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Today's Story:
Eleven months ago, I took my first step into an unanticipated journey.
Not a journey to international nations or throughout the US, as I’ve done for most of the past 15 years, but a journey into the depths of what were known as “Indian boarding schools,” especially those in my home state of Michigan.
The journey began with an essay written by a friend who had attended the annual Honoring, Healing, and Remembering event at the former Michigan Indian Industrial Boarding School (MIIBS) in Mt. Pleasant on June 6, 2022.
That essay contained statements by Native Americans about their experiences of abuse and cruelty inflicted on them and others at the Holy Childhood of Jesus School, which operated for nearly a century from 1894 to 1983, in Harbor Springs.
The Native children who were forced to attend that school are now, in their 60s and 70s, beginning to relate the covered-up truth of harsh life and maltreatment in the boarding schools.
The truth is simple: The schools were commissioned and funded by the US government for the purpose of “Kill the Indian but save the man.”
The protocol was amoral: drag the children away from their families, cut them off from their indigenous culture, and force their assimilation into the dominant non-Native society.
Their “education” didn’t prepare them to be civic leaders and entrepreneurial professionals but agricultural or industrial laborers and domestic servants.
The motivation of the school survivors who have gained the will to speak is simple: “If we don’t speak now, no one will ever know” about the intense cruelty inflicted by administrators and religious orders upon innocent children.
So my journey took me to Honoring, Healing, and Remembering on June 6, 2023, the 89th anniversary of the closing of MIIBS in 1934.
I heard the words of Holy Childhood survivors who spoke of abuse, beatings, cultural deprivation, and other atrocities too cruel and hideous to mention here.
I listened – along with 550 others there – as a man and a woman solemnly read the names of the 227 children who died of infectious diseases, malnutrition, overwork, and homesickness while attending MIIBS.
I saw ceremonies and proof that the Native traditions live on today.
I witnessed messages of resilience, strength, forgiveness, and hope.
One signpost on my journey came from Elder Tom Biron, who said, “We are not Indians. We are Anishinaabe Ojibwe. There is no ‘Indian’ in our language. We are called ‘Indians’ because Columbus thought he was in India. That was his first terrible mistake.”
When the event was over, I was not emotionally ready to just hop into my vehicle and drive home.
So, I roamed the grounds again – part of the 320 acres. I walked among the seven solemn brick buildings that remain out of the original 37.
I pondered what I had seen and heard that day. And I resolved to write about it.
The natural outlet was Encore Magazine, a high-quality monthly publication in Kalamazoo for which I’ve now written nearly 200 articles, the first one published in October 1996.
Editor Marie Lee suggested that the article run in August 2023, but I wasn’t ready. I had much to process and research first. But it’s in print now, the May 2024 issue. You can easily find it on the Encore website.
In addition, my journey has progressed far and deep in other related directions.
Through conversations with Jamie Stuck, chair of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi (NHBP) and president of the United Tribes of Michigan, I will moderate an event at the NHBP Pine Creek Reservation near Fulton.
Titled “The Truth about Indian Boarding Schools” and sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Western Michigan University, it will occur on the afternoon of Thursday, May 30.
When I asked Jamie, “Why me, a white man?” He said, “You can reach audiences we can’t reach.”
To prepare, I’m meeting with each of the four panelists: Elder Tom Biron (Garden River First Nation, Ojibwe Band), Elder Sharon Skutt (Saginaw Chippewa), Paul Walker (Saginaw Chippewa), and Debra Delk (Pokagon Band, Potawatomi).
Through advance planning, we will determine the best way to reach two purposes: 1) to help Native Americans heal, those on the panel and those in the audience; 2) to raise awareness among non-Natives.
To facilitate the first purpose at “The Truth about Indian Boarding Schools,” the NHBP Cultural Committee will provide drummers, smudgers, indigenous healers, and cultural items, such eagle healing staffs.
If you’re near Southwest Michigan, please attend. The “Learn More” sidebar in the Encore article explains details, including how to register. Or view OLLI’s Summer Catalog.
The second purpose is happening in several ways:
If you would like me to speak to your group or organization about the history of the boarding schools – or other human interest subjects – either in person or via Zoom, please contact me at robtweir@aol.com.
I could also introduce you to Holy Childhood survivors who might choose to relate their experiences.
Thank you. Miigwetch.
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