Michael Chapman

In search of lost time

4-29-15

Book Review: Boarding School Seasons by Brenda Child

In her book, Boarding School Seasons, author Brenda Child fully explores the history of the federal governments attempt to assimilate Indian youth into American society through boarding schools. Through the use of school records and letters from parents, students, administrators and bureaucrats, Ms. Child pieces together a compelling narrative of the experiences of young Indians who in many cases were forcibly taken from their families, homes and tribes and forced to study at these schools. The author is of Ojibwe descent, the Ojibwe are a tribe of Indians who make their home in the Great Lakes Region and because she is interested in exploring her tribal identity she mostly (but not exclusively) focuses on the Obijwe experience at two federal boarding schools, the Haskell Institute in Kansas and the Flandreau School in South Dakota. The time period that is focused on in this book is from the 1880’s, when the first boarding school was opened, to the 1940’s when the last boarding schools were permanently shut down.

This book is composed mainly of letters and focuses on a couple of different themes that are separated into different chapters. Themes that are explored include illness and disease, homesickness, deplorable conditions of the schools, forced child labor, loss of tradition and culture and the bureaucracy that regulated and controlled the boarding schools.

In the chapter entitled From Reservation to Boarding School the author discusses the origins of families sending their children to boarding schools. By the end of the 19^th century most Indians were put on reservations. Previously these people had travelled from place to place, hunting and foraging to survive. When they were put on reservations some of them were promised land so that they could farm for subsistence. A lot of the land that they got was not fit for farming and the land that was, was sometimes stolen by timber companies or the government. The late 1800’s were a tough time for native peoples in America. Previously they had always had meat and fruit, but this was no longer the case. Because of this dire situation many families were looking for a way to feed and clothe their children. A lot of these people had no other choice but to send their children to the boarding schools where they believed they would be fed, clothed and receive some form of education.

The quality of the education that Indian children received at the Boarding Schools varied greatly. The schools mainly focused on basic education and vocational training. Male students learned skills such as blacksmithing and carpentry while female students learned home economics such as sewing. Learning to speak, read and write English was a main focus at the boarding schools. This proved a great challenge to many of the students who barely had any exposure to the English language before enrolling. Some Indian students had very positive experiences at the boarding schools. They enjoyed being off their reservations where their future looked bleak. There was also a sense of community among the Indian students even though they were from different tribes. In the early 1900’s many male students participated in team sports such as football. This gave them a since of pride in being Indian because they could relate it to their experiences playing sports on their home reservations. But the majority of the students did not enjoy their times away from home and were likely to run away back to their reservations if provided with the opportunity. Being away from their families and tribe proved too much for many Indian children and they either got their parents to remove them from school (if they were able to, sometimes the schools forbade the parents from taking their own children out of school) or ran away. Going to the boarding schools required that the children, some as young as six or seven years old, leave home for years at time without even the opportunity to visit. For many Indian families it was impossible to have their children come home for the summer just because of the sheer costs of the travel arrangements. In the early 1900’s it cost anywhere from thirty to forty dollars for a child to come home on the train, this was at a time when the average annual income for an Indian family was less than one hundred dollars.

The schools themselves were rundown with broken-down facilities. Many of the schools did not even have adequate space for the children to sleep. It was not uncommon for two children to share a single bed housed in a room that held as many as thirty beds. The children also did not have adequate clothing. They usually only had one set of clothing for the whole school year. Frustrated parents would commonly write the administration at their children’s school as to why their children came home with fewer clothes than they left with. A main reason that Indian parents sent their children away to school was because they believed that the children would at least be guaranteed enough food. In many instances this was not the case and the children became extremely malnourished because of their meager and unhealthy diets. It was rare for the children to get fresh fruit or vegetables and sometimes milk was not even available. A typical meal for a student consisted of meat, bread or potatoes and gravy.

Illness and disease were also very common at the boarding schools because the children shared such close quarters and did not have the means to maintain proper hygiene. Tuberculosis was the most prevalent disease that affected the children but they were also affected by trachoma and measles. It was estimated that during this time period one in eight Indian children suffered from tuberculosis. Because of school policy and over enrollment, sick children were often not separated from the healthy children, which only worsened the situation.

The case that the author makes for the book is that even though there were some positive aspects of the Indian schools overall they failed at their two main goals. One was to assimilate the children into modern American society; the second was to provide them with an education that would lead them to a fulfilling life where they could support themselves. Now the author does make the case that in some cases the schools were a success, but from what I learned from reading this book is that it seems to have been am overwhelming failure.

I enjoyed reading Boarding School Seasons. It helped me experience what it must have like for these children to be taken away from their families and thrown into a strange, harsh world. I particularly enjoyed the insight that it gave me into Native American family structure and culture during this time period. The only criticism I had of the book was that I felt it relied too much on letters to tell the story and get information across. Some of the letters that were included in various sections did not seem to me to be especially relevant and feel this somewhat detracted from my reading experience.