I found this article to be very interesting and engrossing. It had a lot of shocking facts but at the same time it was a depressing article. The goal of the boarding schools was to strip away all American Indian culture from the students and basically reinvent them to the American standards. "...the intent was to completely transform people, inside and out. Language, religion, family structure, economics, the way you make a living, the way you express emotion, everything, says Lomawaima..." This had a major effect on American Indians because they eventually forgot their own language. The Sherman Indian High School had a positive effect on American Indians. They encouraged cultural experiences and many students had a great time there. The discipline is strict and harsh and the staff is constantly 'stalking' them. All in all American Indians weren't treated fair and just and the boarding schools were harsh. I still found this article to be very informative and full of facts I didn't know.
I thought that this article was very sad. It was so sad that these young Indians chidlren were taken from their family and stripped of their entire culture. These kids were brainwashed to live, breathe, eat, and sleep the "white man's" way. When they came back form voarding school the kids were totally changed noth physically and mentally. The kids were taken away from their family and forced to live in boarding schools and lived in harsh conditions and they were treated unfairly. Teachers were very strict. It sad to know that decades later school like this still exist.
I thought that this article was interesting but sad at the same time. It was sad how the Native American children were taken away from their families and were deprived of their culture. Language, religion, and everything else. It's sort of like the whites were brainwashing the children to be exactly the way that the whites wanted to be. The schools treated the children horribly as well. The Native American children were abused and beaten. These poor children were treated unfairly and forced to live under terrible conditions. But I'm glad that the Sherman Indian High School encouraged the children to actually learn about their native culture. I found this article to be very interesting and I learned a lot about this particular topic.
I was very surprised from the facts included in this article. I had never heard of this before I read this. I do not think that it is fair at all that American Indians were forced to go to this boarding school and were forced to leave their families. America was trying to completely get rid of the American Indian's culture which I feel they have no right to do. The philosophy for this was "kill the indian in him and save the man". Everything from wearing long hair to even speaking one indian word was forbidden. One boy had to even loose his native name. It is not fair at all that American Indians had to forget everything that they knew about their culture and learn to live like the white people did.
I found this article disgusting and shameful. Everyone is familiar with the segregation and racism African Americans suffered in our history but this article exposes yet another element of bigotry hidden within our past. Native Americans were wiped out from the land they inhabited and claimed for hundreds of years. Settlers attempted to Americanize them and eliminate their culture. This article explains how in this process Indians were placed in boarding school seperate from their families. This article also includes quotes which disgusted me further such as "A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one,". I just find it ironic that before Americans practiced cruelty towards Indians it was African Americans. This article made me question where racism originated and which ethnocentric ideals it was adapted from. Later this article speaks of the modern day Indian and how these boarding schools have faded away with a majority of their culture. The author emphasized that there are remnants of these memories with him and I was not suprised. I was shocked that this Indian would speak of all this so nonchalantly. This troubled me even more.
In my opinion the article was pretty disturbing because of how they wanted to basically terminate the native americans culture and they tried to persuade and force the young indian children to live like white kids. They tried to teach them how to live like white people. This caused the native american race rapidly decrease since no one was practicing their religion anymore because the native kids were learning other religions.
When I read this article I felt very upset and suprised at the same time. I never knew that this is what people used to do to indians. I felt sad becuase the indians would be changed into people that they werent. They coulnt wear long hair, they couldnt speak indian and they couldn't even have their real name. In article one it states"I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to talk Indian to her and I said, 'Grandma, I don't understand you,' " Wright says. "She said, 'Then who are you?'Wright says he told her his name was Billy. " 'Your name's not Billy. Your name's 'TAH-rruhm,' " she told him. "And I went, 'That's not what they told me.' I thought this was very sad because wrights own grandmother didn't even know who he was anymore. Heorgot all about his cultre and the real him. They were literally brainwashed into becoming toatlly diffrent people. people that others wanted them to become, I could never imagine being in there postion.
I found this article to be interesting, yet saddening at the same time. It was interesting in that I had little to no idea of what went on in these Indian boarding schools and I now have some knowledge of what was really going on in the facilities. It's sad in a way because the truth isn't always pleasant. While racism wasn't out of the ordinary during this time period, the extreme ideas put into effect by the United States government was rather shocking. Sure, they enacted strict laws on people of other races and cultures. But those laws hardly even compare to the harshness and cruelty that the Native Americans were forced to deal with. Young children were often times forcibly taken from their homes and stripped of everything they knew. In a sense, these boarding schools were brainwashing the Native American children into assimilation - a fact which I found highly disconcerting.
This article actually made me a little mad due to the fact that these people were treated so harshly. The fact that this wasn't just 100 years ago, the fact that still in the 1960s people were being heavily abused in these off-reservation schools is down right ridiculous. The fact that in the United States, a country that is not made up of one race or culture, but of every countries race and culture, this took place is sickening. The physical and mental abuse (as heard from the audio version)can still be heard in the people's voices. This brain washing technique that was used on the native children should NEVER be used to anyone ever again.
I think it is horrible how Native Americans were mistreated. Infact it is horrible how they basically had to forget their culture, their language, their indian names, and everything they were born into or raised in. I think it was terrible how the Native americans were forced to basically be white when they werent nor wanted to be white. I thought it is wrong what the white people did to the indians meanwhile it was their land and we came out of nowhere and took their land, their culture, their pride, and most of their lives. I noticed the quote kill and indian save a man which basically meant native americans were worth nothing to the white people, it meant they dont appreciate the lives of Native Americans as they do of white people. I found it interesting to read this article because i learned alot from this article. One thing I am able to conclude after reading this article is that the white people treated the native americans like animals, and that to me is discusting. I am surprised that I never knew the abuse white people caused to indians. Before reading this article I thought the native americans were pushed away from their land. I never would of thought white people had done this.
Elizabeth J. After reading the first article, I was astounded at how some people, like Richard Pratt, thought to, “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man” of a Native American. I thought it was disrespectful and cruel of the federal government to send American Indians to off-reservations boarding schools, then later, bathing them in kerosene and shaving off the young men’s heads. It is a shame how the American Indians that were sent off to the boarding schools, had lost their knowledge of their language, and their entire background and culture. I wonder how the government would feel if it were their own culture and way of life that was “Erased and replaced.” The American Indians that attended the boarding schools learned about trades; like carpentry for boys, and housekeeping for the girls. They did not even learn basic math or English, like parts of speech and grammar, which is a shame. I don’t think it is equitable for the government to reduce the funding of the off-boarding schools, when in the first place; they wanted those schools the most. It shocks me that they can’t make up their minds. After reading the second article, I had a different perspective of what the American Indians were going through. After reading the second article, I agree and understand both arguments. However, I did open up to the fact that some American Indians benefited from attending the boarding schools. I was astonished that boarding schools were an escape for some Indians. The boarding school was an escape from poverty and addiction, which occurred in the reservations. I never realized how some reservations possess the features of poverty, alcohol addictions, etc. I always thought that reservations were calm and collected. I thought that Native American reservations were peaceful and spiritual places. I believe it was awful how the American Indians were treated like they were prisoners, or military soldiers. I think the American Indians should have been treated more fairly.
I found this article to be shocking. I dont think that it was fair for the natives americans be forced to go to boarding schools miles away from their familes. It was harsh because they couldnt speak their native lunguage, it was forbidden.
I learned a lot from this article, I found it to be interesting and very sad. I learned a lot of new facts. One thing I learned was that the Sherman Indian High school had a positive effect towards the Indians. For Indians school was a new experience, school brought them together and brought them cultural experiences. Boarding schools were a tough harsh place. These Boarding schools wanted to shed the American style and standards on to these very different Indians and take away their Indian heritage. Indians were taken away from their family and stripped from there background.
I thought that this article was very shocking and depressing. The fact that they were literally taking away the normal lives of American Indian children and making them American students is horrible. Before that time, everyone kept saying that America is where the freedom is, but if it is really is about freedom, why did they force these kids into this? Although the article had harsh facts, I learned some things from it that I didn't know before.
I found this article sad and shameful. Native Americans were wiped out from the land they inhabited and claimed for hundreds of years. Settlers attempted to Americanize them and eliminate their culture. After reading this article I felt upset about what was going on when this wasnt so long ago.I found it sad how Americans tried to replace the Indians culture with the whites because how would it matter if it was forced upon?
I thought this article showed the unfair life of American Indians.It was unfair that te indians had to be in a different enviorment because of their race. It was also unfair how the government didnt let Native Indians be themselves in theese boarding schools,like how children had their names changed and culture completley overturned.If I was a native Indian back then I would definatly be frusterated.Not knowing my real name or my background I just wouldn't be myself because I believe that keeping your culture alive keeps your spirit alive.
I thought that this article was very sad and also showed me how unfair the young Indian children were treated. They were taken from their famalies. They were also no longer able to follow their own culture. These kids were forced to learn to do everything the "white man's" way. The kids were living in boarding schools. They also lived in horrible conditions and they were treated unfairly. The teachers there were really strict. Everything that had to do with the Indian culture was forbidden, even appearence wise.
I found this article to be both informative and flabbergasting. it was informative because unlike the text book it actually goes deep into the details and even includes that views of those who have been to the process and those who been working at the boarding schools. It is flabbergasting because these kids were being brained washed and abused for who they were as a way to change them into Americans. During this time the natives began to commit suicide and turn to drugs/alcohol. Meanwhile some even questions why they would do this. I think the answer is plain and simple these Indians have been taken away from their land/resources, infected with diseases, the women were often raped and the children were killed. They were able to move on from this and restart but it has been done so many times and it has hurt so many Indians that it came to the point that enough was enough!
For the sake of keeping this reaction censured to a PG-13 rating i will not say all the actual words that crossed through my mind upon reading this article about a time period not so far away from us. Yet, I will comment on the truly atrociousness, barbaric, insufferable, immoral and truly and utterly poignant feelings this article made me feel. "Kill the Indian and save the man." That is completely and irrevocably incorrect. This is these people proud heritage, you are you're people no one has the right to deprive and try to change your history. To the point you will beat poor and innocent children and then in turn causes a vicious cycle as if you were a pedophile that molests children and then these children go on to become pedophiles? Nefarious means of atrociousness! Bad enough a child sometimes gets stuck with a name that they don't like but you're going to change it to Billy to the point A CHILD's FAMILY WON'T RECOGNIZE HIM!? Boundaries, people, boundaries!! Even though not all these boarding schools weren't all that unscrupulous as in the case of Sherman High School were it was a good experience for them away from their reservations where there was high suicide rate. I for one certainly cannot blame them if they stick me with all my family on a small speck on a ludicrous map and say I can't go anywhere else I may want to divulge into alcohol until I drown in it.
I found the article to be intresting and cruel (for what they did to them) at the same time. On how that they would rio children out of the arm of their mother and force them to go to these boarding schools who main goal was not to give the Native American the "honor" of becoming american citezens but to completly erase their Native american identity and make them forgot how they are and "kill the indian inside of him but spare the man that he is". This schools completely destroyed Native American culture and shread of dignity they had and even worse of all didn't even give them a proper education and forced them to take on a carear not of their chose but what the goverment thought would be best. Likely after so many years of trying to destroy their culture we finnally made something that will help them achive their lost heritage and to go back to their own ways.
I will try to keep it at a PG-13 rating by censoring myself(****). Leaving your family when the govermnent took you by force, that is CRAZY! Watching a film with native americans killed and you are one, I cant do that. If I was hit in the head, I would get my TOMAHAWK and start k*****g. Having to work heavily with a very poor diet, impossible for me. Losing your own culture for good is very bad. I would NEVER had believed this really happened until now. =(
I found this article to be very informative and shocking, because all of these facts about treating Native American students at school are very cruel, yet it actually happened. I was even shocked when I read that Wright saw an advisor hit a Native American student on the head, and he was bleeding. Then, he was taken to the hospital, and the other teachers told Wright to tell the doctors that he just ran into a wall. That's dishonest and wrong. Not only was he physically abused, but mentally abused. Wright should've told the doctors the truth, despite what the teachers told him. Maybe, Native Americans shouldn't attend school like that at all. Those kinds of schools should be banned. According to the Constitution, all students have the right to attend school in a safe environment.
It seems as though the Native Americans were sent to the American Indian Boarding Schools to "normalize" them in white culture. They wanted to completely erase the Indian out of them so there was just one less race in Amerca. For the Indian Americans, many of thier culture was changed, as well as themselves as a person. Because of the discipline methods used in the schools, some (not all) Indian Americans would leave and form an abusive family because that was all they knew. All that the US government wanted was to "make the Indians white". Education in and of iteslf was overlooked and would show in later generations. The Indian boarding schools would focus so much on wiping out the Indian culture that they would very easily damage their own. Fortunately, INdian schools today are much better than they were all those years ago. And better still, the Indian way of life is not shunned and tried to be destroyed, but rather preserved. All in all, life for Indians are better than they once were and we can all share the same air without wanting to completely wipe out your nieghbor's way of life.
I think these articles are very sad and informative at the same time because I felt that it was sad for the children to be forced to go to boarding school, leaving their family behind. I thought it was also informative because I didn't know the American Indians were force to go to school and were sometimes treated harshly there.At school they weren't allowed to express their culture or speak Indian words, which i found very cruel towards the children. This was done so they can become whites, but i don't think it's the right thing to do because they should have the freedom to do whatever they pleased or believe in.
I think these articles are very sad and informative at the same time because I felt that it was sad for the children to be forced to go to boarding school, leaving their family behind. I thought it was also informative because I didn't know the American Indians were force to go to school and were sometimes treated harshly there.At school they weren't allowed to express their culture or speak Indian words, which i found very cruel towards the children. This was done so they can become whites, but i don't think it's the right thing to do because they should have the freedom to do whatever they pleased or believe in.
*i posted this above but i forgot to put my name so here it is again*
I found this article to be very unfair and long!! I was shocked when I read about that poor boy Billy who was bathed in kerosene and got his head shaved. It was very cruel and wrong for Indians to go against their religion and not be able to follow it. And I felt bad for all the people that have to wake up at 6am and work in their dorms or if they don't they'll "suffer the consequences". I was heartbroken when i read about the advisor who beat the guts out of his own student. The description about the student bleeding from his head was very intense and a bit violent. Life in Indian Boarding Schools was totally unfair and a horrible opportunity if you were an Indian. They should be sewed for trying to convert Indians into the White lifestyle.
I think this article was very sad. These children were awfully mistreated for no reason at all. I find it horrible that they tried to make them forget all about their original culture. And their discipline was just completely disgusting. They were beaten, and one kid was bleeding so bad he had to go to the hospital. I find that absolutely awful. I also didn't like the fact that the boys and girls had such restrictions on what they were being taught to do. The boys carpentry and the girls housework? They were so limited and I find that awful. They hadn't done anything at all, yet they were being treated terribly. They had it very hard starting from a very young age. I also thought when the boy went home and told his Grandma that his name was Billy and that he didn't understand Indian was pretty disturbing as well. This whole article was just completely devastating and surprising. It really makes you think.
I found the government absurd for not preventing the severe circumstances the Native American children were encountering. This article was thought-provoking, though it left me stunned, livid, and confused on why no one did anything to put a stop to this. From what I read, it was basically mandatory for the Native American children to be put into a boarding school, distant from their families. Children were beaten, undernourished, and forced to do hard labor. As well as, many teachers were instructing their students to be more ‘proper,’ than educating them at all-which was the main purpose of the Native American students being sent to boarding school in the first place. The Native American children bring forced into these schools also suffered from losing their Language, religion, family structure, economics, the way they made a living, the way they expressed their emotions, just about everything when it came to their Native American heritage. The government did nothing but transform these Native American students into what they thought was educated, but left them and their families scarred for the rest of their lives.
This article was a real eye opener. I always knew that Native American Children were sent to boarding schools as a way to "convert" them to follow white customs. I never knew that these schools were abusing and forcing their students to do physical labor instead of really teaching them. Also, the fact that many students were “forbidden to express their culture” though “Language, religion, family… [and] emotion," is really unfair. Our founding fathers, built this country from the ground up, with a vision in mind. That vision, allowed the freedom of speech and religion to everyone, no matter their race or background. Sure, the people back then could have argued that “they weren’t citizens”, but isn’t everyone who was born in the country a citizen? The Native Americans had been in the country since the beginning, they were here when we won our freedom and they were here during the civil war. Sure they have fought besides us and at times, against us in battle, but we forgave the South after the Civil war, didn’t we? So I think that the way our ancestors treated these people, was very unjust. I’m glad that the boarding schools have changed their ways, and now encourage their students to express their individuality and not to feel ashamed of their culture. Yet, I still think that the government should have stopped the mistreatment of students, better educated them, and allowed them to practice their culture’s customs freely.
I was left speechless when reading this article. I think that the United States government went to far in changing Native American Indian children who attended school into the American Way of life. It is just wrong to take their culture away with out them experiencing it. Children were sent to boarding schools which means that they were separated from their families, far away. If these children did not do what they were told they would have to suffer cruel punishment. Parents committed suicide, became alcoholics or drug addicted. These children and parents will be scared for life. This event was led to because the US government had to kick out Native American Indians in order to make room for whites settlers. Since there was no more territory they were forced to be put on the "Trail To become white". -SAL P 902 =)
This article was one of the very few things I was actually interested in reading for this class. The shocking and almost disturbing information is probably what made it most interesting. When thinking about it, America's always all like, "Oh look at us, being all cool with our freedom and equal rights and such," but it really wasn't always that way. A lot of the time people's rights and personality in general would be just completely stripped from them. The American Indians, in this case, began to forget of their past lives. Of their religions, of their family, even of their language. I think it's disgusting for a society to try to completely change a group of people, to make them "reach American standards." Ugh how could people be so cruel ugh.
This article was really depressing but interesting at the same time. It was kind of disturbing/disgusting, it's not fair how they were being abused and treated horribly but at that time there were a lot of people being treated like shit. This tells me that, well actually I already know that everyone in the world is cruel and deceiving. This article was very informative and descriptive, I can't say I 'enjoyed' reading this... but it was a interesting read.
I think what happened to the Native Americans was horrific & I can't believe that Americans would do this to them. They were treated horribly. They were beaten, they were forced to forget their culture, all because Americans wanted them to assimilate into their own culture. They were forced off the land & forced to go to other reservations set aside for them. If you were young you had to go into these schools where they "Americanized" you. I think this article was very interesting & taught me a lot. I learned a lot more about this, but it disgusted me~
I decided to listen to the article instead and really couldnt believe what these Indian children went through. The government took them to schools far from their reservations. The schools required them to dress, work, pray, and speak as mainstream Americans. The Indians would remember those places as where they were abused. I found this unfair because abuse is wrong but also this was way back then and they were Indians. Not all Indians were treated so poorly. Its been told that some have met their loved ones and friends. During free-time activities, specifically on friday night, the Indian children would watch movies of Cowboys and Indians fighting, and of course it would show the Cowboys killing the Indians. The purpose of th boarding schools was the teach the Indian children a different language and religion and sometimes they would even forgot their own language.
I was very taken back by this article as well as finding it hard to sit through & read. Indian's didn't get to grow up as Americans, rather than stripped from their lives. They weren't treated fairly, as shown they were malnourished, beat, and overworked. The staff was completely unfit for the job, and had no idea how to care for the students. They lost their Indian heritage, being forced to shave their head, discard their language and taken from their families. The insensitivity didn't make sense to me, how you can make a whole group of people change their ways. Everyone is different, and so what if Indians don't follow your ways? Who are the Americans to say they needed to change their act and learn a whole new trade? They've already taken Native American's homes, farmland, dignity, family members & friends, and animals. Its exactly what they did to African Americans, only now they were doing it under the new legal rules. As in, although they couldn't murder them just because, they went around the law and found other ways to torture innocent people. Sending children off to boarding school; starving them, using them for work and teaching them how to be one of us. But who are we? I believe back then, we were monsters. & honestly things haven't changed much.
This was actually something that legitimately kept me reading, which doesn't happen often during history, not even going to lie to you. The fact that people would actually brainwash children like this is beyond my understanding, it's disgusting, to be honest. Okay first off, they're completely training them to be everything they're not and to add insult to injury, in some schools, these Indian children were being abused, like that's actually going to help anything at all. Ugh. This is why I hate people.
The first part of this article was hard to read, but unfortunately not surprising. From what we know of whites' feelings towards Native Americans way way back in the day, this seems likely. The insane racism taken to another level as they take Native American children from their homes and strip them of their culture to European like lifestyles is a strike against them as a race and individualism itself. And the hitting and the overly robotic and monotonous program was ridiculous. The hitting more so. But as seen in Part 2 of the article, we've come a long way from there.
Part 2 describes Sherman Indian High School, in present day. Obviously, boarding schools specifically for Native Americans have evolved since then. The article discusses how it bringsw Indian culture back to the students while staying as horribly routine as it once was. But this is because nowadays, many reservation-living Native Americans are involved in drug and alcohol addictions, and they don't learn about their culture the way they could. One could infer that the back in the day Native American schools put that into motion, that Native Americans turned to depressant vices after having their way of life ripped out of their hands along with their families.
It is disgusting what white Americans did to Native Americans in the times preceding our own. But at least they've learned a little.
Everyone above is saying how shocked and possibly disturbed they are. I completely agree. That kind of treatment nowadays is illegal, unfortunately it wasn't back then. It's horrible that these people suffered and there culture lost, but sometimes bad things have to happen so they can be recognized and changed. Maybe it's the Native Americans we have to thank for the educational opportunities we have now. I don't know, just a guess
38 comments:
I found this article to be very interesting and engrossing. It had a lot of shocking facts but at the same time it was a depressing article. The goal of the boarding schools was to strip away all American Indian culture from the students and basically reinvent them to the American standards. "...the intent was to completely transform people, inside and out. Language, religion, family structure, economics, the way you make a living, the way you express emotion, everything, says Lomawaima..." This had a major effect on American Indians because they eventually forgot their own language. The Sherman Indian High School had a positive effect on American Indians. They encouraged cultural experiences and many students had a great time there. The discipline is strict and harsh and the staff is constantly 'stalking' them. All in all American Indians weren't treated fair and just and the boarding schools were harsh. I still found this article to be very informative and full of facts I didn't know.
I thought that this article was very sad. It was so sad that these young Indians chidlren were taken from their family and stripped of their entire culture. These kids were brainwashed to live, breathe, eat, and sleep the "white man's" way. When they came back form voarding school the kids were totally changed noth physically and mentally. The kids were taken away from their family and forced to live in boarding schools and lived in harsh conditions and they were treated unfairly. Teachers were very strict. It sad to know that decades later school like this still exist.
I thought that this article was interesting but sad at the same time. It was sad how the Native American children were taken away from their families and were deprived of their culture. Language, religion, and everything else. It's sort of like the whites were brainwashing the children to be exactly the way that the whites wanted to be. The schools treated the children horribly as well. The Native American children were abused and beaten. These poor children were treated unfairly and forced to live under terrible conditions. But I'm glad that the Sherman Indian High School encouraged the children to actually learn about their native culture. I found this article to be very interesting and I learned a lot about this particular topic.
I was very surprised from the facts included in this article. I had never heard of this before I read this. I do not think that it is fair at all that American Indians were forced to go to this boarding school and were forced to leave their families. America was trying to completely get rid of the American Indian's culture which I feel they have no right to do. The philosophy for this was "kill the indian in him and save the man". Everything from wearing long hair to even speaking one indian word was forbidden. One boy had to even loose his native name. It is not fair at all that American Indians had to forget everything that they knew about their culture and learn to live like the white people did.
Olivia Kuros
I found this article disgusting and shameful. Everyone is familiar with the segregation and racism African Americans suffered in our history but this article exposes yet another element of bigotry hidden within our past. Native Americans were wiped out from the land they inhabited and claimed for hundreds of years. Settlers attempted to Americanize them and eliminate their culture. This article explains how in this process Indians were placed in boarding school seperate from their families. This article also includes quotes which disgusted me further such as "A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one,". I just find it ironic that before Americans practiced cruelty towards Indians it was African Americans. This article made me question where racism originated and which ethnocentric ideals it was adapted from. Later this article speaks of the modern day Indian and how these boarding schools have faded away with a majority of their culture. The author emphasized that there are remnants of these memories with him and I was not suprised. I was shocked that this Indian would speak of all this so nonchalantly. This troubled me even more.
In my opinion the article was pretty disturbing because of how they wanted to basically terminate the native americans culture and they tried to persuade and force the young indian children to live like white kids. They tried to teach them how to live like white people. This caused the native american race rapidly decrease since no one was practicing their religion anymore because the native kids were learning other religions.
When I read this article I felt very upset and suprised at the same time. I never knew that this is what people used to do to indians. I felt sad becuase the indians would be changed into people that they werent. They coulnt wear long hair, they couldnt speak indian and they couldn't even have their real name. In article one it states"I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to talk Indian to her and I said, 'Grandma, I don't understand you,' " Wright says. "She said, 'Then who are you?'Wright says he told her his name was Billy. " 'Your name's not Billy. Your name's 'TAH-rruhm,' " she told him. "And I went, 'That's not what they told me.' I thought this was very sad because wrights own grandmother didn't even know who he was anymore. Heorgot all about his cultre and the real him. They were literally brainwashed into becoming toatlly diffrent people. people that others wanted them to become, I could never imagine being in there postion.
Sara Dorfman - Period 5/8
I found this article to be interesting, yet saddening at the same time. It was interesting in that I had little to no idea of what went on in these Indian boarding schools and I now have some knowledge of what was really going on in the facilities. It's sad in a way because the truth isn't always pleasant. While racism wasn't out of the ordinary during this time period, the extreme ideas put into effect by the United States government was rather shocking. Sure, they enacted strict laws on people of other races and cultures. But those laws hardly even compare to the harshness and cruelty that the Native Americans were forced to deal with. Young children were often times forcibly taken from their homes and stripped of everything they knew. In a sense, these boarding schools were brainwashing the Native American children into assimilation - a fact which I found highly disconcerting.
This article actually made me a little mad due to the fact that these people were treated so harshly. The fact that this wasn't just 100 years ago, the fact that still in the 1960s people were being heavily abused in these off-reservation schools is down right ridiculous. The fact that in the United States, a country that is not made up of one race or culture, but of every countries race and culture, this took place is sickening. The physical and mental abuse (as heard from the audio version)can still be heard in the people's voices. This brain washing technique that was used on the native children should NEVER be used to anyone ever again.
I think it is horrible how Native Americans were mistreated. Infact it is horrible how they basically had to forget their culture, their language, their indian names, and everything they were born into or raised in. I think it was terrible how the Native americans were forced to basically be white when they werent nor wanted to be white. I thought it is wrong what the white people did to the indians meanwhile it was their land and we came out of nowhere and took their land, their culture, their pride, and most of their lives. I noticed the quote kill and indian save a man which basically meant native americans were worth nothing to the white people, it meant they dont appreciate the lives of Native Americans as they do of white people. I found it interesting to read this article because i learned alot from this article. One thing I am able to conclude after reading this article is that the white people treated the native americans like animals, and that to me is discusting. I am surprised that I never knew the abuse white people caused to indians. Before reading this article I thought the native americans were pushed away from their land. I never would of thought white people had done this.
Charlie
Elizabeth J.
After reading the first article, I was astounded at how some people, like Richard Pratt, thought to, “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man” of a Native American. I thought it was disrespectful and cruel of the federal government to send American Indians to off-reservations boarding schools, then later, bathing them in kerosene and shaving off the young men’s heads. It is a shame how the American Indians that were sent off to the boarding schools, had lost their knowledge of their language, and their entire background and culture. I wonder how the government would feel if it were their own culture and way of life that was “Erased and replaced.” The American Indians that attended the boarding schools learned about trades; like carpentry for boys, and housekeeping for the girls. They did not even learn basic math or English, like parts of speech and grammar, which is a shame. I don’t think it is equitable for the government to reduce the funding of the off-boarding schools, when in the first place; they wanted those schools the most. It shocks me that they can’t make up their minds.
After reading the second article, I had a different perspective of what the American Indians were going through. After reading the second article, I agree and understand both arguments. However, I did open up to the fact that some American Indians benefited from attending the boarding schools. I was astonished that boarding schools were an escape for some Indians. The boarding school was an escape from poverty and addiction, which occurred in the reservations. I never realized how some reservations possess the features of poverty, alcohol addictions, etc. I always thought that reservations were calm and collected. I thought that Native American reservations were peaceful and spiritual places. I believe it was awful how the American Indians were treated like they were prisoners, or military soldiers. I think the American Indians should have been treated more fairly.
I found this article to be shocking. I dont think that it was fair for the natives americans be forced to go to boarding schools miles away from their familes. It was harsh because they couldnt speak their native lunguage, it was forbidden.
Spencer Rivera
I learned a lot from this article, I found it to be interesting and very sad. I learned a lot of new facts. One thing I learned was that the Sherman Indian High school had a positive effect towards the Indians. For Indians school was a new experience, school brought them together and brought them cultural experiences. Boarding schools were a tough harsh place. These Boarding schools wanted to shed the American style and standards on to these very different Indians and take away their Indian heritage. Indians were taken away from their family and stripped from there background.
spencer rivera
I thought that this article was very shocking and depressing. The fact that they were literally taking away the normal lives of American Indian children and making them American students is horrible. Before that time, everyone kept saying that America is where the freedom is, but if it is really is about freedom, why did they force these kids into this?
Although the article had harsh facts, I learned some things from it that I didn't know before.
I found this article sad and shameful. Native Americans were wiped out from the land they inhabited and claimed for hundreds of years. Settlers attempted to Americanize them and eliminate their culture. After reading this article I felt upset about what was going on when this wasnt so long ago.I found it sad how Americans tried to replace the Indians culture with the whites because how would it matter if it was forced upon?
I thought this article showed the unfair life of American Indians.It was unfair that te indians had to be in a different enviorment because of their race. It was also unfair how the government didnt let Native Indians be themselves in theese boarding schools,like how children had their names changed and culture completley overturned.If I was a native Indian back then I would definatly be frusterated.Not knowing my real name or my background I just wouldn't be myself because I believe that keeping your culture alive keeps your spirit alive.
I thought that this article was very sad and also showed me how unfair the young Indian children were treated. They were taken from their famalies. They were also no longer able to follow their own culture. These kids were forced to learn to do everything the "white man's" way. The kids were living in boarding schools. They also lived in horrible conditions and they were treated unfairly. The teachers there were really strict. Everything that had to do with the Indian culture was forbidden, even appearence wise.
I found this article to be both informative and flabbergasting. it was informative because unlike the text book it actually goes deep into the details and even includes that views of those who have been to the process and those who been working at the boarding schools. It is flabbergasting because these kids were being brained washed and abused for who they were as a way to change them into Americans. During this time the natives began to commit suicide and turn to drugs/alcohol. Meanwhile some even questions why they would do this. I think the answer is plain and simple these Indians have been taken away from their land/resources, infected with diseases, the women were often raped and the children were killed. They were able to move on from this and restart but it has been done so many times and it has hurt so many Indians that it came to the point that enough was enough!
For the sake of keeping this reaction censured to a PG-13 rating i will not say all the actual words that crossed through my mind upon reading this article about a time period not so far away from us. Yet, I will comment on the truly atrociousness, barbaric, insufferable, immoral and truly and utterly poignant feelings this article made me feel. "Kill the Indian and save the man." That is completely and irrevocably incorrect. This is these people proud heritage, you are you're people no one has the right to deprive and try to change your history. To the point you will beat poor and innocent children and then in turn causes a vicious cycle as if you were a pedophile that molests children and then these children go on to become pedophiles? Nefarious means of atrociousness! Bad enough a child sometimes gets stuck with a name that they don't like but you're going to change it to Billy to the point A CHILD's FAMILY WON'T RECOGNIZE HIM!? Boundaries, people, boundaries!! Even though not all these boarding schools weren't all that unscrupulous as in the case of Sherman High School were it was a good experience for them away from their reservations where there was high suicide rate. I for one certainly cannot blame them if they stick me with all my family on a small speck on a ludicrous map and say I can't go anywhere else I may want to divulge into alcohol until I drown in it.
I found the article to be intresting and cruel (for what they did to them) at the same time. On how that they would rio children out of the arm of their mother and force them to go to these boarding schools who main goal was not to give the Native American the "honor" of becoming american citezens but to completly erase their Native american identity and make them forgot how they are and "kill the indian inside of him but spare the man that he is". This schools completely destroyed Native American culture and shread of dignity they had and even worse of all didn't even give them a proper education and forced them to take on a carear not of their chose but what the goverment thought would be best. Likely after so many years of trying to destroy their culture we finnally made something that will help them achive their lost heritage and to go back to their own ways.
I will try to keep it at a PG-13 rating by censoring myself(****).
Leaving your family when the govermnent took you by force, that is CRAZY! Watching a film with native americans killed and you are one, I cant do that. If I was hit in the head, I would get my TOMAHAWK and start k*****g. Having to work heavily with a very poor diet, impossible for me. Losing your own culture for good is very bad. I would NEVER had believed this really happened until now. =(
I found this article to be very informative and shocking, because all of these facts about treating Native American students at school are very cruel, yet it actually happened. I was even shocked when I read that Wright saw an advisor hit a Native American student on the head, and he was bleeding. Then, he was taken to the hospital, and the other teachers told Wright to tell the doctors that he just ran into a wall. That's dishonest and wrong. Not only was he physically abused, but mentally abused. Wright should've told the doctors the truth, despite what the teachers told him. Maybe, Native Americans shouldn't attend school like that at all. Those kinds of schools should be banned. According to the Constitution, all students have the right to attend school in a safe environment.
Nadine Cavanaugh
It seems as though the Native Americans were sent to the American Indian Boarding Schools to "normalize" them in white culture. They wanted to completely erase the Indian out of them so there was just one less race in Amerca. For the Indian Americans, many of thier culture was changed, as well as themselves as a person. Because of the discipline methods used in the schools, some (not all) Indian Americans would leave and form an abusive family because that was all they knew.
All that the US government wanted was to "make the Indians white". Education in and of iteslf was overlooked and would show in later generations. The Indian boarding schools would focus so much on wiping out the Indian culture that they would very easily damage their own.
Fortunately, INdian schools today are much better than they were all those years ago. And better still, the Indian way of life is not shunned and tried to be destroyed, but rather preserved. All in all, life for Indians are better than they once were and we can all share the same air without wanting to completely wipe out your nieghbor's way of life.
I think these articles are very sad and informative at the same time because I felt that it was sad for the children to be forced to go to boarding school, leaving their family behind. I thought it was also informative because I didn't know the American Indians were force to go to school and were sometimes treated harshly there.At school they weren't allowed to express their culture or speak Indian words, which i found very cruel towards the children. This was done so they can become whites, but i don't think it's the right thing to do because they should have the freedom to do whatever they pleased or believe in.
I think these articles are very sad and informative at the same time because I felt that it was sad for the children to be forced to go to boarding school, leaving their family behind. I thought it was also informative because I didn't know the American Indians were force to go to school and were sometimes treated harshly there.At school they weren't allowed to express their culture or speak Indian words, which i found very cruel towards the children. This was done so they can become whites, but i don't think it's the right thing to do because they should have the freedom to do whatever they pleased or believe in.
*i posted this above but i forgot to put my name so here it is again*
I found this article to be very unfair and long!! I was shocked when I read about that poor boy Billy who was bathed in kerosene and got his head shaved. It was very cruel and wrong for Indians to go against their religion and not be able to follow it. And I felt bad for all the people that have to wake up at 6am and work in their dorms or if they don't they'll "suffer the consequences". I was heartbroken when i read about the advisor who beat the guts out of his own student. The description about the student bleeding from his head was very intense and a bit violent. Life in Indian Boarding Schools was totally unfair and a horrible opportunity if you were an Indian. They should be sewed for trying to convert Indians into the White lifestyle.
-Ravital
I think this article was very sad. These children were awfully mistreated for no reason at all. I find it horrible that they tried to make them forget all about their original culture. And their discipline was just completely disgusting. They were beaten, and one kid was bleeding so bad he had to go to the hospital. I find that absolutely awful. I also didn't like the fact that the boys and girls had such restrictions on what they were being taught to do. The boys carpentry and the girls housework? They were so limited and I find that awful. They hadn't done anything at all, yet they were being treated terribly. They had it very hard starting from a very young age. I also thought when the boy went home and told his Grandma that his name was Billy and that he didn't understand Indian was pretty disturbing as well. This whole article was just completely devastating and surprising. It really makes you think.
Amy Montero
I found the government absurd for not preventing the severe circumstances the Native American children were encountering. This article was thought-provoking, though it left me stunned, livid, and confused on why no one did anything to put a stop to this. From what I read, it was basically mandatory for the Native American children to be put into a boarding school, distant from their families. Children were beaten, undernourished, and forced to do hard labor. As well as, many teachers were instructing their students to be more ‘proper,’ than educating them at all-which was the main purpose of the Native American students being sent to boarding school in the first place. The Native American children bring forced into these schools also suffered from losing their Language, religion, family structure, economics, the way they made a living, the way they expressed their emotions, just about everything when it came to their Native American heritage. The government did nothing but transform these Native American students into what they thought was educated, but left them and their families scarred for the rest of their lives.
This article was a real eye opener. I always knew that Native American Children were sent to boarding schools as a way to "convert" them to follow white customs. I never knew that these schools were abusing and forcing their students to do physical labor instead of really teaching them. Also, the fact that many students were “forbidden to express their culture” though “Language, religion, family… [and] emotion," is really unfair. Our founding fathers, built this country from the ground up, with a vision in mind. That vision, allowed the freedom of speech and religion to everyone, no matter their race or background. Sure, the people back then could have argued that “they weren’t citizens”, but isn’t everyone who was born in the country a citizen? The Native Americans had been in the country since the beginning, they were here when we won our freedom and they were here during the civil war. Sure they have fought besides us and at times, against us in battle, but we forgave the South after the Civil war, didn’t we? So I think that the way our ancestors treated these people, was very unjust. I’m glad that the boarding schools have changed their ways, and now encourage their students to express their individuality and not to feel ashamed of their culture. Yet, I still think that the government should have stopped the mistreatment of students, better educated them, and allowed them to practice their culture’s customs freely.
I was left speechless when reading this article. I think that the United States government went to far in changing Native American Indian children who attended school into the American Way of life. It is just wrong to take their culture away with out them experiencing it. Children were sent to boarding schools which means that they were separated from their families, far away. If these children did not do what they were told they would have to suffer cruel punishment. Parents committed suicide, became alcoholics or drug addicted. These children and parents will be scared for life.
This event was led to because the US government had to kick out Native American Indians in order to make room for whites settlers. Since there was no more territory they were forced to be put on the "Trail To become white".
-SAL P 902 =)
This article was one of the very few things I was actually interested in reading for this class. The shocking and almost disturbing information is probably what made it most interesting. When thinking about it, America's always all like, "Oh look at us, being all cool with our freedom and equal rights and such," but it really wasn't always that way. A lot of the time people's rights and personality in general would be just completely stripped from them. The American Indians, in this case, began to forget of their past lives. Of their religions, of their family, even of their language. I think it's disgusting for a society to try to completely change a group of people, to make them "reach American standards." Ugh how could people be so cruel ugh.
This article was really depressing but interesting at the same time. It was kind of disturbing/disgusting, it's not fair how they were being abused and treated horribly but at that time there were a lot of people being treated like shit. This tells me that, well actually I already know that everyone in the world is cruel and deceiving. This article was very informative and descriptive, I can't say I 'enjoyed' reading this... but it was a interesting read.
xoxoxo
I think what happened to the Native Americans was horrific & I can't believe that Americans would do this to them. They were treated horribly. They were beaten, they were forced to forget their culture, all because Americans wanted them to assimilate into their own culture. They were forced off the land & forced to go to other reservations set aside for them. If you were young you had to go into these schools where they "Americanized" you.
I think this article was very interesting & taught me a lot. I learned a lot more about this, but it disgusted me~
xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxox ~
Mariana Krslovic (CANADA WOOHOO)
I decided to listen to the article instead and really couldnt believe what these Indian children went through. The government took them to schools far from their reservations. The schools required them to dress, work, pray, and speak as mainstream Americans. The Indians would remember those places as where they were abused. I found this unfair because abuse is wrong but also this was way back then and they were Indians. Not all Indians were treated so poorly. Its been told that some have met their loved ones and friends. During free-time activities, specifically on friday night, the Indian children would watch movies of Cowboys and Indians fighting, and of course it would show the Cowboys killing the Indians. The purpose of th boarding schools was the teach the Indian children a different language and religion and sometimes they would even forgot their own language.
I was very taken back by this article as well as finding it hard to sit through & read. Indian's didn't get to grow up as Americans, rather than stripped from their lives. They weren't treated fairly, as shown they were malnourished, beat, and overworked. The staff was completely unfit for the job, and had no idea how to care for the students. They lost their Indian heritage, being forced to shave their head, discard their language and taken from their families. The insensitivity didn't make sense to me, how you can make a whole group of people change their ways. Everyone is different, and so what if Indians don't follow your ways? Who are the Americans to say they needed to change their act and learn a whole new trade? They've already taken Native American's homes, farmland, dignity, family members & friends, and animals. Its exactly what they did to African Americans, only now they were doing it under the new legal rules. As in, although they couldn't murder them just because, they went around the law and found other ways to torture innocent people. Sending children off to boarding school; starving them, using them for work and teaching them how to be one of us. But who are we? I believe back then, we were monsters. & honestly things haven't changed much.
This was actually something that legitimately kept me reading, which doesn't happen often during history, not even going to lie to you. The fact that people would actually brainwash children like this is beyond my understanding, it's disgusting, to be honest. Okay first off, they're completely training them to be everything they're not and to add insult to injury, in some schools, these Indian children were being abused, like that's actually going to help anything at all. Ugh. This is why I hate people.
The first part of this article was hard to read, but unfortunately not surprising. From what we know of whites' feelings towards Native Americans way way back in the day, this seems likely. The insane racism taken to another level as they take Native American children from their homes and strip them of their culture to European like lifestyles is a strike against them as a race and individualism itself. And the hitting and the overly robotic and monotonous program was ridiculous. The hitting more so. But as seen in Part 2 of the article, we've come a long way from there.
Part 2 describes Sherman Indian High School, in present day. Obviously, boarding schools specifically for Native Americans have evolved since then. The article discusses how it bringsw Indian culture back to the students while staying as horribly routine as it once was. But this is because nowadays, many reservation-living Native Americans are involved in drug and alcohol addictions, and they don't learn about their culture the way they could. One could infer that the back in the day Native American schools put that into motion, that Native Americans turned to depressant vices after having their way of life ripped out of their hands along with their families.
It is disgusting what white Americans did to Native Americans in the times preceding our own. But at least they've learned a little.
Everyone above is saying how shocked and possibly disturbed they are. I completely agree. That kind of treatment nowadays is illegal, unfortunately it wasn't back then. It's horrible that these people suffered and there culture lost, but sometimes bad things have to happen so they can be recognized and changed. Maybe it's the Native Americans we have to thank for the educational opportunities we have now. I don't know, just a guess
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