Ch. 5 and Ch 6

Chapter 5 started out talking about the religion aspect of Haskell.  All the students were forced to do religious activities. Many of the students thought of the activities as a way to hang out with their peers and didn’t really take it serious. The book says some blended their traditional beliefs with the teachings they received at school which became members of the Native American Church.  The Students were taught to love the American flag and be genuine patriotic. In 1920 the flag pledge was used in public schools. They also celebrated all the nation holidays.  Haskell was known for their extracurricular activities, such as athletic teams, band, orchestra and choir. The schools social events were a big attraction. They would have dances, band concerts, socials, and parties. All the activities were very well supervised, because the teachers feared that the girls might get pregnant. The Haskell football teams were power houses. They beat the best teams in the west in the early 1900s. They defeated Kansas University, Missouri University, Nebraska University, and Washington University. The athletes were expected to keep up with their academics and industrial trainings. In order to keep the boys in good academic standings, the girls would help them with their assignments. The sports brought a sense of pride to the school as well to the students.  Chapter 6 talked about the school being overcrowded and a lot of students became ill. The toilets didn’t always work properly, soap wasn’t always available and students were only able to bath once a week. The children were over worked and their diet lacked vegetables and fruits. I enjoyed reading this book, it had its ups and downs but I have a better outlook on Haskell the school now that I read this book. I am still on the fence about boarding schools, one minute I feel that boarding schools were fine, and then the next minute I am against them.  I feel I know more about boarding schools now than I ever did.

Ch 4 The Curriculum

This chapter was about the curriculum at Haskell and how the school was ran. Children spent mornings or afternoons in the classroom. The rest of day was training, the boys would go out in the field and the girls would be sewing. Saturday’s students worked half days. Afternoons children were allowed to visit the town, the boys would go then when the boys got back the girls were able to go. Sundays were devoted to religious activities. The subjects consisted of arithmetic, English, agriculture, reading, U.S. History, geography, physiology, spelling, civil government, vocal music, drawing and writing.  Students over the age of fourteen and who had completed 2^nd grade were able to attend school.  Business and nursing courses were also available. In 1921 11^th and 12^th grades were added. Haskell was the first boarding school to add the upper high school courses. The first high school class graduated in 1923. In 1928 Haskell curriculum was accredited by the Kansas state department of education. The biggest problem the teachers had was teaching English, because all the students spoke their own native language. Students were expected to read books, magazines and newspapers daily. They were also expected to write poems and essays. Students were able to write letters home, once a month. But they weren’t able to write anything negative about the school. Teachers would read them before they were sent home. Haskell seemed like they wanted to educate the students, but yet they had students do a lot of labor just like Chilocco. Haskell paved the way for other Native schools by adding high school grades as well as more and better curriculum for the students.

Ch 3 Living by the Bell

While children arrived at Haskell, they were stripped down and bathed. The older children washed themselves and the younger ones were washed by the staff. This was a very humiliating experience for the young children. They then had their hair cuts and they were checked for lice. They were giving clothes and were expected to wear them. One girl said the dorm beds reminded her of a hospital. She said she was very scared because her father passed at a hospital. The beds were very close together and the sheets were all white. The children were forced to do everything military style. They were to stand at attention in the morning and night. They also had to make beds a certain way as well as scrub the floors till the varnish wore off. The food consisted of beef, bread, potatoes and gravy. The children caught on to the routine fast and became very good at it. One child wrote that everyone followed direction but most didn’t like it. But there was a few that did enjoy the military lifestyle which surprised me.  After reading this chapter, it reminded me of Chillocco. How children were treated and how they were treated. They were treated like military soldiers.  This Chapter kind of got on my nerves, I didn’t like the way they were treated at all.

Coming to Hakell

I enjoyed reading this chapter very much. This chapter starts out talking about how students enjoyed going to school at Haskell. It also talked about how Haskell was competing with other boarding schools like Chilocco and Charlisle with enrollment. A lot of student’s parents did not want their children going to boarding school because of health reasons and scared that your children were going to lose their culture and language. The schools wanted to recruit reservation children because they wanted full blooded Indians attending their school. The book calls the 1\4 and 1\8 Indians “white Indians”. In 1902 Haskell expelled 120 students because they were so called white Indians. This really surprised me to read this part. Like Chilocco, a lot of students enjoyed going to boarding school. I am starting to change my mind about boarding school after reading Chilocco and the start of Voices from Haskell.