Words Have a Past

Reviews / Votes

"Griffith has produced a nuanced exploration of the tensions and contradictions that not only marked the past in the form of the Residential School system, but has always existed and continues to exist in a web of related assumptions." - Anne Lindsay (Prairie History) "[Words Have a Past] is a marvelous exploration of the language of colonialism, how the English language was cast as an innocent neutral force, and how this continues to be reflected in contemporary Canada. The book is easily accessible for all readers, well researched, and documented. It is simply a must-read that will aid in developing a deeper understanding of language, and colonialism roots and their ongoing impact in the present."

- Karl Hele, Mount Allison University (Anishinabek News) "Words Have a Past is an important contribution to the ongoing conversation on the assimilation policies of the Indigenous boarding school systems in North America, and importantly, Griffith's message of settler responsibility and restitution for Indigenous linguicide and land loss is essential for all settlers to hear."

- Carling Beninger, University of Alberta (Canadian Journal of History ) "Words Have a Past marks an important step in the study of residential school history by drawing our attention to newspapers as important historical sources, and the printing trade as an influential part of some students' experiences. Further, in anchoring the book within critical Indigenous and Settler Colonial studies, Griffith provides a direction for scholarship on residential schooling that challenges approaches that situate the system wholly in the past; as a result of her conclusions, Griffith explicitly calls for justice and restitution-especially as it relates to language reclamation-for survivors and their communities. This is an essential read for those studying the residential school system, settler colonialism, history of media, and Canadian history."

- Natalie Cross and Thomas Peace, Huron University College (Journal of British Studies) "In this well researched and highly readable book, Jane Griffith analyzes six newspapers published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by five Indian boarding schools."

- Shurli Makmillen, Claflin University (Discourse and Writing)