Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, 1879-2000: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, 1879-2000

By: Archuleta, Margaret L.

"Artfully weaving old photographs, first-person accounts, and well-organized text and verse, the editors present important and predominantly Native views of some 'good, bad, and ugly' aspects of Indian boarding school life.--Choice

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0934351627
• ISBN13: 9780934351621
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Heard Museum
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.0" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Easy to Read

Since this book has many pictures, it was fun to read and easy to understand! I recommend this book if you never learned Native American boarding school education before! It will be a good book to start with!!

Knowledgeable

This book is amazing and extremly educational for those that have no idea what went on during that era. It is sad that these tribal people were made to attend these boarding schools. Everyone seems to be allowed to be themselves, ie..English, Italian, Irish, Pollish, German etc, and not be judged. It is sad because these Indian children were taken from their homes and placed somewhere where they were to speak and act like someone they are not. I have been in the company of Tribal people who had relatives that survived these schools and everything is not in this book. But, considering, it is one of the books that is acurate.

A magnificent collection of writings, poems, photographs

Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences is a magnificent collection of writings, poems, photographs, and paintings and illustrations that document American Indian boarding school experiences in the U. S. between 1879-2000. It was collected as a part of a display on exhibit at the Heard Museum until 2005. From the beautiful but sad painting on the cover (Untitled oil on canvas by Angel de Cora, Winnebago) to the dozens of historical photographs within of different aspects of the various Native American boarding school histories, to the poignant letters, poems, and memories of the many contributors, Away From Home is a revelation of repressed racial memories that underlines the need for dialogue specifically with Native voices in order to accept responsibility as well as to encompass and "enrich our view of America's past, present and future (Page 135, Brenda Child)." Away From Home presents a rich assortment of written and pictured memories from such boarding schools as Carlisle Indian School of Pennsylvania, Sherman Indian School, Riverside, California, and Flandreau Indian School, South Dakota. Both the many negative and some surprising positive aspects of boarding school existence are explored. The shattering impact on family and ethnic identification of the boarding school student is not avoided. The notion that perhaps an apology is owed to present day survivors' descendants is actually obliquely presented in a referent to the "Sorry Day" movement of Aboriginal people in Australia. At least the impact of exhibits and books such as Away From Home contain the impetus to a needed dialogue that has yet to be fully heard. Away From Home is a rich collection, filled with many voices and bitter experiences that were braided into strengths. It is a treasure and a measure of the many colors of beauty in the human spirit.