Fatty Legs: A True Story

Christy Jordan-Fenton spent her early childhood on a farm in rural Alberta and worked as an infantry soldier and a pipeline laborer before meeting and marrying Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton’s son and settling in British Columbia. She penned Fatty Legs in consultation with her mother-in-law. She is also a scholar of human rights and historical injustices against Indigenous people. Jordan-Fenton provides educational chapters and notes at the beginning and end of the book that provide context on Canada’s residential boarding school system, Inuvialuit culture, and colonialism in North America. She explains her writing and interviewing process to illustrate the importance of appropriate consultation with and representation of Indigenous people and voices. She also provides her rationale on language (for example, the replacement of “Margaret” with “Olemaun” in many places in the book, as well as the usage of the words “Inuvialuit” versus “Inuit” and “Indigenous” versus “Native” or other commonly used synonyms.

With these supplemental materials to the story, Jordan-Fenton provides an educational work both with the micro-level story of one girl’s experience and with a macro-level story of the systemic horrors of colonialism and historical anti-Indigenous racism. Though the book is intended for children, the author does not shy away from pointed and honest language: She references the schools being a “terrifying place” and the “bullying from adults” like the “oppressive nuns” that Margaret-Olemaun experienced there (xiii). She characterizes Margaret-Olemaun’s time at school as “the most horrific and powerless circumstances imaginable” (xvii). She therefore establishes a tone that enforces the seriousness and wide-reaching implications of the individual story she tells. 

Olemaun has loving, positive relationships with both of her parents. She hunts and travels on dog sleds with her father. Olemaun asks him (not her mother) for permission to attend the residential school, and though he initially refuses, he finally grants his daughter her wish and allows her to attend. He went to the boarding school in his youth and tries to warn Olemaun that the school will not be a happy place for her, but his efforts to deter her are not successful.

The fact that he was educated in the English language and knows about the school becomes important at several points in the story. He writes to his daughter to tell her that he will not be able to pick her up and bring her home after her first year, as an early freeze prevented extensive travel. This episode is heartbreaking for Margaret-Olemaun. The next year, he writes to tell her that they will be bringing her home, and this is a wonderfully happy moment for Margaret-Olemaun. Though Margaret-Olemaun remains Inuvialuit, the influence of the school changes her appearance and some of her preferences; her father understands these small changes and recognizes his daughter as the same girl he sent away. Margaret-Olemaun’s mother, who did not attend school, has much more trouble understanding the intersecting elements of identity that her daughter developed in her initial two years away.

Margaret-Olemaun’s father provides her with great comfort and consistency. She fondly remembers his habits and calming presence while at school and happily returns to his side when she can.

Margaret-Olemaun refers to the meanest nun she encountered at school as “the Raven.” The nun chastises Margaret-Olemaun’s father for not bringing her to school sooner and whisks the girl away before she can say goodbye. The Raven instantly starts bullying and humiliating Margaret-Olemaun. She cuts her hair in the first few minutes at school, and as time goes on, her cruelty becomes more pronounced. Much to Margaret-Olemaun’s dismay, the Raven becomes her primary teacher and is just as cruel in the classroom as outside of it. She regularly makes Margaret-Olemaun do extra chores and criticizes her openly.

Margaret-Olemaun describes the Raven’s voice as a “shriek” or a “squawk” and calls her hands “claws.” This unpleasant, monster-like imagery establishes the Raven’s personality in the first few scenes in which she appears. The Raven polices conformity. She wants Margaret-Olemaun to be silent and obedient. She expects her to learn quickly, do her chores, eat without complaining, lie about her treatment at the hands of the school’s staff, and altogether accept her lowly place at the school without commentary. When Margaret-Olemaun refuses to do such things, the Raven displays explosive anger, even attempting to strike Margaret-Olemaun for extra punishment—which she often calls “education.” Margaret-Olemaun starts having nightmares about being caged under the Raven’s habit (her uniform). The Raven, more than any other individual, traumatizes Margaret-Olemaun while she is at school.

Margaret-Olemaun contrasts her regularly with the Swan, or, Sister MacQuillan. With Sister MacQuillan’s help, Margaret-Olemaun is able to finally triumph over the Raven in her second year at school.