"Our Spirits Don't Speak English"...this may make you cry

zenman · Sep 10, 2008

Sad; really sad.

Lori75 · Sep 11, 2008

So sad. Thank-you for posting this. The British Columbia government just paid out settlements to thousands of boarding school victims, that is a whole other subject as it is a very controversial topic. After seeing this I will be able to have even more empathy for them. One of the major shames in our BC boarding schools (aside from ripping native children unwillingly away from their families) was molestation of every sort. It is a horrific part of our history that rarely get spoken about, but I have heard one of the victims speak of it several times in AA meetings, and it is gut wrenching to hear about.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Sep 11, 2008

So sad. Thank-you for posting this. The British Columbia government just paid out settlements to thousands of boarding school victims, that is a whole other subject as it is a very controversial topic. After seeing this I will be able to have even more empathy for them. One of the major shames in our BC boarding schools (aside from ripping native children unwillingly away from their families) was molestation of every sort. It is a horrific part of our history that rarely get spoken about, but I have heard one of the victims speak of it several times in AA meetings, and it is gut wrenching to hear about.

I couldn't access the video from work, so, I'll do it from home. But, this is an aspect that I didn't think of, (but DEFINITELY believe)...that those poor children that were unwillingly snatched from their parents, heritage and culture would be exposed to vile violations to the body and spirit. How horrible!

softstorms · Sep 16, 2008

Thank You!!!

CHATSDALE · Oct 19, 2008

this has happen to many different cultures

the catholic schools and the public schools use to punish the children who spoke french at home they were not allowed to use any french at home and they were ridiculed by teachersa nd othr children to the point that they would not teach their own children french

now an entire culture is in danger of being lost..there are some who are trying to teach the native ways

the problem that the french that is being taught in schools is the continental french

softstorms · Oct 19, 2008

What is the best way to help change this?

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Oct 20, 2008

Heartbreaking. This is a very courageous/brave man to share this with all of us.

I listen, and hear and hope to fully understand. I want to be an instrument of change.

Vito Andolini · Jan 11, 2009

Is he saying this happened as recently as the 1960's and 1970's? I had no idea. I thought this stopped over a century ago. WTDevil???

The only explanations I know for doing this to someone are to assert one's own ways because we think it is for the good of the people we're doing it to or for our own good.

I think in the case of the nuns forcing French speakers to not speak French, the nuns probably thought they were doing a good thing. At least, I'd like to think that nuns would have only good intentions. Am I naive?

I guess like the Palestinians and Israelis there will never be any real peace except maybe on a small, interpersonal scale among groups that are so different from each other. There is too much hurt, too much anger, too much sadness to think otherwise. Forgiving is just too hard for many issues, as too much water has gone under the bridge and, unfortunately, man cannot forget. Man can decide to forgive but, unlike God, we cannot forget and must repeatedly make the decision to forgive. For lots of people, this is just too hard, especially when no apologies or restitution come from the offenders. I don't know what to say except that we have to try not to let those who violate us steal our peace and joy, not let them turn us into being what they are. We must fight self-loathing, too.

I'm sorry for anyone who had to endure this horrendous maltreatment and pray that you stay strong. Tell the story, teach it to the next generation and to the public at large so it will, hopefully, never happen again. May this man and all others who went through this find peace.

CHATSDALE · Jan 13, 2009

i know that the teachers and nuns were trying to prepare these students to live in a world beyond their little part of the world

my parents did not speak spanish hence i did not either and my children are monolingual...a heritage lost cannot be regained

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Feb 10, 2009

You are right, Wolfie - heartbreaking. No other way to describe it, and really infuriating that it happened a little over a generation ago.

I was born in SD and we lived not too far from the Pine Ridge reservation. I was way too little to remember any of it, but my parents both tell of men weeping much as this one, and more alcoholism than they had ever seen.

GCTMT · Apr 15, 2009

The idea of boarding schools for Native Americans came along when Col. Richard Henry Pratt opened the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1879. And sadly, the treatment the gentleman described in the youtube video is very similar. Native children were first made to cut their hair (which in some Native cultures, was only done in a time of mourning), furthermore they were stripped of their native clothes, language, etc... Any hint of past indigenous life was taken. I can not recall the name, but I remember reading about a young Lakota boy who went to Carlisle and later returned to Pine Ridge reservation, he said, " I am no more Indian, only a ghost of a white man." Essentially, Natives were sent to these school to learn how to be "white" only to be released and receive treatment like a "red".

It was a ridiculous and poorly devised plan as is evidenced by the living conditions on many reservations.

Fortunately, hope is not all lost. There is a small group of Lakota who are trying to regain sovereignty and freedom through, what they describe as the dis-honoring of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868. You can get more details here.. www.republicoflakotah.com .

My heart goes out to this gentleman and the countless other forgotten Native Peoples of North America.