Professor shares global impact of American Indian boarding schools Wednesday night

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More than 500,000 American Indian children were removed from their homes and put into boarding schools from the 1870s to 1960s.

Dee Ann Sherwood, the Denison visiting professor of Native American studies, shared the global effects of these boarding schools with more than 85 attendees from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Powers Hall Ballroom.

“Boarding schools were a form of cultural genocide,” Sherwood said. “This is about forced assimilation.”

She said family separation caused loss of emotional growth between family members.

“There was a loss of culture, physical and sexual abuse and vast resentment toward the government and Christian churches,” Sherwood said.

Children were taken from their homes by armed men, Sherwood said, and boarding schools were operated by the government and churches.

Sherwood was involved with Bimaddiziwin High School within Grand Rapids Public Schools, established in the 1970s, before it closed in 2007.

“It focused on Native literature, art, language classes and traditional teachings,” Sherwood said.

BHS was deemed an “alternative school” that housed 100 to 125 students. Some were urban native students and some were non-native students.

Sherwood said BHS was shut down by the superintendent because of performance reasons, the need to assimilate and because the school did not exist.

The superintendent later said he meant to say the American Indian students needed to be infused in society, Sherwood said.

She said she and other students felt they were being ignored.

According to the video shown by Sherwood, some who attended boarding schools felt they could never regain their kinship and love with their mothers.

“The video makes me sad every time it comes on,” said Detroit sophomore Lavender Gary. “When they walk in a single-file (line) it reminds me of Germany.”

Gary is taking one of Sherwood’s classes about social work.

Children in boarding schools were not allowed to visit home if they were not assimilating, Sherwood said.

“Children were taken far away so they wouldn’t run away,” she said.

Eugenic sterilization was common with feeble-minded people, LGBT, and racial and ethnic minorities from the 1900s to 1960s to prevent procreation, Sherwood said.

The symbol of a swastika meant prosperity in native culture before being paired with its negative Nazi connotation.

Hitler modeled his plan for Nazi concentration camps after how the U.S. “dealt with the Indian problem.”

“This is an important connection that is often missed,” Sherwood said.

Rosalinda S. Vasquez, an American Indian activist for the last 25 years sold jewelry at the event.

“I like to give back to the American Indian community,” Vasquez said. “When I make a sale, I make a donation to a tribe.”

Amy Vega, an adviser for native students at Grand Valley State University, said she thinks there should be more events about boarding schools.

“A lot of people born and raised in Mount Pleasant did not know the history of the boarding school,” Vega said.

Vega said she thinks more events could prevent the same mistakes from being made with their own children.

Sherwood encouraged those in attendance to help out by supporting the Michigan tuition waver, be aware that native Americans have the highest high school drop-out rates, write to state representatives, post information on social networking sites and to attend events.

She also asked those at the event not to judge the past, but instead to seek understanding and to listen.

“In recent years there has been an emphasis on immersion learning,” Sherwood said.