter, how awful people were toward him when getting his settlement, his health issues that came from his painful times in residential schools.
Eventually we shift to the work he put in after, trying to get better for himself and his family, as well as a new duty he felt to help other survivors and the youth of survivors/first nations children. We end with the full end of the school and his thoughts summarized in how he managed to perservere and how his thoughts changed over time to now.
There is also a follow up informational section after the acknowledgements to lay out statistics of the accused/sentences abusers.
Ultimately, this is a heart breaking and incredible story. It constantly moves like a roller coaster, as we see the points in his life and how he processed everything as we moved along. Above anything else, he was not only speaking of his story, but for all residential school victims/survivors. He was truly putting a voice to those who never had one, whether from passing on or feeling like they cannot speak about it.
Although it hurt to read, I am glad to have heard and learned about it. As an indigenous person in thr United States, we have a similar history. I never went to a residential school, obviously, as it was before my time, but the ramifications are still the same. I don’t speak my native language, and everything I know about my culture has come from a reconnecting process. Along the way that was taken from my family too, and even though I cannot come close to relating to him on his experience in residential schools, I could still relate because od the ripple effects those schools had across the USA and Canada. He has given all of us a voice, and I am so honored to have read his story.
TW: ptsd, harmful stereotypes, mention of alcoholism, guilt, stripping of culture, abuse, death, suicide, SA, teenage pregnanyc, incinerators, drowning, malpractice, assault, lashings, murder, teeth removal, starved, punished for speaking language, loss of parent, fires, prejudices, suicidal thoughts, cellulitis, car crash, hospitals, surgeries, illness, medical experimentation, eating disorder.
May 30, 2022
I really, really hope I don’t botch up this review. This book and topic are so important, and I’m woefully unqualified to speak about it in any way. I do think leaving a review for this book is important, so I am going to start by saying I’m genuinely sorry if my words are inappropriate or offensive. It saddens me to say I am relatively ignorant about the strife that has been brought to the public’s attention in regards to Canadian residential schools. I’ve heard about it. I’ve cried about the injustice of it. I scoffed at how depressingly unsurprising the information was. Then I blanched when the numbers really started coming out, showing once again the depravity of human beings. I heard about this book on TikTok and it felt like an important step in understanding.
The author, Raymond Tony Charlie, is a survivor of the residential schools of Canada and is now an Elder of his tribe. This book is a first-hand account of his truth, of him baring his soul in order to voice what the trauma of the schools did to him and how the long-term ramifications of that trauma impacted his life. In many ways, this book reminds me of Night by Elie Wiesel. While not an exact comparison in regards to the author’s call to actions that can still be taken to work at correcting what damages can be corrected, the book is about the genocide of a culture by the government and the church. By no means is it an easy topic to read about.
I do recommend the book, especially because of the subject. Elder Charlie writes cleanly, in a way that is very conversational and readable to a wide audience.
The description of the sexual abuse experienced by the author at the school was relatively graphic and triggering for me. It was also spoken plainly and with straightforward language. This isn’t a criticism, just a warning for those like the author and like me who have sexual abuse trauma triggers. When the author was speaking about it and the feelings it brought forth within him, it was so familiar. Painfully familiar. Achingly familiar. The shame, the questions, the internal promise to never tell anyone what happened: I went through all of that. Even writing this my hands are shaking so bad I have to erase major spelling errors and start again. I thank the author for his honesty about what happened. It isn’t easy. It never seems to go away. He was brave and spoke openly so we, the reader, could understand his experience.
While the experience of the residential schools cannot and should not be overlooked, the book wasn’t just about physically being at the schools. The book was about the author’s journey in accepting the trauma and finding himself through it all. Yes, the book highlights the consistent injustices First Nations children experienced within the school but the book also dives into the systemic injustices experienced by First Nations people in general and the lack of support they were given even when those injustices were exposed. The book was about the author’s personal journey through grief, anger, and depression to find the ability to like himself and realize that, while it’s easier said than done, he had no reason to feel guilt over the abuses he experienced.
The author, Raymond Tony Charlie, is a survivor of the residential schools of Canada and is now an Elder of his tribe. This book is a first-hand account of his truth, of him baring his soul in order to voice what the trauma of the schools did to him and how the long-term ramifications of that trauma impacted his life. In many ways, this book reminds me of Night by Elie Wiesel. While not an exact comparison in regards to the author’s call to actions that can still be taken to work at correcting what damages can be corrected, the book is about the genocide of a culture by the government and the church. By no means is it an easy topic to read about.
I do recommend the book, especially because of the subject. Elder Charlie writes cleanly, in a way that is very conversational and readable to a wide audience.
The description of the sexual abuse experienced by the author at the school was relatively graphic and triggering for me. It was also spoken plainly and with straightforward language. This isn’t a criticism, just a warning for those like the author and like me who have sexual abuse trauma triggers. When the author was speaking about it and the feelings it brought forth within him, it was so familiar. Painfully familiar. Achingly familiar. The shame, the questions, the internal promise to never tell anyone what happened: I went through all of that. Even writing this my hands are shaking so bad I have to erase major spelling errors and start again. I thank the author for his honesty about what happened. It isn’t easy. It never seems to go away. He was brave and spoke openly so we, the reader, could understand his experience.
While the experience of the residential schools cannot and should not be overlooked, the book wasn’t just about physically being at the schools. The book was about the author’s journey in accepting the trauma and finding himself through it all. Yes, the book highlights the consistent injustices First Nations children experienced within the school but the book also dives into the systemic injustices experienced by First Nations people in general and the lack of support they were given even when those injustices were exposed. The book was about the author’s personal journey through grief, anger, and depression to find the ability to like himself and realize that, while it’s easier said than done, he had no reason to feel guilt over the abuses he experienced.
January 8, 2023
Utterly heartbreaking and such important personal history.
July 26, 2022
Elder Charlie’s book truly is like sitting down for a coffee and story. His honest account minces no words, but inspires hope for the generations of Indigenous folks still coping with the impacts of residential schools. Every settler on Turtle Island needs to read this book.
Read
April 21, 2023felt like you sat down to interview the author, to have a very raw conversation about his life and what impactful events he lived through to bring him to where he is now and how painful it can be to have the knowledge that you weren't the only one to live through that event and how it could've shaped his understanding of the world because of that experience.
very impactful read, but i wish that it had been little more shaped in a way that allowed the reader to flow through the author's experience and the consecutive impact it had on his life only because it tended to become pretty repetitive because he'd go back and forth between what he lived through and how that trauma manifested later in life in every chapter. i would've also wished to have seen how the fact that his mother was also a residential school survivor, if it was something she warned him about or how it may have impacted his mother's siblings and in what ways what she suffered through manifested in her relationship with them. if his family ever told him about how his tribe used to be and how much different it was while he was growing up- kinda of how he allowed us to know about the grief he felt at being given a traditional name within his tribe by his grandfather but he was kept from participating in the full ceremony of that gift because he had to go back to school. also wish he went a little into what happened when the schools were starting to be closed down and the laws or circumstances that allowed him to be able to go back home. and i wish he had gone a little more into the reason why he ended up going to a residential school and how the circumstances in which he was sent to go to school differed from the circumstances his mother was forced to go to school.
maybe it's inappropriate to ask for so much, and that's my fault for not actively searching for more education on residential schools and it's history within canada (maybe the primary audience for this was people with experience or more knowledge of residential schools).
it feels weird to critique a piece of literature when it details such a traumatic time and space of a person's life, but this is a great opportunity for people to be able to really understand that this was a very real experience people went through and whose community suffered because of, even to this day.
very impactful read, but i wish that it had been little more shaped in a way that allowed the reader to flow through the author's experience and the consecutive impact it had on his life only because it tended to become pretty repetitive because he'd go back and forth between what he lived through and how that trauma manifested later in life in every chapter. i would've also wished to have seen how the fact that his mother was also a residential school survivor, if it was something she warned him about or how it may have impacted his mother's siblings and in what ways what she suffered through manifested in her relationship with them. if his family ever told him about how his tribe used to be and how much different it was while he was growing up- kinda of how he allowed us to know about the grief he felt at being given a traditional name within his tribe by his grandfather but he was kept from participating in the full ceremony of that gift because he had to go back to school. also wish he went a little into what happened when the schools were starting to be closed down and the laws or circumstances that allowed him to be able to go back home. and i wish he had gone a little more into the reason why he ended up going to a residential school and how the circumstances in which he was sent to go to school differed from the circumstances his mother was forced to go to school.
maybe it's inappropriate to ask for so much, and that's my fault for not actively searching for more education on residential schools and it's history within canada (maybe the primary audience for this was people with experience or more knowledge of residential schools).
it feels weird to critique a piece of literature when it details such a traumatic time and space of a person's life, but this is a great opportunity for people to be able to really understand that this was a very real experience people went through and whose community suffered because of, even to this day.
Read
November 4, 2025This is a book you read for the content not for the writing style. It taught me a small amount. The history of residential schools and the trauma they caused and continue to cause through generational trauma to Canada’s First Nation folks and Native Americans in the US is something we all need to educate ourselves about and continue to shine light on. Reparations need to be made. Very public apologies need to be made. I do recommend this short memoir. I will continue to read more books about this subject.
November 21, 2025
I am very grateful to Elder Charlie for his courage and strength in sharing his experiences and knowledge with us. This work is so important to read.
In his own words: “My story is only one of 150,000 children, but I am hopeful my input will show some of the horrors and treatment our children went though at residential schools across Canada for many decades.”
The power of his vulnerability is inspiring.
“I will no longer lower my gaze. I will keep my head up as a proud First Nations man.” 🧡
In his own words: “My story is only one of 150,000 children, but I am hopeful my input will show some of the horrors and treatment our children went though at residential schools across Canada for many decades.”
The power of his vulnerability is inspiring.
“I will no longer lower my gaze. I will keep my head up as a proud First Nations man.” 🧡
December 1, 2022
Really well written in a casual tone that makes it easy to read, even if it’s not easy subject matter.
A must read for any “Canadian” and especially anyone living on Vancouver Island and surrounding areas.
I had the chance to hear Raymond Tony Charlie speak and highly recommend it for anyone who gets the opportunity.
A must read for any “Canadian” and especially anyone living on Vancouver Island and surrounding areas.
I had the chance to hear Raymond Tony Charlie speak and highly recommend it for anyone who gets the opportunity.
Read
January 8, 2023I'm not going to give this a star rating because I need to remember it was written by a person telling their story and not by an author. I was glad to read Ray's story and it left me wanting to know more about the history and stories of residential schools.
February 8, 2023
Tony Charlie is an incredible Indigenous man and human being. His honesty and painful prose is on every page pulling you in to stand alongside him in his journey. This should be read by every person open to learning the painful truth of Canadian history with the First Peoples of this country.
September 9, 2023
Reading his story and the way that it was written reminds me of my elders.
It was so brave for the author to tell us his story and share it so thoroughly.
Next I will watch the Kuper island movie to get more insight.
It was so brave for the author to tell us his story and share it so thoroughly.
Next I will watch the Kuper island movie to get more insight.
October 14, 2022
Honest and open memoir.
September 20, 2023
This was straight to the point and felt like I was sitting there listening to him. The writing is straightforward and gives you enough details without being gratuitous.
December 8, 2023
Thank you for sharing your story; as painful and hard as it would have been.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews