Voices of Haskell Indian Students Between Two Worlds, 1884-1928

~Life after Haskell~



Ironically Boarding schools became part of the Indian experience, almost like a rite of passage. After successfully completing their boarding school experience children were transformed into full members of their community while proving they could survive and thrive off the reservation. By the time children left Haskell they were transformed in many ways. Very few became totally converted to the white man's ways and most remained in touch with their Indian past and identity. Children were able to preserve many elements of their Indian culture.

Graduation was exciting time at Haskell. It meant a new beginning was coming. When it was time to leave Haskell students had to decide whether to return home, continue their education, or begin working. Homecomings could have been just as disappointing as the children's first arrival at Haskell. Some students suffered something like a reverse culture shock. They did not understand the "old" ways. Their education did not turn them into white people but it did transform them. Many people suffered loss of their language and had difficulty communicating with their families. The boarding school experience was different for every child. For women graduates of Haskell the basic roles were the same as white women. Most of Haskell's girls eventually got married, had children, and became homemakers. A few women went on to become nurses. For males many joined the military to serve their country.The business majors usually took jobs working in the Indian agencies. Some Haskell alumni took jobs in the Wild West Shows.

Haskell student frequently married each other, either right out of school or later on down in life. Their partnerships grew from sharing the experiences of boarding schools. Indian families, communities and cultures were altered by the boarding school experiences but they weren't destroyed. Most children survived their boarding school life and overall believed it to be a positive experience. After Haskell some alumni were proud to have attended Haskell and wanted their children to share their experience.
There is no single story to capture Haskell. There were thousands of different students and a thousand different experiences. Indians have evolved through the boarding school experiences and changed who they were before. Haskell's motto "Onward Ever, Backward Never" is put perfectly. There wasn't a reason to turn back but the experiences shaped the future.
*Put video in 480p for better clarity*

Voices of Haskell Indian Students Between Two Worlds, 1884-1928

~Rituals and Recreation~

Haskell students came form diverse religious backgrounds. Many of them were practicing Christians; others came from Indian homes deep in the native religions. By the late 1900's many tribes blended elements the Christian faith into their traditional religions. Haskell's religious program was designed to assimilate the children with wisdom and values of the Anglo-American world. Indian children had to learn the importance of chastity, monogamy, charity, temperance, honesty, and self-sacrifice as well as pure thoughts and language. The school expected the children to become not only obedient Christians but also patriotic American citizens.

When the United States entered the war in 1927, Native Americans who were American citizens got drafted just like other Americans, and more than 5,500 Indians went to war. Another 6,000 Native Americans volunteered. The B.I.A. encouraged Natives to participate in the war hoping that military service would further advance the federal Indian policy assimilation. Like other young Americans, Indian youths had many different reasons to enlist; many were eager to serve their country, some wanted to escape the poverty of the reservation, some wanted to seek adventure around the world. Some wanted to escape the boarding school routine. Indian boarding schools were an important source of Native American recruits during the war, and many students and alumni were eager to serve. By the summer of 1918, almost 300 male students of Haskell had left school for the military.

Over time Haskell offered more to its students than academics, work details and religious training. The school became famous for its athletic teams and band. Extracurricular activities helped to positively motivate the children. These activities made life at Haskell more enjoyable for it's students. Some children became members of choir, writers for the school newspaper, took art instruction, played theater, joined the debate team, or athletic teams.Extracurricular activities at Haskell allowed children to explore their talents, gain self confidence, and take pride in their abilities. Through these activities Haskell's students made sense of the rapidly changing world found alternate ways to find their identities as indigenous people.
Like other boarding schools the females and males were kept separate most of the time. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon social and special occasions were the only time male and female students were allowed to spend free time together. Unlike other Indian schools Haskell banned dancing for most of it's history., since it considered the contact be too intimate and wasn't proper discipline for the school. Students found ways to meet secretly, wrote each other love notes, and some even eloped. Some unwanted pregnancies did occur and some times tragic stories were recorded in Haskell's history.

Voices of Haskell Indian Students Between Two Worlds, 1884-1928

~The Curriculum~

The days of Haskell students were strategically planned, they spent every minute either engaged in academic instruction or various work details.The children did not have time for play. The students evenings were spent learning gender specific industrial training. The Indian children at Haskell followed strict white gender roles of the time. The Superintendent wrote "Indian children should "hear little or nothing of the wrongs of the Indians and the injustices of the white race". During 1918, Haskell offered 23 industrial subjects and 17 academic subjects some examples were band, vocal music, drawing, physical education, and manners. These activities had limited instruction.

A large number of students weren't interested in academic studies rather interested in practical instruction. The Haskell students produced enormous quantities of food and goods. Male students worked in fields, preparing to become laborers and farmers. Females worked in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, and sewing, preparing to become housewives. Many of the females tasks were repetitive and lacked any educational value.

The school treated the Indian culture as a vanishing race and not a living culture. Students were allowed to pursue cultural arts and crafts but were reminded that in the worldview they were not acceptable. The goal of Haskell was to transform the children into obedient law-biding, patriotic, and economically self-sufficient citizens who would willfully reject their ancestors lifestyle.

Voices of Haskell Indian Students Between Two Worlds, 1884-1928

~Beginnings~
Like the first section of this book the chapter entitled Beginnings also gave history of the introduction of The Haskell Institute. In May 1882, A bill was passed that allotted money to build schools. The money was divided up and three schools were to be built with $150,000. Along with Chilloco, Haskell was one of the other schools. Dudley Haskell and his brother ran an architectural business and were chosen to construct the facility. Dudley and his brother were also chosen to plan Chillocco so it was natural for them to come up with a design for the Lawrence, KS based school. The reason Lawerance was chosen to be the area to put the new school was due to the central area, the easy access to railroad, and also it was Mr. Haskell's home town.
In the beginning the Haskell Intitute opened it's doors to twelve Ponca boys, also joined by two more Chillocco boys who were helping in the contruction of the school. Then two weeks later five girls and three boys from the Ottawa Reservation in Kansas. In the following weeks 100 more students joined. These indian children were of all different ages noted the youngest six months. Later on Haskell restricted it's enrollment to older childeren. By the end of the first year there were 280 children enrolled, 219 females and 61 males. The first year was tragic losing many children to illness due to the cold conditions of the school. The boiler to heat the intitution was not complete til late in the Fall. The death count is still unknown in that first year. The campus cemetary was occupied by 39 unnamed graves. The school also did not show record of some of these deaths. Haskell's Superintendant blamed the students for the deaths requesting that only childern of sound health be selected to attend the institution. Due to the conditions of the school there was a drop in enrollment. If Haskell was to survive it need to ensure the Indian Territory's that the intitute was a good place to send children. The enrollment dropped but then picked up in the following years. By 1894, The total student count was 660 which represented 35 tribes making it the 2nd to Carlisle in ethnic diversity.

Voices of Haskell Indian Students Between Two Worlds, 1884-1928

The introduction of Voices of Haskell was quite informative. It gave me an understanding on the history and how Haskell evolved. Originally, the Haskell Institute was home to Twenty- two childen of the Ponca and Ottawa tribes. The childern were sent there to be taught Anglo-Protestant cultral values. The Haskell Institution has know grow vastly since the beginning. At some points Haskell housed over a 1,000 students from 150 recognized tribes. This institute grew with the addition of a 4 yr highschool curriculum to what is now a university.
Voices of Haskell is a collection of narratives by the individuals who attended Haskell. They give their life experiences and how Haskell has effected them. Before starting this book I had my own thoughts and views on boarding schools. I believed that all experiences were negative and left a terrible scar on the childern who attended. I have come to find I am a wrong, Not all experiences were bad. Positive values and ways have also come from the boarding school experiences. I look forward into reading more of this book and weighting the positive and negative accounts as explained by Haskell's students.

I assumed the students would have left Chilocco hating the place. On the contrary, many students were happy that they got the chance to experience what came with boarding school life. They will always have that one thing in common. They will always relate to others who shared the same experiences with them. Today, there are elders who have attended boarding school and I sense that they still enjoy sharing stories from their childhood. The only people who completely understand what the students were put through are those who were there.
The students learned many valuable life lessons as well. Dorm life was their first experience with being away from home and living with others. Only the students understood what the students were going through. Today, when many young people leave for college, culture shock is to be expected. Technology has made this easier to handle and overcome. The children of Chilocco had nothing but each other. They couldn’t pick up a cell phone or e-mail their family members back home; instead, they turned to one another for support.

After reading the narratives, I realized that I have always been a little close minded about boarding schools. Experiencing Chilocco from a student’s point of view helped me understand that not every aspect of Indian boarding schools is negative. The trades and skills that the students learned will forever be with them, as well as all of the friendships that developed.

They Called It Prairie Light Chapter 5

"It was just like in the Army. We had old World War I uniforms, wrap leggings, and high-button collars, and if you can imagine a nine-year-old kid carrying a big Enfielf rifle in close order drill, that was all part of it." -Curtis 1927/9 Creek
Many of the narratives in Chapter 5 were hard for me to visualize. The children of Chilocco didn't really have a chance to be children while they were away at school. I have a nephew who is about the same age as many of the male students were while they were at Chilocco. I could not imagine him handling World War I guns or dressing like a soldier to go to school.

Chilocco was like a military school. The children were treated like soldiers. One boy even says that Marine Corp boot camp was a breeze after attending Chilocco. I’m not sure what a soldier is put through in boot camp, but I’m sure that it’s tough. It shocked me that these young children were treated with such strict discipline. Yes, I believe discipline is necessary in the classroom, but, I don’t believe that any student other than those attending military school should be forced to march everywhere they go, pass white glove inspections, or be kicked at, yelled at, or cussed at.