They Called It Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco Indian School

by K. Tsianina Lomawaima

Established in 1884 and operative for nearly a century, the Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma was one of a series of off-reservation boarding schools intended to assimilate American Indian children into mainstream American life. Critics have characterized the schools as destroyers of Indian communities and cultures, but the reality that K. Tsianina Lomawaima discloses was much more complex. Lomawaima allows the Chilocco students to speak for themselves. In recollections juxtaposed against the official records of racist ideology and repressive practice, students from the 1920s and 1930s recall their loneliness and demoralization but also remember with pride the love and mutual support binding them together—the forging of new pan-Indian identities and reinforcement of old tribal ones.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Indigenous, Native American, Memoir, Grad School, Education

215 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

K. Tsianina Lomawaima is Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. She is the author of They Called It Prairie Light: The Story of the Chilocco Indian School, coauthor of To Remain an Indian: Lessons in Democracy from a Century of Native American Education, and coeditor of Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, 1879–2000.

Reviews

[Salamah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for research purposes but it was a great read. It was wonderful to listen to the stories of Natives who attended this school and it gave me varying perspectives. Sometimes when we read history books, the authors tell us their perspective of what they researched. But Lomawaima gives us the story of Chilocco school straight from the children (now adults) who experienced it. Chilocco school was opened to educate the "savage Indian" and make them civilized. Even though the children were sent to this school, many talked about their forms of resistance, the way they found joy in the strictness of the school environment, how they clung to their culture and how they were able to take what they learned and make a life. Even though not all of the experiences were positive, in fact many children ran away from the school, I appreciated the complexity of such a place. Even though the ideology behind the school was steeped in racist ideas, it is amazing how children were able to navigate such harm and formulate for themselves what education and success meant to them.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the interview work and research for this picture of Chilocco. My 1/4th Cherokee great-grandfather attended in the 20s, not long after he and his brothers were orphaned by the Spanish flu in October of 2018. I didn’t know anything about their school experience, but this gave me a better idea of what it might have been like for them. Also, his nephew Joe Thornton attended, as well. It was fascinating to read about a place that gives me a deeper understanding of my ancestors’ experiences.

[Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lomawaima's centralization of oral history within the text allows the subjects to tell their histories and stories in their own words, which is beautiful methodological work. This creates a divergence from previous historiographical works, encouraging different perspectives and levels of resistance in residential schools beyond the standard top-down view of the predominant narrative. While it is told through a Native American lens, I also believe it to be a genuinely insightful commentary about how children and teenagers socially organize themselves and develop ties of loyalty to each other over adults and institutions, especially while being exposed to ongoing trauma. However, I think she limits herself in these analyses with her methodological choice to emphasize elements of resistance among indigenous children at Chilocco than encompassing indigenous resilience. There are points throughout the book where she gets so close to bridging this gap but does not quite make that connection.

[Lizzie Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story about a Native American boarding school. Though it was not at all what I would have expected based on other accounts of native boarding schools, particularly those in Canada, that I have read about. This book left me with many questions and it would be beneficial I think for this work to reconcile its account of this native boarding school with those of other boarding schools. Why was this one so different? Was it actually that different? Otherwise very interesting and informative.

[Blake Buege · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for a college class but it was extremely fascinating and anyone not familiar with the Native American boarding schools should read this text. American history based and I recommend to all.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting look at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in Oklahoma in the 1920s and 1930s. Of special interest to me is Lomawaima's discussion of the intersecting oppressions of race and gender, and their influences on the lives of the female students at Chilocco. She focuses specifically on the links between enforced uniformity, regimentation of the body, and subservience training, and the way in which female students rebelled against the matrons and disciplinarians who sought to quash individuality and creativity. It is in her attempt to highlight this battle that Lomawaima relates a thoroughly entertaining "bloomer story."

Anyone interested in syncretic analyses that meld historical and anthropological methodologies will also find this book interesting. Deploying oral histories gathered from sixty Chilocco alumni, Lomawaima sets about the task of portraying day-to-day life at the school, and also the way in which students were able to resist the federally-sanctioned systematic destruction of Indian identity.

[Janice Lonergan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a good picture of what happen to thousands of First Nations/Native families where the children were taken from their parents and basically "kidnapped" by the religious people and forced to learn english. If the children used their language or culture they were beaten. This is a devastating event in history that worked on eliminating the First Nations/Natives in both America and Canada. History books need to be re-written to incorporate what really happened to First Nations and Native peoples.

[Rachel Denham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic is very interesting and brought to light many insights into the American education system and Native American culture. Unfortunately, the book was completely unorganized and, therefore, extremely difficult to read. Read it for the facts, and not for its literary style.

[Gillian Bourassa]

It was required reading for my grad course...not one of the best books I've ever read. The last chapter was kind of interesting, but overall, meh.

[Mary Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuine experience

[Allison6876 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for AMIN 3201W paper

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of great, unique information, and some real insights. Some of the theoretical ideas aren't developed as fully as they could be, and the overall structure/organization of the book doesn't always make sense.