Taken From My Home

Gr 6 Up—"Kill the Indian, save the man." This slogan, adopted by Richard Henry Pratt, Superintendent of Carlisle Indian School, was and is as dangerous as it sounds. The intent to strip Native American children of their culture and assimilate them into the white Christian community can be seen as the failure and tragedy it was as recollections are given a voice in this powerful documentary by Robin Levin, librarian at Fort Washakie (WY) School/Community Library and a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Fellow. False treaties and removal policies were just the beginning of the maltreatment of Native Americans, when in 1879 the United States government commissioned a military officer with no background in education to head a boarding school for indigenous people. Military prison tactics were used to round up, teach, and discipline students who attended these federally sponsored schools without the love and support of their families. The result was physical and sexual abuse, death, and the loss of dignity. As one former student commented, "If you change a people, you rob their identity." As some of the students attest, they became "in between cultures." Through interviews, reports, letters, and photographs, viewers become painfully aware of the mistake made by forcing conformity. Though reform was finally brought about due to the 1927 Meriam Report and several Acts of Congress which returned Native American education to the tribes, the damage inflicted can be traced through the generations by way of alcoholism, depression, and other self-destructive behaviors. The documentary also shows how Native Americans have come full circle, managing to heal and forgive. Generations who were taught to be ashamed of their ways have brought forth new generations who, once again, celebrate and embrace their culture. Some of the same institutions still exist but now work for the benefit of Native Americans, not in the white mans way, but their way. A great comparison to the study of the Holocaust or internment camps during World War II.—Deneice Ann Crow, Country Lane 4th and 5th Grade Center, Broken Arrow, OK