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"Apple (Skin to the Core)" by Eric Gansworth

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"Apple (Skin to the Core)" by Eric Gansworth

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Apple (Skin to the Core) by Eric Gansworth provides an emotional and personal description of the Author's experiences growing up as an Indigenous person in America, focusing on the impacts of Indigenous boarding schools. Through his book, Gansworth talks about how these institutions have had lasting effects on Indigenous communities.

Indigenous boarding schools were created to force assimilation and cultural displacement on Indigenous communities, which resulted in significant trauma. Gansworth discusses the complex history and the effects of this traumatic experience on Indigenous people. Indigenous people have faced an extreme amount of trauma that has resulted in psychological and emotional scars. However, their resilience has helped them overcome adversity. The author reflects on this experience and its lasting impact on generations to show how Indigenous people have overcome such challenges.

The Indigenous boarding schools aimed to remove the cultural identity of Indigenous children, forcing them to abandon their native languages, traditions, and cultural practices. This had a devastating impact on Indigenous communities, causing them to lose their identity and become disconnected from their ancestral heritage. The primary goal of these schools was to assimilate Indigenous people into mainstream Western culture, and the consequences of this strategy have affected generations of Indigenous people.

Indigenous children in boarding schools often received lower-quality education compared to their non-Indigenous peers. This contributed to cycles of poverty and marginalization within Indigenous communities, making the effects of boarding schools even worse. The schools were often underfunded and understaffed, which led to a lack of resources and qualified teachers. As a result, Indigenous children received poor education that impacted their future success.

Indigenous communities have shown remarkable resilience despite the long-lasting effects of boarding schools. In his memoir, Gansworth emphasizes the importance of acknowledging past injustices while working towards a cultural revitalization and healing future. Indigenous people must reclaim their cultural heritage and unite in their efforts to heal the wounds of the past. The author's message is clear: a brighter future awaits where their cultural identity is celebrated and respected.

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"I Am Not a Number" by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer

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"I Am Not a Number" by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer

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I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer, and Apple (Skin to the Core) by Eric Gansworth share similarities despite their differences in narrative style, tone, and specific cultural contexts.

Both books explore the complexities of Indigenous identity and the challenges faced by Indigenous individuals in maintaining their cultural heritage and sense of self within environments dominated by colonial forces.

While I Am Not a Number focuses on the Canadian residential school system and its effects on Indigenous children and families, Apple (Skin to the Core) discusses the broader context of Indigenous experiences in the United States, including the impacts of boarding schools and cultural assimilation policies. Both narratives mention the trauma, abuse, and cultural suppression experienced by Indigenous people as a result of colonialism.

Both narratives talk about the inter-generational trauma inflicted by colonial policies such as residential schools and boarding schools. They explore how these experiences resonate through generations, affecting not only those who directly experienced them but also their descendants.

Despite the protagonists' troubles in both books, they demonstrate resilience, strength, and determination to preserve their cultural identities and reclaim their sense of self. This resilience is sometimes shown through acts of resistance, storytelling, and connection to their heritage.

Both books emphasize the importance of family and community support in navigating the challenges of colonialism and cultural assimilation. Family bonds, cultural teachings, and community solidarity are sources of strength and resilience for the protagonists.

Lastly, both books explore the journey of reclaiming cultural identity and heritage while facing the pressure of assimilation. They show the importance of reconnecting with Indigenous languages, traditions, and cultural practices to heal and empower.

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In the late 19th century, the U.S. government established Native American boarding schools to assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream American culture through education. This was part of a more significant attempt by the government to eradicate Indigenous culture and force Native people to assimilate into the dominant Anglo-American values. The boarding schools were intended to strip away the cultural identity of the students and replace it with Anglo-American values by "killing the Indian" in them.

Native American students in these boarding schools faced harsh treatment and very poor education. When they arrived at the boarding school, they were given Anglo-American names, their traditional clothing was replaced with military-style clothing, and they were forbidden from speaking their native languages.

The discipline was severe, and students faced various forms of abuse, which included physical, sexual, cultural, and spiritual abuse. Education primarily focused on trades and domestic skills, emphasizing American beliefs and values and forcing conversion to Christianity.

The Native American boarding school era had a lasting impact on Indigenous communities, with long-term effects. The traumatic experiences of forced assimilation have led to deep-rooted issues in mental health and the overall relationship between Native communities and the American education system. As a result, Indigenous communities have experienced poverty, difficulties within the education system, poor physical and mental health, and a loss of cultural identity. These traumatic experiences have been passed down through generations, leading to issues such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and the development of negative stereotypes.

Native American students in the American education system face many challenges. These challenges include difficulties in the classroom, a lack of access to culturally relevant curricula, and stereotypes. Unfortunately, these challenges have led to Native American students falling behind in reading and math, getting suspended from school, and experiencing unpleasant childhood experiences. Additionally, they are more likely to attend high-poverty schools and drop out of high school. These challenges have created an unequal educational experience for Native American students and have negatively affected the relationship between Native communities and the American education system.

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(TW: abuse, sexual abuse, mental health, suicide)
Native American Boarding Schools (also known as Indian Boarding Schools) were established by the U.S. government in the late 19th century as an effort to assimilate Indigenous youth into mainstream American culture through education. This era was part of the United States' overall attempt to kill, annihilate, or assimilate Indigenous peoples and eradicate Indigenous culture.

The Native American assimilation era first began in 1819, when the U.S. Congress passed The Civilization Fund Act. The act encouraged American education to be provided to Indigenous societies and therefore enforced the "civilization process".

The passing of this act eventually led to the creation of the federally funded Native American Boarding Schools and initiated the beginning of the Indian Boarding School era. The duration of this era ran from 1860 until 1978. Approximately 357 boarding schools operated across 30 states during this era both on and off reservations and housed over 60,000 native children. A third of these boarding schools were operated by Christian missionaries as well as members of the federal government. These boarding schools housed several thousand children.

Native American Boarding Schools first began operating in 1860 when the Bureau of Indian Affairs established the first on-reservation boarding school on the Yakima Indian Reservation in Washington. Shortly after, the first off-reservation boarding school was established in 1879. The Carlisle Indian School located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was founded by Richard Henry Pratt. He modeled the boarding school off an education program he designed while overseeing Fort Marion Prison in St. Augustine, Florida. He developed the program after experimenting with Native American assimilation education on imprisoned and captive Indigenous peoples. Pratt served as the Headmaster of the Carlisle Indian School for 25 years and was famously known for his highly influential philosophy which he described in a speech he gave in 1892. He stated, "A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man."

Attendance to the boarding schools was made mandatory by the U.S. Government regardless of whether or not Indigenous families gave their consent. Upon arrival, Native children were given Anglo-American names, bathed in kerosene, given military-style clothing in exchange for their traditional clothing, and their hair would be shaved off for the boys and cut into short bob styles for girls.

Education primarily focused on trades to make Native students marketable in American society. Male students were taught to perform manual labor such as blacksmithing, shoemaking, and farming amongst other trades. On the other hand, female students were taught to cook, clean, sew, do laundry, and care for farm animals. Standard academic subjects like reading, writing, math, history, and art were also taught, however, these subjects emphasized American beliefs and values. For example, students were taught the importance of private property, materialized wealth, students were forced to convert to Christianity, and celebrate American holidays such as Columbus Day. Richard Henry Scott eventually implemented a "Placing Out System" that placed Native students into American communities for a certain amount of time, varying from a Summer to a full year. These programs tended to exploit students and used them for domestic and physical labor.

Native students were not allowed to speak in their Native languages. They were only allowed to speak English regardless of their fluency and would face punishment if they didn't. The discipline enforced at these boarding schools was severe. Punishments varied and included privilege restrictions, diet restrictions, threats of corporal punishment, and even confinement. Additionally, Native students were neglected and faced many forms of abuse including physical, sexual, cultural, and spiritual. They were beaten, coerced into performing heavy labor. Their daily regimen consisted of several hours of marching and recreational time consisted of watching disturbing movies such as Cowboys and Indians.

Since they were used as forms of punishment, food and medical attention were scarce. This led to boarding schools becoming more susceptible to infections and diseases like tuberculosis, the flu, trachoma. Due to these conditions, Native students would become ill and die at these boarding schools often. In 1899, a measles epidemic spread through the Phoenix Indian School, experiencing rates as high as 325 cases of measles in addition to 60 cases of pneumonia, and 9 student deaths within 10 days. Parents were rarely informed of their children's deaths; some parents would learn of their child's death after they were buried in school cemeteries. Some students were buried in unmarked graves. Those that survived these inhumane conditions were scarred from the traumatic experiences for the remainder of their lives.

Although a majority of Native children were forced to attend these boarding schools, some parents chose to send their children because those were the only schools available to their children. However, several forms of resistance were performed in response to having their children pulled from their homes and forced to attend these boarding schools. Some forms of resistance included entire villages refusing to enroll their children in the boarding schools, coordinated mass withdrawals, as well as encouraging their children to run away from the school. Indian agents - individuals hired to interact with Indigenous communities on behalf of the U.S. Government - would retaliate by withholding rations and supplies to Indigenous communities. These agents were also responsible for seizing children from their families and their homes until boarding schools were filled.

While the Native American Boarding School era has ended, the U.S. government still operates a few off-reservation boarding schools. As of 2020, 7 boarding schools continue to be federally funded, 3 of which are controlled by Indigenous community leaders. In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act was passed to decrease U.S. federal control of Native affairs and instead allowed for Native self-determination and self-governance. An example of this transition can be seen with the Santa Fe Indian School which was established in 1890 and originally implemented the Carlisle model. By the 1920s, the school began transitioning after Indigenous leaders fought to gain control over the school. It is currently managed by Indigenous leaders where the focus has switched to traditional arts, sovereignty, Native cultures, and community.

Native youth still face several challenges within the American education system. They rarely have access to curriculums that are culturally relevant to them and experience difficulties in the classroom at alarming rates. According to reports given by the Kids Count Data Center and The National Violent Death Reporting System, Native students are:

1.2 times more likely to be behind in 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade math

1.4 times more likely to be suspended from school

1.5 times more likely to die in a homicide or suicide

1.7 times more likely to experience two or more adverse childhood experiences

1.8 times more likely to attend a high-poverty school

2.0 times more likely to drop out of high school

The tragedies Native children faced during this era have impacted the lives of not only the children but also their families and communities. These impacts have caused Indigenous communities to experience deep-rooted ramifications in regards to mental health and the overall relationship between Native communities and the American education system. They are often displayed in the form of poverty, difficulties in the American education system, poor physical health, and poor mental health. Many Native students who survived the boarding school era went on to suffer from mental health and other related issues such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, a lack of cultural identity, and the development of negative stereotypes (i.e. lazy, alcoholics, etc.), to name a few. These traumatic experiences have been passed down from generation to generation and continue to impact Indigenous communities today.

Documentaries

Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools ()

Unseen Tears: The Native American Boarding School Experience in Western New York, 2009 ( Films for Action )

Literature

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila

Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928 by David Wallace Adams

They Called it Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco Indian School by K. Tsianina Lomawaima

Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School by Adam Fortunate Eagle

Websites
Additional Book Recommendations from The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

References

American Indian Relief Council. Native American History and Culture: Boarding Schools - American Indian Relief Council Is Now Northern Plains Reservation Aid, American Indian Relief Council, www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools.

Bear, Charla. "American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many." NPR, NPR, 12 May 2008, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16516865.

Boone, Katrina. "America Has Always Used Schools as a Weapon Against Native Americans." Education Post, Education Post, 13 Dec. 2018, educationpost.org/america-has-always-used-schools-as-a-weapon-against-native-americans/.

Elliot, Sarah K. "Antiques Roadshow." PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 13 Apr. 2020, www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2020/4/13/early-years-american-indian-boarding-schools.

Little, Becky. "How Boarding Schools Tried to 'Kill the Indian' Through Assimilation." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Aug. 2017, www.history.com/news/how-boarding-schools-tried-to-kill-the-indian-through-assimilation.

Nabs. "US Indian Boarding School History." The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history/.

Native Hope. The Issues Surrounding Native American Education, Native Hope, blog.nativehope.org/the-issues-surrounding-native-american-education.

Melissa is a 25 year old Dominican-American from Philly. She is part of the writing team at TIF and writes articles. She enjoys hiking, reading, relaxing with her cat and hopes to expand knowledge in climate change impacts on BIPOC communities and spread awareness through The Indigenous Foundation.

(TW: abuse, sexual abuse, mental health, suicide)
Native American Boarding Schools (also known as Indian Boarding Schools) were established by the U.S. government in the late 19th century as an effort to assimilate Indigenous youth into mainstream American culture through education. This era was part of the United States' overall attempt to kill, annihilate, or assimilate Indigenous peoples and eradicate Indigenous culture.

The Native American assimilation era first began in 1819, when the U.S. Congress passed The Civilization Fund Act. The act encouraged American education to be provided to Indigenous societies and therefore enforced the "civilization process".

The passing of this act eventually led to the creation of the federally funded Native American Boarding Schools and initiated the beginning of the Indian Boarding School era. The duration of this era ran from 1860 until 1978. Approximately 357 boarding schools operated across 30 states during this era both on and off reservations and housed over 60,000 native children. A third of these boarding schools were operated by Christian missionaries as well as members of the federal government. These boarding schools housed several thousand children.

Native American Boarding Schools first began operating in 1860 when the Bureau of Indian Affairs established the first on-reservation boarding school on the Yakima Indian Reservation in Washington. Shortly after, the first off-reservation boarding school was established in 1879. The Carlisle Indian School located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was founded by Richard Henry Pratt. He modeled the boarding school off an education program he designed while overseeing Fort Marion Prison in St. Augustine, Florida. He developed the program after experimenting with Native American assimilation education on imprisoned and captive Indigenous peoples. Pratt served as the Headmaster of the Carlisle Indian School for 25 years and was famously known for his highly influential philosophy which he described in a speech he gave in 1892. He stated, "A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man."

Attendance to the boarding schools was made mandatory by the U.S. Government regardless of whether or not Indigenous families gave their consent. Upon arrival, Native children were given Anglo-American names, bathed in kerosene, given military-style clothing in exchange for their traditional clothing, and their hair would be shaved off for the boys and cut into short bob styles for girls.

Education primarily focused on trades to make Native students marketable in American society. Male students were taught to perform manual labor such as blacksmithing, shoemaking, and farming amongst other trades. On the other hand, female students were taught to cook, clean, sew, do laundry, and care for farm animals. Standard academic subjects like reading, writing, math, history, and art were also taught, however, these subjects emphasized American beliefs and values. For example, students were taught the importance of private property, materialized wealth, students were forced to convert to Christianity, and celebrate American holidays such as Columbus Day. Richard Henry Scott eventually implemented a "Placing Out System" that placed Native students into American communities for a certain amount of time, varying from a Summer to a full year. These programs tended to exploit students and used them for domestic and physical labor.

Native students were not allowed to speak in their Native languages. They were only allowed to speak English regardless of their fluency and would face punishment if they didn't. The discipline enforced at these boarding schools was severe. Punishments varied and included privilege restrictions, diet restrictions, threats of corporal punishment, and even confinement. Additionally, Native students were neglected and faced many forms of abuse including physical, sexual, cultural, and spiritual. They were beaten, coerced into performing heavy labor. Their daily regimen consisted of several hours of marching and recreational time consisted of watching disturbing movies such as Cowboys and Indians.

Since they were used as forms of punishment, food and medical attention were scarce. This led to boarding schools becoming more susceptible to infections and diseases like tuberculosis, the flu, trachoma. Due to these conditions, Native students would become ill and die at these boarding schools often. In 1899, a measles epidemic spread through the Phoenix Indian School, experiencing rates as high as 325 cases of measles in addition to 60 cases of pneumonia, and 9 student deaths within 10 days. Parents were rarely informed of their children's deaths; some parents would learn of their child's death after they were buried in school cemeteries. Some students were buried in unmarked graves. Those that survived these inhumane conditions were scarred from the traumatic experiences for the remainder of their lives.

Although a majority of Native children were forced to attend these boarding schools, some parents chose to send their children because those were the only schools available to their children. However, several forms of resistance were performed in response to having their children pulled from their homes and forced to attend these boarding schools. Some forms of resistance included entire villages refusing to enroll their children in the boarding schools, coordinated mass withdrawals, as well as encouraging their children to run away from the school. Indian agents - individuals hired to interact with Indigenous communities on behalf of the U.S. Government - would retaliate by withholding rations and supplies to Indigenous communities. These agents were also responsible for seizing children from their families and their homes until boarding schools were filled.

While the Native American Boarding School era has ended, the U.S. government still operates a few off-reservation boarding schools. As of 2020, 7 boarding schools continue to be federally funded, 3 of which are controlled by Indigenous community leaders. In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act was passed to decrease U.S. federal control of Native affairs and instead allowed for Native self-determination and self-governance. An example of this transition can be seen with the Santa Fe Indian School which was established in 1890 and originally implemented the Carlisle model. By the 1920s, the school began transitioning after Indigenous leaders fought to gain control over the school. It is currently managed by Indigenous leaders where the focus has switched to traditional arts, sovereignty, Native cultures, and community.

Native youth still face several challenges within the American education system. They rarely have access to curriculums that are culturally relevant to them and experience difficulties in the classroom at alarming rates. According to reports given by the Kids Count Data Center and The National Violent Death Reporting System, Native students are:

1.2 times more likely to be behind in 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade math

1.4 times more likely to be suspended from school

1.5 times more likely to die in a homicide or suicide

1.7 times more likely to experience two or more adverse childhood experiences

1.8 times more likely to attend a high-poverty school

2.0 times more likely to drop out of high school

The tragedies Native children faced during this era have impacted the lives of not only the children but also their families and communities. These impacts have caused Indigenous communities to experience deep-rooted ramifications in regards to mental health and the overall relationship between Native communities and the American education system. They are often displayed in the form of poverty, difficulties in the American education system, poor physical health, and poor mental health. Many Native students who survived the boarding school era went on to suffer from mental health and other related issues such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, a lack of cultural identity, and the development of negative stereotypes (i.e. lazy, alcoholics, etc.), to name a few. These traumatic experiences have been passed down from generation to generation and continue to impact Indigenous communities today.

Documentaries

Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools ()

Unseen Tears: The Native American Boarding School Experience in Western New York, 2009 ( Films for Action )

Literature

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila

Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928 by David Wallace Adams

They Called it Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco Indian School by K. Tsianina Lomawaima

Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School by Adam Fortunate Eagle

Websites
Additional Book Recommendations from The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

References

American Indian Relief Council. Native American History and Culture: Boarding Schools - American Indian Relief Council Is Now Northern Plains Reservation Aid, American Indian Relief Council, www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools.

Bear, Charla. "American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many." NPR, NPR, 12 May 2008, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16516865.

Boone, Katrina. "America Has Always Used Schools as a Weapon Against Native Americans." Education Post, Education Post, 13 Dec. 2018, educationpost.org/america-has-always-used-schools-as-a-weapon-against-native-americans/.

Elliot, Sarah K. "Antiques Roadshow." PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 13 Apr. 2020, www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2020/4/13/early-years-american-indian-boarding-schools.

Little, Becky. "How Boarding Schools Tried to 'Kill the Indian' Through Assimilation." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Aug. 2017, www.history.com/news/how-boarding-schools-tried-to-kill-the-indian-through-assimilation.

Nabs. "US Indian Boarding School History." The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history/.

Native Hope. The Issues Surrounding Native American Education, Native Hope, blog.nativehope.org/the-issues-surrounding-native-american-education.

Melissa is a 25 year old Dominican-American from Philly. She is part of the writing team at TIF and writes articles. She enjoys hiking, reading, relaxing with her cat and hopes to expand knowledge in climate change impacts on BIPOC communities and spread awareness through The Indigenous Foundation.

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The U.S. history of Native American Boarding Schools - The Indigenous Foundation

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(TW: abuse, sexual abuse, mental health, suicide) Native American Boarding Schools (also known as Indian Boarding Schools) were established by the U.S. government in the late 19th century as an effort to assimilate Indigenous youth into mainstream American culture through education. This era

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The U.S. government created Indigenous boarding schools in an attempt to assimilate Native American children into Western culture. Sadly, these schools were designed to "civilize the savage" and eradicate Native American culture. Russel Box Sr., a member of the Southern Ute tribe, was only six years old when he was sent to one of these boarding schools in southwestern Colorado. He recounted, "We couldn't speak our language, we couldn't sing our prayer songs... Maybe that's why I can't sing" (Callimachi 2021). Children were forcibly taken from their families and communities and forbidden from practicing their native languages, wearing traditional clothing, and observing cultural customs. Today, only about 30 people out of a tribe of less than 1,500 speak the Ute language fluently. The impact of these schools was devastating, leading to the loss of language and traditional knowledge within Indigenous communities, as well as causing emotional, spiritual, and physical trauma for survivors. Recently, the discovery of unmarked graves at former boarding schools in Canada has brought even more attention to this tragic part of history.

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Children at Fort Lewis Indian School in Colorado circa 1900. Credit... Courtesy of the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

Thousands of Native American children attended U.S. boarding schools designed to "civilize the savage." Many died. Many who lived are reclaiming their identity.

Children at Fort Lewis Indian School in Colorado circa 1900. Credit... Courtesy of the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

DURANGO, Colo. - The last day Dzabahe remembers praying in the way of her ancestors was on the morning in the 1950s when she was taken to the boarding school.

At first light, she grabbed a small pouch and ran out into the desert to a spot facing the rising sun to sprinkle the taa dih'deen - or corn pollen - to the four directions, offering honor for the new day.

Within hours of arriving at the school, she was told not to speak her own Navajo language. The leather skirt her mother had sewn for her and the beaded moccasins were taken away and bundled in plastic, like garbage.

She was given a dress to wear and her long hair was cut - something that is taboo in Navajo culture. Before she was sent to the dormitory, one more thing was taken: her name.

"You have a belief system. You have a way of life you have already embraced," said Bessie Smith, now 79, who continues to use the name given to her at the former boarding school in Arizona.

"And then it's so casually taken away," she said. "It's like you are violated."

Image

The recent discoveries of unmarked graves at government-run schools for Indigenous children in Canada - 215 graves in British Columbia, 750 more in Saskatchewan - surfaced like a long-forgotten nightmare.

But for many Indigenous people in Canada and the United States, the nightmare was never forgotten. Instead the discoveries are a reminder of how many living Native Americans were products of an experiment in forcibly removing children from their families and culture.

Many of them are still struggling to make sense of who they were and who they are.

In the century and a half that the U.S. government ran boarding schools for Native Americans, hundreds of thousands of children were housed and educated in a network of institutions, created to "civilize the savage." By the 1920s, one group estimates, nearly 83 percent of Native American school-age children were attending such schools.

"When people do things to you when you're growing up, it affects you spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally," said Russell Box Sr., a member of the Southern Ute tribe who was 6 when he was sent to a boarding school in southwestern Colorado.

"We couldn't speak our language, we couldn't sing our prayer songs," he said. "To this day, maybe that's why I can't sing."

The discovery of the bodies in Canada led Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to head the department that once ran the boarding schools in the United States - and herself the granddaughter of people forced to attend them - to announce that the government would search the grounds of former facilities to identify the remains of children.

That many children died in the schools on this side of the border is not in question. Just last week, nine Lakota children who perished at the federal boarding school in Carlisle, Pa., were disinterred and buried in buffalo robes in a ceremony on a tribal reservation in South Dakota.

Many of the deaths of former students have been recorded in federal archives and newspaper death notices. Based on what those records indicate,the search for bodies of other students is already underway at two former schools in Colorado: Grand Junction Indian School in central Colorado, which closed in 1911, and the Fort Lewis Indian School, which closed in 1910 and reopened in Durango as Fort Lewis College.

"There were horrific things that happened at boarding schools," said Tom Stritikus, the president of Fort Lewis College. "It's important that we daylight that."

The idea of assimilating Native Americans through education dates back to the earliest history of the colonies.

In 1775, the Continental Congress passed a bill appropriating $500 for the education of Native American youth. By the late 1800s, the number of students in boarding schools had risen from a handful to 24,000, and the amount appropriated had soared to $2.6 million.

Throughout the decades that they were in existence, the schools were seen as both a cheaper and a more expedient way of dealing with the "Indian problem."

Carl Schurz, the secretary of the interior in the late 1800s, argued that it cost close to $1 million to kill a Native American in warfare, versus just $1,200 to give his child eight years of schooling, according to the account of the historian David Wallace Adams in " Education for Extinction." "A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one," Capt. Richard H. Pratt, the founder of one of the first boarding schools, wrote in 1892. "In a sense I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: That all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him and save the man."

Those who survived the schools described violence as routine. As punishment, Norman Lopez was made to sit in the corner for hours at the Ute Vocational School in southwestern Colorado where he was sent around age 6. When he tried to get up, a teacher picked him up and slammed him against the wall, he said. Then the teacher picked him up a second time and threw him headfirst to the ground, he said.

"I thought that it was part of school," said Mr. Lopez, now 78. "I didn't think of it as abusive."

A less violent incident marked him more, he said.

His grandfather taught him how to carve a flute out of the branch of a cedar. When the boy brought the flute to school, his teacher smashed it and threw it in the trash.

He grasped even then how special the cedar flute and his native music were. "That's what God is. God speaks through air," he said, of the music his grandfather taught him.

He said the lesson was clear, both in the need to comply and the need to resist.

"I had to keep quiet. There's plenty where it came from. Tree's not going to give up," he said of the cedar. "I'm not going to give up."

Decades later, Mr. Lopez has returned to the flute. He carves them and records in a homemade studio, set up in his home on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in Towaoc, Colo.

In the same boarding school, Mr. Box was punished so severely for speaking Ute that he refused to teach his children the language, in an effort to shield them the pain he endured, his ex-wife, Pearl E. Casias, said.

Years of alcoholism followed, he said. His marriage fell apart. It was not until middle age that he reached a fork in the road.

"I had been yearning in here," he said, pointing to his heart. "My spirit had been yearning in here to stand in the lodge," he said, referring to the medicine lodge that dancers enter during the annual Sundance, one of the most important ceremonies of the Ute people. "Then one day I said to myself, 'Now I'm going to stand.' And when I said that inside of me, there was a little flame."

He went to the Sundance for the first time. He stopped drinking. This year, one of his daughters reached out to her mother, asking if she could teach her how to make beaded moccasins.

But for many, the wounds just do not heal.

Jacqueline Frost, 60, was raised by her Ute aunt, a matron at the boarding school who embraced the system and became its enforcer.

Ms. Frost said she remembered the beatings. "I don't know if it was a broom or a mop, I just remember the stick part, and my aunt swung it at me," she said, adding: "There was belts. There was hangers. There was shoes. There was sticks, branches, wire."

She, too, turned to alcohol. "Even though I've gone to so much counseling," she said, "I still would always say, 'Why am I like this? Why do I have this ugly feeling inside me?'"

By the turn of the century, a debate had erupted on whether it was better to "carry civilization to the Indian" by building schools on tribal land. In 1902, the government completed the construction of a boarding school on the Southern Ute reservation in Ignacio, Colo. - the school that Mr. Box and Mr. Lopez both attended.

The impact of the school, which was shuttered decades ago, can be summed up in two statistics: In the 1800s, when federal agents were trawling the reservation for children, they complained that there were almost no adults who spoke English. Today, about 30 people out of a tribe of fewer than 1,500 people - only 2 percent - speak the Ute language fluently, said Lindsay J. Box, a tribal spokeswoman. (Mr. Box is her uncle).

For decades, Ms. Smith barely spoke Navajo. She thought she had forgotten it, until years later at the hospital in Denver where she worked as director of patient admissions, a Navajo couple came in with their dying baby and the language came tumbling back, she said.

It marked a turn for her. She realized that the vocabulary she thought had been beaten out of her was still there. As she looked back, she recognized the small but meaningful ways in which she had resisted.

From her first day in the dormitory, she never again practiced the morning prayer to the four directions.

Unable to do it in physical form, she learned instead to do it internally: "I did it in my heart," she said.

In her old age, she now makes jewelry using traditional elements, like "ghost beads" made from the dried berries of the juniper tree. When she started selling online, she chose the domain: www.dzabahe.com.

It is her birth name, the one that was taken from her at the boarding school, the one whose Navajo meaning endured: "woman who fights back."

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Lost Lives, Lost Culture: The Forgotten History of Indigenous Boarding Schools

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Thousands of Native American children attended U.S. boarding schools designed to "civilize the savage." Many died. Many who lived are reclaiming their identity. Children at Fort Lewis Indian School in Colorado circa 1900. Credit... Courtesy of the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College DURANGO, Colo.

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When We Were Alone is a children's book written by David Robertson and illustrated by Julie Flett. The book tells the story of a young girl who asks her grandmother about the colorful objects she wears and the reasons behind them. As her grandmother shares her experiences from when she was taken away to residential school, the story unfolds themes of cultural identity, resilience, and the preservation of Indigenous culture despite attempts at assimilation. It's a gentle but powerful exploration of intergenerational trauma and the strength of cultural heritage. The book is made for children and serves as an educational tool for understanding Indigenous history and the ongoing impacts of colonialism.

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Callimachi, Rukmini, and Sharon Chischilly. “Lost Lives, Lost Culture: The Forgotten History of Indigenous Boarding Schools.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 July 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/us/us-canada-indigenous-boarding-residential-schools.html.

Dupuis, Jenny Kay, and Kathy Kacer. I Am Not a Number. Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority, Library, 2022.

Gansworth, Eric. Apple: Skin to the Core. Levine Querido, 2022.

Mejia, Melissa. “The U.S. History of Native American Boarding Schools.” The Indigenous Foundation, The Indigenous Foundation, 26 July 2022, www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/us-residential-schools.

Robertson, David, and Julie Flett. When We Were Alone. Alberta Education, 2021.