Children Left Behind: The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools

by Tim Giago, Denise Giago (Illustrator)

" Children Left The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools is a must read. Tim Giago, who spent his childhood at one of these schools, examines the unholy alliance between church and state that tried to destroy the culture and spirituality of generations of Indian children. Provocative, riveting, chilling, persuasive, and original, this book leaves the reader overwhelmed. Describing almost inexpressible cruelties and triumphs, Giago pulls us into the boarding school experience. He challenges Indian Country to co-exist with the truth of what actually happened at these schools. Only then can we heal and avoid acquiescence to a system that has crushed so many souls. The book is a triumph, and a major event in Indian education." Ryan Wilson, Oglala Lakota, President, National Indian Education Association " Children Left Behind is a sad story of a nation’s best intentions gone awry. Tim Giago’s personal accounts reveal an untold tragedy of abuse of helpless children by those who had the responsibility to protect them. To fully understand the calamity, you need only to visit the graveyards of the old boarding schools and see the hundreds of graves of Indian children who did not survive the misguided assimilation efforts." Richard B. Williams, Oglala Lakota, President & CEO, American Indian College Fund " Children Left Behind , written by respected journalist Tim Giago, is a fascinating mix of personal stories and history about the role of government and mission boarding schools in the lives of Native people. The book provides the reader with the cultural and historical context for many of the problems encountered by Native American families in the early 21st century." (Wilma Mankiller, Former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation)

Genres: Memoir, Education, History, Nonfiction

166 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2006

Reviews

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal accounts are so important in history. They become valuable primary sources of information. This memoir conveyed so many emotions in the reader. For me, the main emotion was disgust at the actions of the government and religious organizations that perpetrated this annihilation of family structures and cultural heritage. I also felt terrible for the author and all of the other children to walked through the doors of residential schools all across the Americas. I read this book for a class, European Conquest of the Americas.

The author of this book, like nearly all other Indigenous children, was required to enroll in a residential school. His school was run by the Catholic Church, who has a history of abuses of all varieties. Unfortunately for the author, he was subjected to extreme physical, mental, and sexual abuse. Church leaders dismissed claims and swept their horrible actions under the rug for decades. The author details many instances of alcohol and drug use by children who endured trauma at these schools. Many generations endured this legacy and issued stemming from time spent in these schools is obvious in families even today.

[Rachel Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

To start this review off with a bang, I'll just say it: the only interesting part of this book was the end. Author, poet and journalist Tim Giago has written a whole collection of experiences relating to his boarding school days, but in this book it falls short of anything interesting — except for when his apparent journalist mode comes out in the end and he philosophizes about spirituality, modernity and more. That was the redeeming part of this confused and meandering book. The bulk of it was a combination of not terribly engaging poetry and disconnected reflections on his friends at school.

Judging by the title alone, and the fairly broad knowledge I have of Indian boarding schools, I was hoping the book would be entirely like the ending was, with a reflection on Giago's time in school and its effects on him and his community and, in a broader sense, Indian Country as a whole. Some parts hinted at that, but the majority of the book seemed to be some strange childlike memoir of his boarding school days while not getting into the bulk of it until the end. It was not a particularly engaging first-person account of the abuses and horrors that were so prevalent at these schools. I wish more survivors wrote about their time at school, and Giago's didn't really hold up to my expectations.

Finally, there seemed to be a few points where Giago attempted to frame the book around the Catholic Church scandals which were just starting to come out around the time of the book's publication, but I wish he did more with that. There could have been much more detail given about real examples of modern abuse and their historical parallels in the Indian schools. It should have been more explicit and more horrifying to create a better resonance with readers, especially those who might not know as much about it. The parallel framing here is a good technique, but not quite carried out well enough.

[Amanda Herman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 160 plus page autobiography details the experience the author had on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and was subjected to inhumane treatment at the catholic run boarding school that was established in order to “kill the Indian and save the child.” Giago recounts how the priests and nuns would abuse the children, they were forced to eat watered down mush and they were forced to sleep on cots in cold dormitories. The book includes pictures, both photographs and drawings as well and is written partly in verse which poetically describe the despicable treatment of a group of children at the hands of a religious group. It was actually very hard to read and digest the awful treatment of these children and how no one did anything about it and the children did not feel they could speak about it. A very eye-opening look at an awful part of our United States history that is very rarely described.

[Phil Hamman · Rating 5 out of 5]

To fully appreciate this book, it helps to have some knowledge of the previous government policies of relocating Native Americans to reservations and forcing their assimilation into other cultures, thereby devastated their own culture and traditions and leaving them uncertain about their identity and how to thrive after their own way of life was obliterated. Giago's book answers questions regarding the way tribes were nearly powerless to self-govern policies that affected their own children. With a unique voice, he illustrates the heart-breaking challenges families faced in trying to preserve their culture. After being wrenched away from their parents for months at a time, these children learned to survive in what was another chapter in the long running battle of historic trauma leveled at them by supposedly "well-meaning" outsiders.

[Katterley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sad, tragic, yet funny, too, of Tim Giago's experiences and aftermath of the Indian Boarding School experience. I had to put it down and walk away for some of it, but I needed to know how he found a way to heal and who else he knew that had also been able to heal. Shameful experiences, but no one that experienced the things he refers to in the book should feel shame. I hope the book continues to help others to heal.

[audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid, poetry-filled memoir of the author's time at an Indian Mission school on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in the 1940s. The poems are beautiful but the biographical details are often repeated, as well as the title of the author's book of poetry. Still a great read for anyone interested in all the terrible things the Catholic Church gets up to with the endorsement of the US government in suppression of minority populations. Major tw for animal harm.

[Tallie]

Reminds me of the stories my great grandmother told me growing up. Now I know why she at times would be so sad or cry.