This is a very personal sharing of one family's horrific experiences and their struggles not to overcome, but to simply be. I was aware of the Indian Schools in the vaguest of ways - a news story skimmed through and a co-worker from Oklahoma sharing her own family's experiences of changing their names so they could not be identified Native American and hopefully not have their children taken - but my eyes were truly opened by this well-researched and supported telling of the history. The author never seeks pity or condolences. She focuses on survival to thrive and live in the world that exists, no matter how we wish we could change it.

Mary Annette Pember's detailed examination of Indian Boarding Schools here and in Canada and the trauma, illness, and death they caused is told against her own mother's story. Despite being raised in Janesville, WI hundreds of miles away from the boarding school in Odanah, WI and decades after her mother Bernice had been sent to the school, Mary Annette experienced repercussions from the harsh treatment and lack of love that Bernice felt. Pember also investigates the prevalence of tuberculosis among the young residents, many so sick that they were finally sent home where they often died. Those deaths were not registered as being school deaths. Plus they often spread the disease to the old and the young among their villages. Medicine River at times reads like an expose or investigative book, but since many hard facts are either nonexistent or hidden intentionally and unintentionally under layers of bureaucracy, she must make generalizations, calling for better transparency and truth to come. But there are those times when the book reverts to her story and her mother's story; there we see first hand how government policies, especially the boarding schools worked to rip apart families, causing trauma that went way beyond the years spent at school. I would recommend this book for book clubs who chose to dig into social issues and definitely for anyone studying Native American history.

This was a fantastic look into an often forgotten part of our history. As a resident of Wisconsin, I enjoyed reading about places and spaces that I've visited without knowing the true history. Reading about the author's process and research from the beginning of the book makes you realize how difficult it can be to research topics such as this one and why libraries and archives are so important for our history. The hurdles she went through to access materials really makes you appreciate the story that much more.
The topics covered are important to learn so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. I purchased several copies of this book for our library and it was selected as one of our book club picks for this year. Our book club reads books with topics like this and we discuss how it can make us all better practitioners (members are mostly health care workers such as doctors, nurses, therapists, techs etc.). It was a great insight into why some patients might be hesitant to care and how we can make them more comfortable while in our care knowing the trauma some of them might have suffered in these institutions.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon for this ARC for review. This was an amazing and informative look into Native American boarding schools in the US. It is one thing to learn about the boarding schools and the abuse the people endured as a concept. It is another thing to hear about it and learn about these things from someone when it was their lived experience. It brings more depth and meaning to it and the depth of experience to the person and Native American people and their culture and how they were and continue to be affected by what happened. We need to learn and not repeat the mistakes of our past or we are going to repeat them.

Informative book, part memoir and part history related to the boarding schools that indigenous children were forced to attend. It was eye opening and informative. I thought the author did an amazing job tying in the pieces of history with her experiences, and the experiences of her family members.

This book was a mix of memoir and history with a focus on Native boarding schools in the US and Canada and the repercussions of that. I really appreciated the focus on generational trauma and the complications of parent child relationships. I’m thankful to see more Native authored books published by major publishing houses. Information about the gross mistreatment of Natives throughout US history is being pushed more into the light. These stories must be told.

Medicine River is a valuable addition to growing literature on Indigenous history and the shameful acts committed by the American government. Pember provides us with an intimate picture of how trauma is made. I highly recommend this devastating and impactful read.

US Indian Boarding School history is a subject I've only been very vaguely aware of prior to the last few months. The Texas Public School system can be blamed for that one. But after viewing the fantastic Oscar-nominated Sugarcane, a documentary about the Canadian Indian residential school system and hearing more about National Day for Truth and Reconciliation from my Canadian colleagues, I wanted to learn more. I was excited to see Mary Annette Pember's book would do that and more to great success.

The narrative non-fiction book has a unique (in a good way) quality to it. It's equal parts history of the boarding schools in the United States and memoir of Pember's relationship to her mother who was a survivor of a boarding school in northern Wisconsin. Pember's mom's experience affected her and her kids deeply throughout both her and their lives, and Medicine River serves as almost a reconciliation process of Pember's own making. It's incredibly informative, but also unbelievably raw and personal.

It really worked for me and I learned a ton.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage for the advanced copy!

This book is a sobering, well-crafted exploration of a deeply painful chapter in U.S. history. Mary Annette Pember’s account not only sheds light on her own family's generational trauma, but also offers a thorough investigation into the broader systemic harm inflicted by the Native American boarding school system. With a journalist’s precision and a daughter’s heart, Pember combines personal narrative with historical context to expose the devastating consequences of forced assimilation. The stories are raw, and the emotional resonance is profound.

What sets this work apart is its commitment to honoring the strength and resilience of Native communities. Rather than portraying survivors solely as victims, Pember highlights their ingenuity, resistance, and remarkable capacity for forgiveness—even in the face of profound cruelty.

Though the book at times reads more like a textbook, I still found it deeply engaging. The harrowing scenes, though a bit long, I thought were necessary to truly grasp the scale and brutality of what Indigenous peoples endured. It becomes clear that the atrocities committed were neither isolated nor uniform—they were systemic.

If you enjoy history, this book might be for you. The details shine a light on the ongoing intergenerational impact of these schools, making this not just an informative read, but a transformative one. It’s an essential read that will stay with you for a long time.

Tens of thousands of Native children were pulled from their tribal communities to attend boarding schools whose stated aim was to "save the Indian" by way of assimilation. These Native American boarding schools have a legacy of abuse. One of the children sent to a school was Ojibwe journalist Mary Pember's mother, and how they have harmed not just the children who were forced to go, but the following generations. “Medicine River” was a wonderful book to read, but very emotional. Consider this as assigned reading now.

Thank you NetGalley and Pantheon! #MedicineRiver #NetGalley

A snapshot of American history that many choose not to speak of even today. With so many commissions and committees that have investigated and issued condemning reports, it would seem impossible for so many people not to have condemned the actions and consequences of so many. From the mid 1800s to early 1900s, Native American children of all ages were removed from their homes and educated to believe that their traditional ways were wrong. As investigators dig through archives and reports, it becomes more apparent that the goal of these schools was to assimilate these children into a way of life approved by the teachers.
In MEDICINE RIVER, Mary Annette Pember gives us a personal, up close picture of this abuse. Her mother was removed to a seminary school in Wisconsin where the student abuse is well documented. The scars, emotional and physical, have impacted the lives of her family in so many ways. Not only did she lose her family's history, she was unable to care for her children. Pember mixes her family's personal challenges with the documented history of the school giving readers a mixed bag of emotional stories. While the book is well worth reading, it's closer to the memoir genre than historical nonfiction. If you're interested in learning about the "schools", this should be one of many stories you read.

What a heartbreaking and important piece of history. Pember's book about the horrific, abusive Native American boarding schools needs to be required reading. I had done independent research on this topic but never anything as in depth as this book. From the personal aspect of the author's own life to the history of the boarding schools as a whole, Medicine River is a difficult yet worthy read.

In this nonfiction account of the mental, emotional, and generational impact of the Indian Boarding Schools in the mid 17th century until the early 20th century. The schools were started as a way to "civilize" or "assimilate" Native American children and youth to Anglo American lives. The author discusses family memeber's experiences as well as interviews of non relatives about their encounters with the schools. Throughout the subject material she also interweaves her family story. The author tells of a heartbreaking story of survival, and family dynamics.

This is an important story that needed to be told and a topic that needs more answers/reparations from those that did the oppressing.




Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for an eARC in return for an honest review!

Thank you, NetGalley and Pantheon Books, for approving me to read this book and share my thoughts!
This was a heartbreaking read. I will never understand how people could take children, as young as 3 years old, away from their mothers & fathers. The boarding schools were often sponsored by the US government and run by religious POS with no regulations. The fact that thousands of children died there is horrific/evil.
One example: Tuberculosis, diphtheria, and measles often ran rampant through these schools. I read that children who were close to dying from these were sent back to their homes in order to spread the sickness to their families.

Through the factual information, the author was able to give firsthand accounts of people who lived through this time. I saw the compassion she had for her mother to look into her past & try to understand her. Also, how she spread a message of resiliency and strength in their community to not only revive their culture/heritage but to assist those dealing with the aftermath.

I was curious and googled boarding schools around CO. I found one that used to be in Denver called Good Shepherd Industrial School or E.M. Byers Home for Boys. It was a reformatory but has been converted to a regular Catholic school. There are literally hundreds in the USA.
Overall, this book was informative & intimate. One that I will not forget because of how relevant it is today, sadly.

A must read! A look into the Native American boarding schools in America that very vividly and hauntingly describes the horrible abuses that occurred there. I learned so much. A must read.

Recently, I have immersed myself in the history of Indian boarding schools fictionally, historically, and physically. I often pass the site of the Phoenix Indian School, and my visit to the internationally acclaimed Heard Museum included much time spent in the excellent (and sobering) exhibit Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories. That time brought to life many things I've read, including Mary Annette Pember's Medicine River.

Pember's exhaustive research began as a way to understand her mother's behavior as well as her grandmother's. Both women were sent to Indian boarding schools, and Mary's mother in particular was indelibly scarred from her experience.

Indian boarding schools were the U.S. government's attempt to assimilate all Native Americans-- to make them think and behave like whites. The boarding schools were rife with disease, and those in charge sent sick children back to the reservation to infect and kill many others. To add insult to injury, these children were forced into schools that Native Americans were forced to pay for. They literally funded their own abuse.

Pember shines light on so many topics. Legislation affecting Native Americans over the years. Famous Native Americans who were products of those boarding schools. Insights into her own Ojibwe culture. The homegrown historians (mostly women, both Indian and white) who are documenting and preserving America's Indian boarding school history. This book is a gold mine of illuminating facts that also helped the author shed light on her personal history.

One of the things I found most interesting was the study of epigenetics-- that humans can pass along more than DNA in our genes, that genes can also carry memories of trauma experienced by our ancestors. It's an interesting avenue of thought.

Medicine River is an important addition to Native American history. It is a history that we should all know more about.

Medicine River is an excellent blend of non-fiction and memoir. I loved the author's including her own mother's time in residential boarding schools. There is a ton of well-researched info in here too.

This one got under my skin—in the best kind of way. Medicine River isn’t a novel, but it reads like the most intimate kind of story: personal, powerful, and impossible to forget. Mary Annette Pember uses her mother’s experience in a Native American boarding school as the emotional anchor, then pulls back to reveal a much larger and heartbreaking reality that affected thousands of Indigenous families.

The character development is stunning—not just with her mother, but with Mary herself. You see her evolve as a daughter, a journalist, and a woman reckoning with inherited trauma. The people she interviews don’t feel like background voices—they feel like full, lived-in souls. Some stories are tender, others gut-wrenching, but all are deeply human.

And the world-building? It’s not fantasy, but it builds a world you need to understand: the cold, institutional cruelty of the boarding schools, the resilience of Native families, and the quiet strength it takes to hold onto culture after generations of erasure.

This book is emotional, eye-opening, and beautifully written. It’s history wrapped in heartache, told with grace and grit. A tough read, but a necessary one.

Thanks to Pantheon for this copy via NetGalley for providing this copy for my honest, voluntary review.
#NetGalley #Medicine

Mary Annette Pember wanted to understand her mother’s life, hoping it would shed light on her failures as a mother. She knew her mother had endured and seen abuse at residential school, and researched records to learn more.

To understand her family story in context, Pember shares a complete history of the United States government’s policies toward Native Americans, including the mandatory residential schools whose goal of ‘civilizing’ was seen as a humane alternative to extermination.

It is depressing and disturbing to read.

Well into the book, the author shares her own story, including running away, living on the streets, and addiction. The rising civil rights movement inspired the American Indian Movement, and along the women’s movement, she was empowered. She enrolled in university and found her voice as a journalist.

More than a memoir due to the vast amount of history shared, it would be an excellent book for readers who seek a broad knowledge of Native American history and an understanding of intergenerational trauma.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley

Medicine River by Mary Annette Pember is a haunting, deeply personal look at the legacy of Native American boarding schools and the generations shaped by them. Through her mother’s story and voices of other survivors, Ojibwe journalist Mary Annette Pember sheds light on the trauma of forced assimilation and the resilience of Native communities reclaiming what was nearly lost.