#issue 05

[transfixmagazine]

Issue 05 feature: Simon Angel

[riprensazine]

“kill the indian in him, and save the man.”

– u.s. cavalry captain richard henry pratt, opener of the first boarding school in carlisle, pennsylvania. 

those words have come to symbolize the brutality of the boarding school system and that was the mindset under which the – u.s. government forced tens of thousands of native american children to attend “assimilation” boarding schools in the late 19th century.

and yet, all these destroyed lives are still unknown to too many people. help us give them a voice, the importance the system tried to take away from them. 

[spyskrapbook]

Relief for "Famar", Ano Kalamaki, Athens [1974] _ by Cosmas Xenakis. «Θέματα Χώρου + Τεχνών» / "Design in Greece", Ετήσια Επιθεώρηση / Annual Review, Issue 05, 1974, pp. 141-143.

[hiredassault]

Injustice 2  : Issue #5

[riprensazine]

native scholars describe the destruction of their culture as a “soul wound”, from which native americans have not healed.

[riprensazine]

“life at boarding school was punishing of its own accord. children were not allowed to return home to visit their families for years at a time. conditions were harsh. during particularly cold winters, some children froze to death in their beds.”

[riprensazine]

imagine if the government were responsible for looking after your best interests. all of your assets must be managed by bureaucrats on your behalf. a special bureau is even set up to oversee your affairs. every important decision you make requires approval, and every approval comes with a mountain of regulations.

how well would this work? just ask native americans.

the federal government is responsible for managing Indian affairs for the benefit of all Indians. but by all accounts the government has failed to live up to this responsibility. as a result, native american reservations are among the poorest communities in the united states. here’s how the government keeps native americans in poverty.

[riprensazine]

conditions within these schools were horrid. not only native americans have to abandon their native identity and cultures, but there were cases of sexual, mental and physical abuse in these schools. discipline was a huge part of the schools. by the 1960s, a congressional report found that many teachers still saw their role as civilizing native americans students instead of educating them.