Process Paper
I chose to do my National History Day project on the Indian Boarding School experience. I wanted to learn about Indian history because my mother's family are members of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota, and I wanted to learn more about my personal background.
I am especially grateful to Cal Codynah and Lydia Begay from the Southern California Indian Center who attended boarding schools and agreed to be interviewed by me.
I researched at the library and on the Internet. The most significant book I found was Boarding School Seasons, by Brenda J. Child. Besides helping me with my project, this book also aided me in finding where my great-grandma was sent to Indian School in the early 1900s. Most of her tribe was sent to Wahpeton, ND or Flandreau, SD. As I was reading through Boarding School Seasons, I was surprised to find a list of Ojibwe Indians who attended Indian Schools. My great-grandma’s name was on the list. She had been sent to Pipestone Indian School in Minnesota. My family was proud that my research led to the answer.
In addition to my research, creating a website was far more difficult than I expected. I had to keep a consistent layout on every page, make sure all my links worked correctly, and transfer all of my text properly.
My topic relates to the theme of Communication Through History because it illustrates how destroying communication can be used as a method to conquer people. By severely limiting communication between students and their families, boarding schools hoped to assimilate children and destroy their Indian identities.