Analysis of they called it prairie light
Analysis of 'They Called it Prairie Light'
Boarding schools have been in existence for thousands of years around the world, in many different countries and cultures. History tells us that most of them have operated with the main purpose of broadening the horizons for the youth that attended them. The main purpose of Indian boarding schools, like Chilocco, was to acculturate and assimilate Indian youth into the white dominant society (Lomawaima, 3). It is clear that most of the people that were involved in setting up the first Indian boarding schools, thought that assimilation and acculturation of Indian youth would indeed broaden the youth's horizons. Indians were thought to be uncivilized and primitive heathens. Hence, the crusade began to make the Indians more civilized by taking them away from their tribal families while they were young, and sending them away to boarding schools to learn the ways of civilized Americans. Broadening their horizons by having them absorbed "into our national life, with all the rights and privileges guaranteed to every other individual, the Indian to lose his identity as such, to give up his tribal relations and to be made to feel that he is an American citizen"(Lomawaima, 5). This all sounds quite noble if you were born white in the 1800's and raised as a Christian, Protestant, or Catholic, after all, you were the supreme beings of the era, and everyone should behave like you, including the Indians. Well, as noble as it might have sounded to the white society at the time, history would paint a different picture in the proceeding decades. The Indian boarding schools were plagued with issues. The facilities lacked sanitary conditions, were overcrowded, and had low quality teaching staffs. The children that lived in them lacked proper medical care and were under nourished, over worked, poorly clothed, and harshly disciplined. Specifically, at Chilocco, there was
Boarding schools have been in existence for thousands of years around the world, in many different countries and cultures. History tells us that most of them have operated with the main purpose of broadening the horizons for the youth that attended them. The main purpose of Indian boarding schools, like Chilocco, was to acculturate and assimilate Indian youth into the white dominant society (Lomawaima, 3). It is clear that most of the people that were involved in setting up the first Indian boarding schools, thought that assimilation and acculturation of Indian youth would indeed broaden the youth's horizons. Indians were thought to be uncivilized and primitive heathens. Hence, the crusade began to make the Indians more civilized by taking them away from their tribal families while they were young, and sending them away to boarding schools to learn the ways of civilized Americans. Broadening their horizons by having them absorbed "into our national life, with all the rights and privileges guaranteed to every other individual, the Indian to lose his identity as such, to give up his tribal relations and to be made to feel that he is an American citizen"(Lomawaima, 5). This all sounds quite noble if you were born white in the 1800's and raised as a Christian, Protestant, or Catholic, after all, you were the supreme beings of the era, and everyone should behave like you, including the Indians. Well, as noble as it might have sounded to the white society at the time, history would paint a different picture in the proceeding decades. The Indian boarding schools were plagued with issues. The facilities lacked sanitary conditions, were overcrowded, and had low quality teaching staffs. The children that lived in them lacked proper medical care and were under nourished, over worked, poorly clothed, and harshly disciplined. Specifically, at Chilocco, there was