Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940
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Book Overview
Boarding School Seasons offers a revealing look at the strong emotional history of Indian boarding school experiences in the first half of the twentieth century. At the heart of this book are the hundreds of letters written by parents, children, and school officials at Haskell Institute in Kansas and the Flandreau School in South Dakota. These revealing letters show how profoundly entire families were affected by their experiences.
Children, who often attended schools at great distances from their communities, suffered from homesickness, and their parents from loneliness. Parents worried continually about the emotional and physical health and the academic progress of their children. Families clashed repeatedly with school officials over rampant illnesses and deplorable living conditions and devised strategies to circumvent severely limiting visitation rules. Family intimacy was threatened by the schools' suppression of traditional languages and Native cultural practices.
Children, who often attended schools at great distances from their communities, suffered from homesickness, and their parents from loneliness. Parents worried continually about the emotional and physical health and the academic progress of their children. Families clashed repeatedly with school officials over rampant illnesses and deplorable living conditions and devised strategies to circumvent severely limiting visitation rules. Family intimacy was threatened by the schools' suppression of traditional languages and Native cultural practices.
Although boarding schools were a threat to family life, profound changes occurred in the boarding school experiences as families turned to these institutions for relief during the Depression, when poverty and the loss of traditional seasonal economics proved a greater threat. Boarding School Seasons provides a multifaceted look at the aspirations and struggles of real people.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0803264054
ISBN13:9780803264052
Release Date:February 2000
Publisher:University of Nebraska Press
Length:154 Pages
Weight:0.58 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Informative. Has something you've never heard of before
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
I picked up this book for my college class on the study of Native Americans from Civil War to present. Even though this is an educational biography on boarding school life, it is actually quite intriguing. Brenda Child completely covers the topic with very interesting material. I won't say that Boarding School Seasons is one of my favorites, but if you are interested in the topic of Indian boarding schools, then you will actually be suprised at how easy it is for this book to keep your attention. If you are viewing this book for a college course, then your class shouldn't be too hard. This is one of the few college required texts that I actually managed to enjoy
A Boarding School Primer
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This short, easy to read book presents a basic overview of boarding school issues which occurred throughout the U.S. during the boarding school era. Brenda Child's book concentrates on the Red Lake Ojibwes who attended boarding school at Flandreau specifically. The book also uses personal stories of students and their families in vignettes preserved through letters sent to and from Flandreau. I found this book well-written, readable, and recommended as an overview of the boarding school era.
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