My late father attended one of these schools from the age of eight to sixteen. He told me some terrible stories about what happened at that time. At first, they were taken by cars, then some ran away from the schools because they could find their way home. Then they were taken by boat, so they would not run away. “It seemed like a prison,” he said. “It seemed like you were punished just because you were Anishinaabe and you spoke your language,” he said. My father kept speaking his language despite the consequences; He would be hit with a yardstick ruler across his knuckles and hit with a leather strap across his palms each time that he was caught. I remember him saying one time, “How can they tell me to not speak my own language, it’s like asking me to stop breathing the same air they are breathing”.

I remember another story of an elder woman. When she was a little girl she also was caught speaking her language, and the teachers wanted to make an example of her to the other students that this is what happens to you if you speak your language. She was made to stand in the middle of the gym while others watched, then she would be hit across her shins with a baseball bat. You see, I guess it was okay to hit little Anishinaabe children like that back then, no one said anything, and no one did anything. This little girl lost her legs, she eventually received wooden legs. She told this story when she was an elder and she said “They took my legs in that school but they could not take my language”

Another story that I remember is one of an elder man. He said his older brothers and sisters had attended the school already and they said that he would be going soon. Well the day arrived and he was only four or five years old, and he knew that he would miss his mother. So as he was being escorted out of his home, he walked backward and kept his eyes on his mother who was looking out the window.

I have seen pictures of some of these children while they attended these schools and I have not yet seen one where a child is smiling. They are all dressed alike. The boys dressed one way and the girls another. All have the same haircut. So I have great concerns about what happened to my people and my language. Has this happened to anyone else? Are we going to do anything about it? What should be done???? School Photos courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society