When Pokiak-Fenton wrote her first book and began to speak at schools and libraries, many people in Canada did not know about residential schools. Encouraged by her daughter-in-law Christy Jordan-Fenton, she told her story of the hardships of residential school so her grandchildren and other children would learn the truth of the experiences. Pokiak-Fenton would not speak about her experience in residential school for much of her life, however after writing Fatty Legs she began to speak more about her experience. Read the books of olemauns life to have more information Her book, Fatty Legs, was initially sold only at the Farmers' Market. John where she was locally famous for her beadwork, embroidery, and bannock. Pokiak-Fenton was a fixture at the farmers' market at Fort St. John, British Columbia, where they raised a family of eight children. Lyle was working on the DEW Line Project. In Tuktoyaktuk, she also met Lyle Fenton, her future husband. Later she began her work for the Hudson's Bay Company. Although she had a challenging time at the Immaculate Conception residential school, she returned to school to accompany her younger sisters. Īfter two years of schooling, Pokiak-Fenton moved back to her family, which was in Tuktoyaktuk at the time.

In a 2020 interview with Shelagh Rogers on CBC's The Next Chapter, Pokiak-Fenton related that over the two years she forgot her language, food, and 'everything.' When she returned home she could no longer communicate with her mother because her mother did not speak English.

After Pokiak-Fenton entered residential school she did not see her parents for two years. Her book Fatty Legs describes this experience and reveals her eagerness to learn how to read and her desire to join school, in spite of the oppressive atmosphere present in these schools. She had a strong desire to learn how to read and begged to go to the school, despite its horrific reputation. When she was eight years old she travelled to Aklavik, a fur trading settlement founded by her great-grandfather, to attend the Immaculate Conception residential school, run by the Roman Catholic Church. Pokiak-Fenton's community of the Inuvialuit settlement region.

Author of fatty legs