Have you ever heard of the Haskell
Indian Nations University? Mind you, according to Western
standards, it's one of the lowest
ranked universities in the United States. And as of 2024, it's one of a small number
of schools still operating from the
Indian boarding school system. It was a school
founded as a means to “kill the Indian, save
the man” or in Canada, “Get rid of the Indian problem”. And as a fun little fact,
their school mascot is the Fighting Indian. But what if I told you
that this s
chool is a place where Native identity
actually flourishes? It provides Indian students
with an education that emphasizes
Indigenous communities. Courses are designed to help modern students
feel comfortable and welcomed in
an academic institution. Because the history of
Indians in school is, well, not great. But what is that history? What makes high school
so special? And why are they not canceled for their Indian mascot? Well, let's go back to school. This is A People’s History of Native Ameri
ca. With me, Tai Leclaire. Okay, class. Today's
lesson is about school. First question. Why do we go to school? To give our parents a break? Or is it to become
a good little capitalist? It all depends on how do we define education. As we learned in our last
episode, Native people didn't put their kids in a room
and teach them subjects like science, mathematics,
or even speech and debate. No, they simply lived
according to their values
and taught by example. But when European-Americans
arrived on
this continent, they brought their own
set of values with them, and those values collided with
the values of many tribes. And from the beginning,
European Americans never truly wanted
to educate Native people. They wanted
to assimilate them. And they did this
by kidnaping the kids and forcing them to attend
these boarding schools. Because in the eyes of many
settlers, Native Americans were far better off
embracing white society. And once they do that,
they will be true Americans. This mentality
, together
with the Myth of the Vanishing Indian, allowed for the brutality settlers would inflict
on the Native population. But it also solidified
Native Americans at least in the mainstream
discourse, to be extinct. So the history,
language, culture, including artifacts
and relics, do not belong to tribes,
but to the colonizer. As the United States
expanded its territory, the stronger the myth became. This is a reflection
of our education system. Many textbooks are whitewashed with a Eurocentr
ic story
of America. History museums
display bones, jewelry and other tribal property
behind locked glass, solidifying Native culture
as ancient history. And our sports teams,
professional and amateur, use Indian faces as mascots. A cruel reminder we don't have
a say in our representation. But mascots, Indian education
and the Myth of the Vanishing Indian
can be seen in the history of Indian boarding schools. In 1819, Congress
passed the Civilization Fund Act, also known as
the Indian Civilizati
on Act, and federal
and religious boarding schools
popped up across the country. The boarding school
policy lasted well into the late 1970s,
but the trauma that they cause with the Native communities
is immeasurable to this day. This brings
us back to Haskell, which has a gravesite on campus because so many kids
died at their schools. Some were lucky enough
to be buried. Others were just discarded. Very few were sent home
for traditional burials. Some children died
in the buildings because of th
e lack
of sufficient infrastructure. In 2022,
the Department of Interior estimated that over 500
children died at 19 different Indian boarding schools,
meaning there must be many, many more
that are yet to be discovered. They also found that
those who survived are more likely
to have cancer, tuberculosis, high cholesterol,
diabetes, anemia, arthritis and gallbladder
disease than non attendees. I wanted to meet someone who actually attended
one of these boarding schools and lived
to tell about he
r experience. Dr. Ramona
Klein has been outspoken about her experience. She's testified
before Congress. She's been in the media. People magazine, NPR
and some big time newspapers. Hi, Ramona. Hi Tai. Thank you for joining us today
from North Dakota. Professor. Can you share with us
a little bit about your experience
at the Fort Totten Indian boarding school
in North Dakota? I was seven years old when I went to the school and ten years old when I left. Almost 11. What was happening
was not only
dehumanizing us, but taking our culture away, because not only did
they take our culture, they took our hair,
they took our language. They abused us emotionally, sexually, physically and spiritually. I don't know my language. I know a few words,
but I don't know my language. I don't know ceremonies. All of that was taken. I don't think that people realize
how recent this history is. Can you tell us how it affects
the community today? When you look at that
generational trauma from one generation
to the other and the parenting
skills that were not there because
we didn't have parents, we had matrons who beat us. The question is, where does
one get those skills? Most people
get their parenting skills from their parents. But if you don't have that,
all of those are losses. And it quickly became
normalized to send your kids off to these
horrible boarding schools that were underfunded
and overcrowded. Parents didn't have a choice
that their children were forcibly
taken from their homes and t
hey often tried
to return home. When you share
your experience with people, what are some of the common
misconceptions? When I would mention
that I went to boarding school, ironically. People
thought we were very rich because rich people
go to boarding schools and they did not know about that practice. And unlike
the boarding schools where the rich sent
their kids, these Indian boarding schools
only taught the boys a trade so they can get manual
labor jobs. The girls were taught
domestic science
so they could work
in the homes of rich European-Americans. As an educator,
I found that people, teachers did not know
about boarding schools, and at the beginning
I used to get upset. I’d say “how
could you not know? Because this happened over 100 years of time. How could you not know?”
We were shamed for who we were
and who we are. We were dirty Indians. And not only were
we dirty Indians, we were dumb and made to believe
that we could not learn. If I experienced that
and I'm shamed for who I
am, my children certainly
are going to feel that. Although Dr. Klein went to Fort Totten Indian boarding school
in North Dakota, Haskell Indian Nations University
continues to operate and serve only the American
Indian population. However, students still carry
the historical trauma of their ancestors. Biologically, even. Look up
epigenetics after this video. So educating Native Americans in the eyes of the settlers
means assimilating by force. But what about the university
studying us? Accordin
g to a 2023 ProPublica
investigation, over 108,000 remains and 765,000 artifacts are being held
by museums, universities and federal agencies
across the country. But in November of 1990,
Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act, known as NAGPRA. It was supposed to end
the dehumanizing robbery, desecration
and general exploitation of Native American burial
sites and human remains by museums
and federal agencies. And those institutions
were charged with making inv
entories
of all sacred things they had and returning them
to the tribes. To be fair, various
universities and museums are doing their part
to abide by NAGPRA. But there are still many institutions
in possession of remains with similarly
no intent of letting go based on their lack of cooperation
with the federal law. But in 2024,
new federal regulations are giving museums and schools
only five years to repatriate these items back
to tribes, forcing
the Field Museum in Chicago, the American Museum
of Natural
History in New York, as well as many others, cover
up Native American exhibits. So Native American students today
are living through the trauma their parents endured
from boarding schools. Meanwhile,
they still have to see dead or stereotyped Indians in museums,
schools and sports teams. But what does all of this
have to do with Haskell? The school may not be ranked
highly by Western standards, but there's no denying
that Haskell embraces and celebrates Native American heritages
like
few other schools. American Indian and Alaska
Native cultures integrated into all of the university's
curricula. Students from over 100
federally recognized tribes come to school
and bring with them their culture, language
and traditions. Haskell evolved from a place where Native cultures
were supposed to be killed to a place
where Native Americans are able to embrace
and honor their cultures. And even though their mascot
is the Fighting Indian, the students represent their
mascot in a respectf
ul way because they don't fight
like Indians. They are literally
fighting Indians. So you won't see them
wearing face paint or fake headdresses or doing
the dreaded tomahawk chop. They don't do this
because no tribe does this. Dr. Klein, what do you think? We are not viewed as contemporary people living today. So how do we change that? We need to hold on to establishing relationships. We need to hold on to who we are as Indigenous people. Learn our culture
if we don't know it, because that was t
aken from us and we need to continue to laugh. We need to continue to laugh a lot. Thank you so much
for your time, Ramona. You're welcome.
You're welcome. A study conducted in 2012
by Penn State shows
that 27 states did not include an individual Native American
in their history curriculum. More astonishing
is that 87% of state level educational institutions
failed to mention Native people
after the year 1900. But at Haskell Native Americans
are making themselves known. Even though Western socie
ty
may rank it on the lower end of the US
education system. It's one of the best schools that is grounded
in American Indian cultures. Thanks for watching. Stay educated kids.
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