pacific university
Students pose at the entrance of Chemawa Indian Training School near Salem in 1905.
Continued from Page 4
contact during their tenure. Speaking their
native language was met with harsh conse-
quences, and they were trained primarily to
be domestic workers and forced to convert
to Christianity.
“This is a terrible story of trauma,”
Vaughn said. “The goal was ultimately to
create a generational break, so children
wouldn’t identify with their tribal roots.”
However, there’s another important
part of the story, and that is how the stu-
dents found a way — or rather a variety of
ways — to persevere, resist and demand
autonomy.
‘Transformation from within’
As Vaughn points out, “resistance takes
all manners and forms.” Running away
was a common practice, although it was
dangerous, even potentially lethal, for chil-
dren. Some students fought to maintain
their traditions and native languages; oth-
ers relied on creative expression and faith
in themselves and their heritage.
According to information from the
National Endowment of the Humanities,
“American Indian boarding schools were
creating to change native students; how-
ever, native students, through their leader-
ship and political involvement, eventually
changed the schools.”
Many children experienced their first
contact with members of other tribal
nations, which led to a rise of Pan-Indian-
ism and the cultivation of connections and
support networks across nations.
“This allows for better collective
action,” Vaughn said, referencing the
Occupation of Alcatraz, from November
1969 to June 1971.
This protest was conducted by Indi-
ans of All Tribes, Inc., a group made up
of Indigenous people from various first
nations. As the first intertribal protect
action to focus that nation’s attention on
the situation of native people in the U.S.,
it is still recognized as one of the most
important events in contemporary history,
according to the National Park System.
Today, there are still four function-
ing boarding schools, including Chenawa.
They operate in a different way than they
used to, embracing indigenous heritage,
languages, traditions and culture.
“That transformation, again, came from
within,” Vaughn said.
The museum has already received com-
ments from patrons’ whose families were
impacted by the forced removal of tribal
children and the boarding school system.
One woman recognized a family member
in part of the exhibit.
“We have been hearing from people we
didn’t know had this as part of their his-
tory,” Vaughn said.
In addition to the exhibition in the
upstairs gallery, the museum also has an
interactive, educational component housed
in The Cedar People Gallery downstairs.
According to Vaughn, they are recom-
mending the exhibition for people 13 and
older, or that parents see it first and then
decide how to interact with their children
about the material.
Thursday, april 22, 2021 // 5