in our own words : true stories of indian boarding schools by brenda j child
During the boarding school era, a devastating policy resulted in Native children being taken far from their homes and families. In Our Own Words examines correspondence coming in and out of boarding schools, all compiled and presented by Dr. Brenda J Child. Firsthand accounts reveal how profoundly entire families were affected by this dark period in US history.
With a special focus on the Haskell Institute in Kansas, the Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota, and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, this invaluable work offers an unfiltered look at letters written by children, parents, and school officials—all of which convey the realities of the boarding school era, rom illnesses to poor living conditions and homesickness to the suppression of Native languages.
Here is a crucial read that serves as a powerful testament to the resistance of young Indigenous people and shines a spotlight on disastrous assimilation policies spanning 1870 to 1940, while never losing sight of those young people’s many triumphant acts of rebellion and hope.