Indian Boarding Schools
I was very taken with the “We Shall Remain - Wounded Knee” video segment that dealt with the Indian Boarding School Movement. I was especially moved by the firsthand accounts of Indians who experienced that era. You can see in their faces and hear in their voices the trauma of the experience. One man talks about his relationship with his mother and how removal to the boarding house practically severed that precious bond.
I’m struck by how inhumane the movement was. What justifies the removal of a child from his mother? How terrible would it have been to let these kids be raised by their parents? Would they have turned out dangerous to American society? Probably no more so than kids raised by white parents. And anyway, once you start thinking that way, you set dangerous precedents for the role of ACS and other government agencies. Pretty soon we’d have children removed from all sorts of homes; immigrant homes, homosexual homes, alternately religious homes…
All that emerges from this line of thought is that the Indian Boarding School Movement was ultimately a fearful response to people and culture that was non-mainstream. It’s terrifying to me, because I’m not mainstream myself. We are raising our children Ultra Orthodox. That the government once stepped in and removed an entire generation of children from their families, brainwashing them into becoming mainstream American kids, is a threat to all of us. It threatens our uniqueness, our difference, and our sense of security.
This fear of government intervention is new to me. I’ve always perceived government as a benign, helpful agency, dedicated to law enforcement and foreign affairs. I’m beginning to view our government through the eyes of the Indians, and it’s not a pleasant shift.
References
YouTube. May 16, 2014. Accessed July 18, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHFjB-A5Ho&feature=youtu.be&list=PLH9rWywwjjElbYILgixKwhLKOEphSAoT7.
I’m struck by how inhumane the movement was. What justifies the removal of a child from his mother? How terrible would it have been to let these kids be raised by their parents? Would they have turned out dangerous to American society? Probably no more so than kids raised by white parents. And anyway, once you start thinking that way, you set dangerous precedents for the role of ACS and other government agencies. Pretty soon we’d have children removed from all sorts of homes; immigrant homes, homosexual homes, alternately religious homes…
All that emerges from this line of thought is that the Indian Boarding School Movement was ultimately a fearful response to people and culture that was non-mainstream. It’s terrifying to me, because I’m not mainstream myself. We are raising our children Ultra Orthodox. That the government once stepped in and removed an entire generation of children from their families, brainwashing them into becoming mainstream American kids, is a threat to all of us. It threatens our uniqueness, our difference, and our sense of security.
This fear of government intervention is new to me. I’ve always perceived government as a benign, helpful agency, dedicated to law enforcement and foreign affairs. I’m beginning to view our government through the eyes of the Indians, and it’s not a pleasant shift.
References
YouTube. May 16, 2014. Accessed July 18, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHFjB-A5Ho&feature=youtu.be&list=PLH9rWywwjjElbYILgixKwhLKOEphSAoT7.
I, too, posted about the We're Still Here: Wounded Knee documentary as I was also impacted by the inhumane way the Native Americans were treated and how their rights were being ignored. In fact, at the end of this video it states that the US Supreme court ruled that the US government had illegally taken the Native American's land and put forth a judgement of $105 million dollars which the tribe refused to take as they simply wanted their land back. The judgement has now grown to over $830 million. As I stated in my post, to me this shows that these Native American peoples are not interested in the money but simply in restoring their way of life and being able to live peacefully inclusive of their culture, customs, language, and to be treated fairly.
ReplyDeleteThe boarding school was a terrible idea in my opinion. Children became so distance with their family and heritage. I was reading on this and children were sometimes kept away from their families for up to 12 years. And what about all those children who died and never were returned to their homes. The abuse endured for using their language or practicing anything of their culture was uspeakable. What I did find interesting is in some of the testimonies, some of the people who recalled living through the time period of boarding schools had good experiences like making new friends from other reservations. They felt privelaged to be able to meet others and experience different tribes.
DeleteThe boarding school was a way of affecting all ages of the Native American lives. Till this very day the pain has not subsided. The unspeakable abuse that those children suffered in the hand of the American government is truly mortifying.
ReplyDeleteYes the boarding schools helped shatter the culture identity of generations of indigenous people. I believe there is a direct correlation with many social issues that exist on the reservations, there is generational trauma. The amazing part is how little the United States government has done to recognize their fault in this atrocity.I feel that main stream america is clueless about this part of the countries history. Some 400 Native ex-students in the Northwest and Alaska recently shared in a $166-million settlement with the Jesuits’ Oregon Province for abuse suffered at schools in that region. Canada has set aside $1.9 billion for payments to survivors of its residential schools; more than 20,000 ex-students have submitted claims.
ReplyDeletehttps://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/south-dakota-boarding-school-survivors-detail-sexual-abuse/
I would have to agree with you that Indian boarding schools were the absolute worst thing ever! I say this based on the videos that are found in the Module 3 section of the course on he page entitled: “Indian Boarding schools Videos and Resources“ where it takes real accounts of real Native Americans that attended these real Indian Boarding schools of the time and they speak of the horrible treatment that they and other Native Americans of the time including Nowa Cumig who was given the Americanized name of Dennis Banks during his time attending the Native American boarding school. He also went on to mention while at the school he and other Native Americans having to secretly speak in their native language so that he or others didn’t forget how to speak their tribal language and to also be able to understand his own peoples language when he were to return home (Remain).
ReplyDeleteIn another video entitled: “Culture Clash for Indian Youth “features Mary Armstrong a Native American woman who also recalled her experience, and treatment of her by whites at a broadening school for Native Americans. Mary specifically recalls having had her mouth rinsed out with lye soap after a white female instructor at the boarding school that she attended who she refers to as” mother Garrett” caught her speaking in her native language resulting mother Garrett rinsing out Mary Armstrong’s with lye soap that resulted in blisters on Mary Armstrong’s tongue, and face from the lye soap that mother Garrett used to rinse her mouth out. It should be noted that the woman referred to as mother Garrett threatened to rinse to Mary mouth again if she caught her speaking in her native language in the future (PBS).
And finally seeing and hearing the pain, and frustration in the video entitled : “ We Shall Remain” that were in Nowa Cumig AKA Dennis Banks and Walter Little Moon voices when it came to the emotional tolls that both men came away from Indian boarding schools with. For Nowa Cumig it was the destruction that came from him being at the Native American boarding school that effected the special relationship that he once had with his biological family in particular his mother (Remain).
For Walter Little Moon he mentioned while fighting back tears in the video entitled: “ We Shall Remain” that the names that he was called and the treatment that he received while at boarding school was absolutely unthinkable he recalls being called like “Savage, and Dumb” he also recalled that he would be beaten up for looking like a Native American, and as he put it even “smelling like Indian would get you beaten up at the school (Remain).
It is my opinion that we should have been from the beginning recognizing the power of diversity in lifestyles, societies, and cultures between any races. Thinking about where we could be today if whites of the time would have understood the power of diversity. Sadly as shown with the developments of Indian boarding schools whites due to their holier than thou attitude at the time either didn’t care about diversity, or failed to see the importance of, or in diversity.
Works Cited
PBS. "Culture Clash for Indian Youth." n.d. Films On Demand. Online Video. 21 August 2017. .
Remain, We Shall. "We Shall Remain." 16 May 2014. You Tube. Video. 21 August 2017. .
SUNY Empire State College. "Indian Boarding Schools: Videos & Resources." n.d. SUNY Empire State College. 21 August 2017. .