Voices from Haskell

The first chapter is titled beginnings. It talks about how white or Caucasian people wanted to educate the Natives in their own way. One part stated they want to “kill the Indian and save the man”. This chapter also talks about how the boarding schools were conducted. Children were taking away from their families at a very young age. When they attended school the girls were taught how to be house wives. They would learn how to clean, sew and cook. The boys were taught how to be carpenters and farmers. Then the chapter got into Haskell the school. Haskell was the forth boarding school opened in the U.S. The name came from a man named Dudley Haskell. Haskell opened its doors on September 1, 1884, students consisted of twelve Ponca boys, and they were joined by two Chillocco boys. Five girls and three boys from Ottawa reservation also joined. By the end of that school year, there were over four hundred students attending Haskell Institute. Like Chillocco hard discipline and hard labor were part of the system. To me it seems like all boarding schools had the same agenda. No matter what school you went too, they all had the same set of rules. No wonder why a lot of tribes lost there ways and language, because the majority of the children went to boarding school where they were forbidden to speak their language and practice their ways.

Ch. 6 Chilocco

This chapter brought back a few memories while I was growing up. When I was smaller my family used to visit my grandma in Mandaree North Dakota. She lived out in the country and her house was surrounded by trees and ponds. My brothers and I would go and make forts with trees and whatever else we could find. We would try to make the biggest fort we could. We also would try to catch rabbits and prairie dogs but we would rarely have luck. I also remember going to school in high school at Bismarck High and there was a lot of students there and there were a lot of cliques. There were the jocks, nerds, gothic, skaters, and a few others. I think kids go with a group that they are most comfortable with or the group that they relate too. I hung out with the jocks because that was the group I was always around.

I could just see the boys around the camp fire singing and dancing. I remember when I was younger, my brothers and I would have our own powwow. We would hit a box for a drum and the others would dance and use clothes as outfits. It was fun times, I enjoyed reading that part.

Chapter 5 Chilocco

A couple of my friends went into the military and when they came back from boot camp they would tell me stories about it.  How tough the drills were, and they would have to march everywhere.  They would tell me how strict the rules were. How mean the people in charge were and how many rules they had. That’s how I think Chilocco was. The school was run like military life.  No wonder why some of the students would rebel or even run away. I know if I went to school at Chilocco, I would have probably ran away or went home in the summer and never went back.

Chapter 4

This chapter brought back a few memories going up. It took me back to high school days when we used to play pranks on each other. The boys at my high school used to play pranks on the girls all the time. One time the boys threw a lot of water balloons at the girls at homecoming. The girls were pissed for a couple days but they eventually got over it.

I also remember the times where it looked like everyone was following the rules but not everyone was. A couple times in English class we were suppose to be reading a book and a lot of the guys had magazines in the books. So the teacher thought everyone was doing the assignment because everyone was quiet and looking at they’re book. But a lot were reading magazines.

It makes me feel better about the life of boarding school that the students were making the best out of school and yet they were having fun in the progress.

They Called it Prairie Light Ch 3

When I was reading this chapter, memories from high school started going through my head. When I was a senior in high school I had to attend school for a full day, but I only had two classes I needed to graduate. I would have those classes in the morning and the rest of the day I took carpentry and welding classes. These courses were no where near intense as the kids at Chillicco, we were mostly there because we had to take something to full up the day.

In the summer time my high school had a summer program, where students can work in the school and get paid. All we wanted to get with our checks was the best clothes and shoes at that time. We worked hard for our money but it paid off when I bought my first pair of Jordan’s that year!

They Called It Prairie Light Ch 2

While I was attending high school I had two teachers that were in the school system for over thirty years and they were set in they’re ways and they were also the meanest teachers in the school. They didn’t take any misbehaving from anybody. They educated to two or even three generations of families.

My parent’s home growing up was always packed of kids. My parents would take in children that had no where to go.  If kids came from difficult home environment, they would end up at my parents place.  Even though our residence was over crowded my parents would not turn anybody away.

When I first showed up to school I was overwhelmed by the school size and how many people were there. I was eighteen and first time from home. I became very home sick. I felt like quitting school and going back home where I felt at ease.

These experiences popped into my head while reading this chapter. My experiences are no where near dramatic as the students from Chilocco. But I feel like I have an idea what they went through.

Chapter 1 Chilocco Indian School

    All kinds of emotions were going through my head while reading this chapter those emotions was; mad, sad, proud and helpless. I was mad that the government decided that the Native people were not civilized enough to live in this country. So they decided to put the Indian children on what they called "Boarding Schools". To me the boarding school was more of a prison camp for children. The children were doing hard labor most of the day, but they called it a "trade". Most of the meals consisted of bread and water, three times a day. If they were out of line then they had a room to put them in, which was dark and were giving little to eat.
    I felt sad for the parents because they didn't hear from they're children for long periods of time. When they were able to write home the employees read the letters, so if the children wrote bad things about the school I bet those letters was not sent out. Some children died at these schools and I wonder if the parents were notified right away? I would be furious if my child died at school!
    I felt helpless for the Indian children while they were going through this process. They were put on a place away from they're family, friends, language, culture and religion. They were forced to change they're whole way of life.
    I was proud of the children; they didn't complain or rebel for the most part. I was proud of the children, I enjoyed reading, when the children made a lot of money for the school through they're gardening and farming.
    What I did like was that they ended up changing the curriculum. It took time but the government realized that they're process wasn't working. The government finally started forming day schools or public schools on the reservations. I felt that the first chapter kind of jumped around a lot, but overall I enjoyed reading this book.