Robert Mankiewicz James H. Bowen High School

Since Christopher Columbus took his first footsteps in the Western Hemisphere, our history is a story of conflict: violent confrontation, racism and discrimination, a clash of cultures. The original settlers of these lands, the American Indians, have usually lost these fights. There is very little mention of them in the US History books even today. We read about Squanto and the Pilgrims, Sacagewea and Lewis and Clark, the Cherokee removal on the Trail of Tears, maybe Chief Joseph's speech, and the Sioux defeat of Custer. And once the West is opened with the slaughter at Wounded Knee, the American Indian virtually disappears from the scene. The "savages" have been subdued, making room for "civilization". A thoughtful student might conclude that the Indians are extinct, a modern-day dinosaur. However, as always, the truth is much more complicated.

During the 1880s the US Congress passed the Dawes Act, another step in their ongoing attempt to "civilize" the American Indian. The goal of this law was to teach the Indians to farm, breaking up tribally held lands and distributing them to individual Indian families. Fortunately for white settlers, there was always a great deal of land left over after the Indians received their family lots. Another step in this "civilizing" of the Indians involved the proper education of Indian children. This was to be accomplished with the establishment of Indian off-reservation boarding schools. Chilocco Indian School, located in northern Oklahoma was one of these schools.

The author, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, first learned of Chilocco from her father, a former student at the school from 1927 to 1935. She has done an outstanding job of researching her topic, interviewing 53 former students and 7 employees, and reading the documentary evidence from the staff during the 1920s and 1930s. The material is organized well and very readable. As one would expect, many of the students were critical of the school and its staff. However, many of the students had only fond memories of their years at Chilocco. The author concludes that, although the staff worked very hard at destroying Indian culture, the students found various ways to resist these forces and preserve their heritage.

The students disliked many things at Chilocco. The students were required to march for hours, learning military discipline. The slightest infraction could result in hours spent scrubbing the floors during the students' free hours. Students were prohibited from ever speaking in their native language or practicing their native religion. And half of their school time was spent working, supposedly learning a trade. Much of this work was, in reality, drudgery, although it enabled the staff to keep the school running on the scant budgets passed by Congress.

Chilocco was finally closed in 1980, but it is remembered fondly by many of its former students. Today there are many alumni associations throughout Oklahoma. Students remember receiving a good education, a chance to learn a trade and make a better life, learning self-discipline and respect for others, and building close relationships with other students. They also developed a greater understanding of other Indian tribes, though Congress tried to educate the Indian cultures away. This may be the greatest irony of all and Chilocco's greatest legacy.

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