Chapter 5, Illness and Death- Chapter 6, Working for the School- Chapter 7, Runaway Boys, Resistant Girls

Illness and Death
Parents constantly worried about their children while they were away at boarding school.  When an Ojibwe father did not hear from his son at Flandreau after sending three letters and a Christmas box, the family thought that maybe he was sick and does not want them to know it.  The father asked the school to please have him write because they were worried.  The parents worried with good reason because communicable diseases flourished in the boarding schools.  Year after year superintendents reported epidemics of measels and influenza in their annual reports.  There were also numerous cases of mumps and tuberculosis that required students to be sent away in sanitoriums.

As late as 1935, a year when Ojibwes represented the second largest tribe enrolled at Haskell, the school reported 82 students with measles, nine cases of tb and several active cases of trachoma.  I wasn't familiar with what trachoma was so I looked it up and found it to be an infectious eye disease, and the leading cause of the world's infectious blindness.  It is spread by direct contact with eye, nose, and throat secretions from affected individuals, or contact with inanimate objects, such as towels and/or washcloths, that have had similar contact with these secretions.  I can imagine how contagious this must have been especially with all of the close contact at a school.   In one surprising letter sent from the Flandreau school to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the superintendent regretted to make known that one of the teachers had a very obvious case of small pox and was actually broken out while he taught in his classes.  All the superintendent could do was hope that there would not be a serious outbreak.

In 1897, Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Jones (pictured left) called upon school officials and indian agents to fill the schools to capacity in order to futher the work of assimilation.  For the next several years Jones enrollment campaign brought great numbers of new students to the boarding schools.  Of course this meant more funding for schools and an increase in salaries.  This also meant that hazardous and sometimes deadly environment was created because they enrolled sick children right along with the healthy students.  A great increase in disease was reported from the boarding schools.  It was noted that trachoma was second leading health threat to Native Americans, after tuberculosis.  Nearly every case gave a history of contracting the disease from a boarding school.  Commissioner Jones mediocre response to this epidemic was to issue a statement saying that care should be given to prevent the spread of trachoma in government schools and that students should use individual towels.  In 1909 Congress finally appropriated money to study and treat trachoma.  On the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, over half of 1,716 Ojibwes had trachoma. 

Working for the School

When parents sent their children to school they had hopes that they would receive a good education in exchange for the time that they were away from their families.  They were reluctant to send them away but many became convinced of the necessity for formal training and familiarity with a trade, especially since indian communities failed to prosper under the policies of the allottment act.  When children were sent away, parents would make requests for them to be in certain areas such as carpentry or playing piano or starting a vocation of working in the country.  Some parents stated that the experience to work with white people would be good because they have also experienced that type of  'outing system'.    A few parents also voiced their satisfaction of their children working and being able to earn their own money.   In the early years, the schools listed a variety of manual trades for boys, but farming was the main activity.  Girls would be confined to domestic training. 

In 1897 the commissiner of indian affairs authorized a meager payment scheduled for the student laborers and the school officials would monitor small account savings for the students.  When new to a particular trade, the student did not receive compensation.  After four months, students would receive 8 cents for working an 8 hour day.  Second year students received 12 cents a day.  After three years at school, students were entitled to 24 cents a day.  It was also stated that student farmhands should receive 12 cents for an eight hour day except during harvest, when they received 25 cents for a ten hour day.  This program came under attack years later, when child labor laws said that work should be less of a burden.  Although agricultural work was more popular at Flandreau and Haskell, boys had other vocational opportunities.  In 1896 a tailor shop opened and Flandreau and boys were encouraged to learn to design their own clothing.  Shoe repair and harness making were also added later.

Educators and reformers expected education to transform Indian women's lives and they expected young girls to shoulder an incredible responsibility.  Vocational training for girls was labeled 'domestic science', what we now call home economics.  During the first decade of Flandreau's operation, girls worked at sewing, cooking, baking, laundering, housekeeping and nursing.  Not coincidentally all of their activities were basically to the upkeep of the school.

Runaway Boys, Resistant Girls

Many students expressed their frustraion with school life by running away.  Administrators from the schools, acting in cooperation with indian agents back on the reservation spent much of their time trying to track down runaways or 'deserters' as officials called them.  Rewards were often offered and as a futher measure, students were sometimes locked into rooms so they would not escape.  It was common for the students to complain about the food and uniforms as reasons for runing away.  The stories that these students tell seem familiar and I really feel for them.  Some seem like adventures and other seem so desperate to get home.  Running away was the most popular form of protest used but it wasn't the only kind of rebellion.  In 1912 Haskell students sent a petition to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington, asking him to close their school.  The superintendent J.R. Wise was embarassed by the petition and said that the students did not appreciate their opportunity to attend Haskell. 

In 1918 one boy from Flandreau was expelled after attempting to burn the boys dormitory.  This wasn't the only case of arson. The book stated a case of a 'mysterious' fire in 1891 that destroyed a boarding school for Winnebago students in which all students were sent home.  The children who atended boarding schools between 1900 and 1940 were often rebellious.  The decision to runaway was the last resort.  It was a way of coping with the many inadequacies of the boarding school. 

It seems as the years went by and times changed, the rules at boarding schools became more lenient.  This was probably due to the Merriam Report.  As the students got more rights they seemed to want to push the boundries more and use their voices more, and also stand up for themselves.   All of this makes me think of how I would have been in a boarding school.  What kind of student would I be?  A rebellious one? One who listened and got their work done all the time?  A teacher's pet?  I guess I am glad that I don't know.  But it sure makes me thankful for my education and everything else. 

I found this on youtube and thought it was interesting because it talks about the boarding school experiences of people from the Red Lake area and the author from my book interviewed people from that area.  People tell their stories first hand and it gets pretty graphic.  I initially thought it was a minute long clip, come to find out it is a whole free movie. 

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Chapter 4, Homesickness

Students shortly after arriving to boarding school.

One of the worst ideas about how to best solve the so called 'indian problem' authorized the seperation of indian families.  Boarding schools limitied and often times denied children's visits to their own communities and to see their own families.  Officials thought that this would hinder the work of assimilation or that students would lapse into their former lifestyles.  Because of this students were expected to stay at school, even during summer vacations.  This often meant they would stay for four years or more at the boarding school. 

The most common difficulty experienced at school was homesickness.  From 1879 through the late 1930's, thousands of Ojibwe, Dakota, Menominee, Oneida, and other tribal children from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas traveled far away to receive a government education.  When Flandreau in South Dakota and Haskell in Lawrene Kansas opened, they became popular destinations of students from these tribes.  Although most children sent to boarding schools were around 12 or older, some cases children were as young as 5 years old.  Children felt lonely and isolated when they arrived and many continued to be homesick during their lenghty terms of study.  This policy didn't really change until Jon Collier became Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1933.  Upon this, children were actually encouraged to spend summer vacations with their families. 

Prior to the late 1920's students at Flandreau and Haskell were strongly discouraged from visiting their families.  When there were cases of extreme hardship such as family sickness or tragedy,  preapproval was requested of an Indian agent or local reservation superintendent before children were able to return home.  Eventually, Indian parents learned how to somewhat work the system and made their requests accordingly.  ot all requests were aloud and there were many turned down.  Numerous complaints were written  to Indian Affairs and often left unanswered.

Although the lonesomeness of parents and children was overwhelming, parents still knew the importance of education or learning a trade for their childrens future and just basically dealt with it and expressed their desire for succes in school and wished to keep them thier 'as much as they could stand it'.

Teacher and student at a boarding school in MN.

Chapter 3, Train Time

Flandreau Boarding School

In the fall of 1914, Henry Darco of Mahnomen, MN was sent away for the first time to Flandreau boarding school with his sister.  The train made a stop at Lakefield, MN and Henry got off by mistake and the train left him behind.  He wondered in the depot where the agent discovered him.  He took him to a nearby hotel for dinner and lodging that night.  The next day Henry got on another train and and arrived safely the next afternoon.  Henry wrote a letter to his father asking for the $4.00 that he owes the agent for when he got lost on the way to Flandreau.  When hearing about his son being lost, he contacted the superintendent and expressed his doubts about sending his son to school there after all.  He stated "I put my children in your supposed to look after them and be responsible for them".  This attitude was shared by many other parents during the boarding school era. 

Letters that were sent home helped spread the word about any information from the boarding schools spread to other families.  The 'moccasin telegraph' was an important news source for families of boarding school students

All government schools followed teh strict policy that forbid them to speak their tribal language.  When they were caught speaking their language they were dealt with harshly.  Many recall beatings, swats from rulers, having soap or lye put in their mouth or being locked in the school jail.  One woman from Wisconsin recalled that she always prayed in Ojibwe at school in order to maintain her fluency.  Boarding school education takes a large responsibility for the decline of Ojibwe and other tribal languages.  Officials also insisted taht tribal children get rid of their traditional Indian names.  They complained tath there names were unpronounceable and even embarassing.  So symbolically, the casting off of the indian name and taking a 'Christian' name was the first sign of 'civilty'.

Chapter 2, From Reservation to Boarding School

Boarding school students in Minnesota

This chapter started out by telling how boarding school education came to the Ojibwe people, the Anishinaabe.  It talks about the General Allotment Act, which was passed in 1887.    The act provided for the division of tribally held lands into individually-owned parcels and opening "surplus" lands to settlement by non-Indians and development by railroads.  The land base of Ojibwes (Minnesota and Wisconsin) declined abruptly. and new Eur-American landowners and beneficiaries of tribal losses had taken over the region.  The ojibwes were expected to settle down to work as small farmers.  The lands were so reduced in size that nothing more than a small garden would be possible for a small family.  The remaining reservation lands were too poor to farm.  The increased poverty and landlessness of many Ojibwes threatened the strength of the econmy.  I found what historian Melissa Meyer said, very important.  She argued, "if the government's programs of assimilation had a chance to succeed anywhere, White Earth should have become an eperimental showcase", because of its rich environment of fishing lakes, rice stands, forests, and fertile farmlands. 

Not only did this affect the Ojibwe people, disease also began to take its toll.  The Bureau of Indian Affairs, charged with providing medical care for Indians, often placed the blame on the indiands themselves.  It was during these times that some people who supported assimilation, looked to boarding schools as a solution for many of the social problems.  The boarding schools in the Midwest were hardly located in areas close to the reservation, making the transition even more traumatic.  These promoters believed that civilizing indian children would be easier and possibilities of them remembering their language or tribal ways would be less likely if the children stayed away from teir homes and relatives until their education was complete.  Parents often refused to surrender their children to government authorities and resisted boarding school education.  There was another interesting part mentioned that I would like to look more into.  This chapter stated that the most painful story of resistance to assimilation programs and compulsory school attendance laws involved the Hopis in Arizona.  They surrendered a group of men to the military rather than voluntarily relinquish their children.  The Hopi men served time in federal prison at Alcatraz.

I am noticing that we are starting to get into the nitty gritty of the book.  I am eager to read more because unlike Chilocco, it seems to be focusing more on the history of that specific area and what happened to the land there and how people are being sent to boarding schools. 

Boarding School Seasons: Chapter 1, Star Quilts and Jim Thorpe

The first Chapter of the book is titled Star Quilts and Jim Thorpe.  The author, Brenda Child begans by telling how she first learned of boarding schools.  She has come from a line of family members that have attended various boarding schools.  She speaks of her grandmother, Jeanette Jones Auginash, who is from the Red Lake, MN area, and her experiences attending Flandreau boarding school in Flandreau, SD.  Her grandmothers father, David Jones attended the Carlisle boarding schol in Pennsylvania, which was the earliest of the government boarding schools for Indians and the model for following schools such as Flandreau.

She speaks of her grandmothers time at Flandreau and her experience varied.  Her grandmother, Jeanette took part in what was called an outing program, where she and her peers were sent to local white households to work as a domestic servants.  The overall attitude of this program seemed a little on the negative side.  Her grandmother did enojy the sewing and needlework classes.  The author spoke of letters that were collected from her grandmother and others and that is something I am eager to read more about.  She also spoke of her great grandfather, Davids experience at Carlisle.  She told of how he excelled at sports and how he played football with Jim Thorpe.  This part of the chapter is where I found why it is titled so.  The author stated, " Although many have associated the boarding schools, especially Carlisle and Haskell , with athletics and winning football teams, the female legacy from schools like Carlisle, the star blanked, has found a lasting place of its own in cultures and traditions of most tribes from the upper Midwest".  She told of how many of the indian girls first saw the dazzeling design, known as the Star of Bethlehem and the girls took the domestic art of quilting back to their tribes.

Like Chilocco, the author speaks of how everyones experiences vary.  There were trials and tribulations for everyone but overall, it seems that they took away a rich experience and skills that were helpful to them later in life.

Unlike Chilocco, I am happy to hear more about the different sports teams and I hope to read more about all of the unseen talent there may have been.

Chapter 6 'Hm! White Boy! You Got No Business Here!'

I can imagine the teenagers at Chilocco thinking of things to do to pass time and have fun.  What surprised me is when they said one of the guys would kill a chicken and the girls would try and sneak the chicken in so they may cook it!  Or when they would lay a mattress down and choke each other until they were knocked out! Or making their own alcohol! Wow, sounds quite odd, but probably was somewhat entertaining to them and is maybe even considered normal, unruly teenage behavior.  They sure liked to cross the boundaries when they were bored, but who wouldn't?! 

It was also interesting to see how a lot of them stuck with their own tribal members.  Maybe back then, it might of been more easy and comfortable to stick with what you know.  Can you imagine if it was like that here at Tribes or at Haskell?  Makes me think of how it would be.

I also liked how they talked about good old fashioned fighting.  It seems like there would be a squabble and then it would be settled.  Even though they called some of their groups gangs, it is nothing like what gangs are today.

Chapter 5 'You Dizzy Bastard, Get in Step'

Wow! The title says it all!  The poor kids were disciplined military style.  The punishments for not doing what they were supposed to seemed pretty rough.  Especially when they talked about the little 6 year olds that were summoned to the rock pile.  Even the other older students thought that the discipline didn't match the age. 

As far as the drill competitions went I could just picture the young group not being able to keep up with the older, faster groups and them all joining hands to stay together.  That just breaks my heart because they still wanted to try and had that sense of teamwork.  I cannot picture my daughter being put through such a grueling task.  It seems in the end, the students think that it made them stronger.  I really like the sense of humor these people seem to have when retelling the stories. I get it. I wonder if some people that read this don't get the humor in it.  These people that have been through this know what they were put through and where they came from and how it made them into what they are today and they can actually laugh about some of it, at least.  Eventually the strictness of the discipline decreased.  Some spoke of being able to go to town on Saturdays and other activites.  I am glad that they had some extracurricular activites to do.

I found these pictures and I imagine that when these people graduated from Chilocco, that it was not as strict.  As you can see, their attire was not uniform. I thought it was interesting to compare the students as the times changed.

Chapter 4 'You're a Women, Your Going to Be a Wife!"

Bloomers: I have always wondered where this term came from.  I found the definition being- Women's baggy underpants fastened to just below or above the knee.  It was also interesting to find out how the word "bloomers" was sometimes used for the wearers of the garments, rather than the garments themselves.  I found the bloomer stories quite funny because it reminded me of my grandma. Whenever I would hear the term 'bloomers', it seemed to be used in a joking manner.  My grandma would use the term and she even nicknamed my sister, 'Shylah Mae Bloomers', because of the little outfits my mom would put on her.  She would say, "why do you make her wear those, her little legs can't even breathe!"  I can see how they could look cute on a baby, but for a teenager, not so much.  I guess in her day and age, this piece of clothing was not very popular. 

I thought it was so funny how the girls would hide their bloomers in the hedge and then put them on before they went back in.  Also, when the boys found them and stacked them for everyone to see. These good old fashioned pranks are a breath of fresh air.  I am glad that they were able to joke around and have fun in the midst of being away from their families.

Chapter 3 'I Could Always Plow a Pretty Straight Line'

I keep thinking of these young workers working long hours and not really being compensated fairly.  But I guess if it was tied into schooling, maybe thats how it was justified.  I remember my very first job at Tastee Freeze.  I think I was in 8th grade and I was paid somewhere around $6.00/hour.  This was so cool because it was my own money and I could go shopping and buy my own clothes!  I just keep thinking of these comparisons and although the times and cost of living has changed, they were really doing these jobs for the experience, I was doing it for the money.  At least, if they were in an area and wanted to switch trades, they could.  Just think of how young they were and all of the exerience they gained from the trades they had dabbled in!  I had to laugh at the part in the book where they talked about earning enough money to buy their own clothes.  The tailor-made bell bottom trousers were the 'in' thing to have at Chilocco.  I remember my mother telling me that they would make their own bell bottoms.  They would cut a triangle out on the outter seam of their jeans and sew a different color material in and ta-da, home made bell bottoms.  I guess it's interesting to see how no matter what, people can make due and do the best they can to try and be 'in'.

Chapter 2 "The Fines' School on Earth"

In October, I went to a powwow in San Bernardino, California and I had seen a lady with these swastika-like signs beaded on her outfit.  This made me curious because I wanted to know the meaning of it.  When I got home I googled it and this picture popped up (above).  I was surprised to see this indian basketball team wearing this symbol also.  Little did I know that this picture took place at a boarding school that I would be reading about!  I had read that the swastika-like symbol was a sign of good luck or well being among some indian tribes.  I am not sure why Chilloco chose this design but it would be interesting to find out.  I had to find this picture when I read about the basketball team.  I wonder if this was the team that was involved in the car accident in which Superintendent Correll pressed the commissioner of Indian Affairs to compensate the athletes involved in the tragic accident.  It was unfortunate that two people were killed and others injured.  At least Superintendent  Correll's pressure paid off because the Office of Indian Affairs ended up paying an educational grant to one student to attend college and also a 3-4 hundred dollar stipend per year for anothers schooling.  It was interesting to see the different stories about Superintendent Correll and how dedicated he was to the school.  Overall the students thought he was fair and really cared but of course there were some students that didn't think so.  It was also fascinating to read how some didn't like boarding school and how some liked it and thought it was good for them.  I wonder how long it took these people to reflect or come to the realization that this was good for them and paid off in the long run.  It seems like alot of the boarding school students felt this way.  As I am reading the book I am trying to picture what these students were thinking and how they felt and it is not what I expected.  I was expecting to read some really sad stories (even though there were a couple already) and I am sure that there are some but I guess I have yet to read.  Another strange thing is that although I do not agree with how the boarding schools came to be and how they took children from homes to assimilate them, I am somewhat understanding the thinking of these 'head honchos'.  Maybe it's because these stories are shared on such a personal basis and give the people in charge actual personalities.  I am not sure: time to read on.

They Called It Prairie Light

The first thing I thought about is the title, as I usually do for every movie or book.  I wondered why this book is called that.  I really liked the description I found on the first page of how the title came to be: "In the evening, light shone through the tall windows across a prairie unblemished by hedgerows or trees...The light on the prairie was ready for its first class'. 

It is hard to picture what the parents went through, being persuaded to give up their children to the care of the government.  I tried to picture myself, not speaking English and being approached by an interpreter or someone that would tell me my child would be better off learning the 'civilized' way.  How could this make sense at all to them?  I have a 7 year old girl and a 9 year old boy (also a 3 year old son) and I cannot imagine how they would be traveling on a wagon for days to arrive at a school where they would have to cut their hair, and not be able to speak their language.  I cannot picture my daughter learning a trade such as sewing and cooking at such a young age, or my son having to tend his own garden everyday. (letting them experiment a bit now is just enough) It was a good thing that the Meriam Report findings changed this a bit.  Even though, Im sure all boarding schools didn't adhere to the new rules.

I also thought of my uncle, who talked about attending boarding school before, but I cannot remember which one.  He told of how they had a strict schedule and the day consisted mostly of chores and praying.  The women would do most of the cleaning and washing dishes and clothes and the men would also clean byt would do a trade, such as building projects out of wood.  There was harsh punishment when they were caught doing something wrong.  Sometimes they would sneak in candy and if they got caught they would get swapped with a 'switch' or a ruler to the hands.  It seems to me that he mentioned missionaries as the instructors.  This makes me want to find out more about his experience.  I know some people find it quite hard to talk about this.  I had to interview an elder for a different class awhile ago and it was hard for her to speak about it, which is understandable considering everything they may have went through. 

In the book, I was surprised to see that some of them counted their years away at school among the happiest and most carefree of there lives.  This makes me curious and I cannot wait to read more of their actual stories.