Raphael Ironstand -- 1943, Métis -- Manitoba -- Biography, Métis, Manitoba 

"Hey, Monias! is the moving and intimate story of Raphael Ironstand, who as a fair-skinned aboriginal boy was caught between two cultures growing up on a reserve in Manitoba. He lived with his parents and four siblings in a one-room shack on the reserve, where cold, hunger and abuse were constant companions; at the age of nine, he ran away to join his friends at residential school, where he suffered beatings at the hands of both staff as well as other children, who called him 'Monias' (Cree for 'white man'). Later, he learned from his mother that she was Metis, and that his father, an Ojibwa, wasn't his father after all — his biological father was another Metis with whom his mother had lost contact. As a Metis himself, Raphael had inherited the white features of his ancestors. Ultimately, at odds with his identity, he left the residential school and moved to the city, carrying with him the feeling of not belonging anywhere.

Despite such obstacles, Raphael survived them all, and has come to accept them as part of the 'healing process.' His story is a brave testament to the importance of cultural and personal identity."--Back cover. 

149 pages ; 22 cm.