Native Americans’ destiny was deeply linked to the negative effects of colonialism on their own lands and boarding schools represented a pick in brainwashing and indoctrination into an unknown world. Bonding and parenting are two strong collectivist values among Indian people, and those two notions became inexistent and incompatible with boarding schools. As Rebecca Peterson vigorously testifies in her essay, The Impact of Historical Boarding Schools on Native American Families and Parenting Roles, schools were often built far enough from reservations to discourage parental visits. In addition to the geographical distance, special attention was paid when children reached puberty. As Rebecca Peterson writes, “coming of age was important to the
…show more content…
They tied their legs up, tied their hands behind their backs, put them in the middle of the hallway so that if they fell, fell asleep or something, the matron would hear them and she'd get out there and whip them and make them stand up again.” (Helma Ward, Makah, interview with Carolyn Marr). Diseases were scourges at boarding schools. Overpopulated classrooms and dormitories contributed to the spread of skin diseases, chickenpox, measles and tuberculosis. Often, the basic medical cares were not provided due to a lack of doctors combined with poor knowledge. Tuberculosis was specifically one of the main health concerns and at the Flandreau Boarding School windows were kept open at night to keep dormitories cold. Advice was lavished such as disinfecting textbooks at the end of the school year, separating boys from girls or even bloodletting. There is no official reports regarding the average death at school, but death was not an unknown circumstance either. It was not uncommon to have cemetery near boarding schools because of the high mortality rate among native children and the incapacity of the school to return their bodies to their families. However, complex adjustments occurred in the boarding school as families turned to these institutions for relief during the Great Depression, when social and economic living conditions were greater …show more content…
Lot of families saw in boarding schools a way out for their children to be safe, to have a roof above their heads and to pursue a somewhat good education. The nature of boarding school work took another turn in those difficult times and developed complex and ambiguous relationships with Native tribes. In Boarding School Season: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, Brenda J. Child mentions a testimony of a former Indian student in Flandreau boarding school who recalls that “things got hard for us, especially during the Depression. I remember eating plain rice, or rice and potatoes together. Sometimes those old staples were the only things around. Now, my brother Mike and I kid about pork grease and potatoes....” (299). This clearly underlies the contradictions of Indian boarding schools that have been seen as dispossession places, but also as places to “preserve” Indian children during historical crisis times. As a result, boarding schools became for a time institutions where vital resources were provided and may have saved some children from greater deprivations. Complexities and ambiguities in boarding schools’ educational impacts are also revealed by powerful former students’ memories. Some of them recognize the benefits they received from their education and developed friendships. Sports and games are examples
They tied their legs up, tied their hands behind their backs, put them in the middle of the hallway so that if they fell, fell asleep or something, the matron would hear them and she'd get out there and whip them and make them stand up again.” (Helma Ward, Makah, interview with Carolyn Marr). Diseases were scourges at boarding schools. Overpopulated classrooms and dormitories contributed to the spread of skin diseases, chickenpox, measles and tuberculosis. Often, the basic medical cares were not provided due to a lack of doctors combined with poor knowledge. Tuberculosis was specifically one of the main health concerns and at the Flandreau Boarding School windows were kept open at night to keep dormitories cold. Advice was lavished such as disinfecting textbooks at the end of the school year, separating boys from girls or even bloodletting. There is no official reports regarding the average death at school, but death was not an unknown circumstance either. It was not uncommon to have cemetery near boarding schools because of the high mortality rate among native children and the incapacity of the school to return their bodies to their families. However, complex adjustments occurred in the boarding school as families turned to these institutions for relief during the Great Depression, when social and economic living conditions were greater …show more content…
Lot of families saw in boarding schools a way out for their children to be safe, to have a roof above their heads and to pursue a somewhat good education. The nature of boarding school work took another turn in those difficult times and developed complex and ambiguous relationships with Native tribes. In Boarding School Season: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, Brenda J. Child mentions a testimony of a former Indian student in Flandreau boarding school who recalls that “things got hard for us, especially during the Depression. I remember eating plain rice, or rice and potatoes together. Sometimes those old staples were the only things around. Now, my brother Mike and I kid about pork grease and potatoes....” (299). This clearly underlies the contradictions of Indian boarding schools that have been seen as dispossession places, but also as places to “preserve” Indian children during historical crisis times. As a result, boarding schools became for a time institutions where vital resources were provided and may have saved some children from greater deprivations. Complexities and ambiguities in boarding schools’ educational impacts are also revealed by powerful former students’ memories. Some of them recognize the benefits they received from their education and developed friendships. Sports and games are examples