Today's Story:

Today’s story is a sequel to my earlier blog, “An Unanticipated Journey: ‘Indian Boarding Schools,’” that I posted on May 3, 2024.

In that blog, I announced my unintended experiences that led me to learn about the atrocities inflicted upon Native American children in the United States, Canada, and other countries by federal and local governments and religious orders.

I won’t elaborate on the numerous atrocities and abuses here. If you want to learn those specifics, you will find many accounts in online resources.

Rather, I wish to relate only the results that came from moderating a discussion that featured four Native American survivors of one boarding school in Michigan.

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The standing ovation was instantaneous. It occurred the moment I said, “Then it’s time to say miigwetch,” the Native American term for thank you.

The recipients of the applause were two men and two women who had attended – and survived – the Holy Childhood of Jesus boarding school in Harbor Springs, Michigan, in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s.

The audience consisted of 70-some people, most of them non-indigenous. Some had limited knowledge about the abuse and atrocities inflicted upon innocent children in the boarding schools. Only a few had ever heard former students, now adults, speak about their boarding school experiences.

Nor had I up until one year ago when I attended a day-long event called Honoring, Healing, and Remembering at the former Michigan Indian Industrial Boarding School in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

There, I heard a panel of four survivors – all women – relate the truth about the boarding schools: harsh punishments; arduous labor; physical, mental, sexual, spiritual and cultural abuse; rape and infanticide.

That’s when I decided I wanted to do more to raise awareness among people, like me, who also probably do not know.

My first step was to write an article published in Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Encore Magazine this past May. The banner headline read: “If we don’t speak now, no one will ever know.”

My second step was to organize and facilitate this panel discussion through Western Michigan University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

I served as the moderator, which put me in the position to bring the event to a close with, “Then it’s time to say miigwetch.”

But the message of truth came from the the panel. The applause was for them:

Sharon Skutt, third-generation boarding school survivor, public speaker, and tribal citizen of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.

Tom Biron, published journalist, tribe health director and repatriation worker, professor of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University, and member of Lac Vieux Desert tribe of the First Nation.

Paul J. Walker, Sr., non-veteran member of the Saginaw Chippewa Ogitchedaw Warrior Society and caretaker/carrier of the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School healing and remembrance staff.

Debra Delk, member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi whose mother and sister also survived Holy Childhood.

We talked for more than two hours within a three-hour block of time for this event, held at the Pine Creek Reservation of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi (NHBP) near Fulton, Michigan.

First came welcome comments from Barry Skutt, chief executive officer of the NHBP, and Shannon Huneryager, OLLI’s coordinator of programs.

Then I offered 20 minutes of history. This included the fact that the White-dominated government of the United States in the 1800s and well into the 1900s viewed the Indigenous People as “savages” and the “Indian problem.”

But the true problem, as history reveals and as I stated, was the idea set forth by White society that it was okay for them, the European invaders, to steal land, break treaties, and kill Native People in the name of “westward expansion” expressed as “American progress” and “eminent domain.”

I posed this question:

“How would the world be different if the Christian-European paradigm had been based on love (rather than conquest) and expressed as ‘What can we learn from Indigenous People?’ instead of ‘What can we take from Indigenous People?’ or ‘How can we convert the Indigenous People?’”

We didn’t attempt an answer, but I asked the audience to think about that … just as I ask you, the reader, to also think about it now.

For the heart of this discussion with the four survivors, I posed four basic questions:

• Why is it important to speak the truth about the boarding schools?

• What were your experiences at Holy Childhood of Jesus? How did those experiences affect your life as an adult and your awareness or practice of your indigenous culture?

• How have you demonstrated resilience to rise above those experiences and reconnect with your cultural practices?

• How have you experienced healing in your life and by participating in this event today?

Their responses flowed naturally and with emotion. Sometimes, the audience applauded or audibly expressed shock.

Here are a few of the words the panelists spoke (statements taken from a transcript provided by the NHBP Communication Department):

“I try to forget Holy Childhood, but I believe it’s time for all of us to talk now and for people to listen and find out what we went through to survive.” – Debra Delk

“I decided it was time to speak out about the boarding school and the things that happened there because that’s how we are going to heal. We can’t hold those things in forever.” – Sharon Skutt

“These aren’t stories. These are our history. These are things that happened to us when we were quite young. We share so it doesn’t get repeated.” – Paul Walker

“Truth is one of the Seven Grandfather Teachings, so it’s important to understand how to tell the truth and what kind of courage and bravery it takes to tell the truth.” – Tom Biron

Comments from attendees demonstrated the value of this event:

“I had heard about these schools in some other states but did not know about Michigan’s experiences.”

“I had been made aware of the horrors experienced by many children in the Canadian and US mission schools over the years and was still shocked to hear the personal experiences the panel shared.”

“It is certainly a stain on our country that Indigenous families and children were treated in such inhumane ways. Tom Biron’s statement, ‘We don’t want to be fixed; we want to be respected,’ resonated with me.”

My journey into the experiences of the survivors also resonates with me … and will for a long, long time.

Thank you for reading this and allowing me to bring you into the light of awareness. I hope you will now look online to learn more. 

If nothing else, please look at the painting American Progress by John Gast. Created in 1872, this depicts the mindset of White society at that time: "civilization" in the east, "westward expansion" across the continent, and the Indigenous people and the wildlife on which they subsisted fleeing.

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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.