2 April 2007
Tim Giago: The Dark Legacy of the Indian Boarding Schools | The Huffington Post
Well worth reading this whole article...
The Blog | Tim Giago: The Dark Legacy of the Indian Boarding Schools | The Huffington Post:
Thousands of former boarding school students, now in their old age, experienced and witnessed the many abuses. The terrible impact of those days still haunt them and that is why I am glad that I have been able get many of them to unbind their years of suppression. When they start to speak, hesitantly at first, they soon get into the emotions of it and it seems that the floodgates are opened for the first time in many years, and the words and tears flow easily.
My younger sister told me about her abuse on her deathbed and I, along with her three children, finally understood why she had become a violent, alcoholic woman for so much of her life. She died angry at the world and all alone. If only she had spoken sooner maybe we could have helped her.
My book and my lectures are now opening many of the Native minds that have forced out these terrible memories all of these years. Many of the problems of alcoholism and drug abuse now prevalent in Indian country can be traced back to the physical, emotional and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of our keepers in the BIA and mission boarding schools.
As we, the Indian people, revive the memories of those dreadful days, perhaps the process of healing can now begin.
Discussion Question: Discussion question for Green Grass, Running Water
Here's our new blog topic for this book. When posting on the blog, I encourage you to keep checking in and responding to other people's posts. This all works better if it's more of a dialogue and not a series of monologues. And, for that matter, don't be afraid to stir things up a bit. Maybe ask a question or two of your classmates.
Green Grass, Running Water is unlike any book we'll read on this course. And yet, it also has some key similarities to the others as well. How would you describe this book in comparison to the others? What are some of the most significant differences and parallels with the other books? What do you think King's objectives were in writing this novel?
Finally, how does this book deal with the issue of Native identity and the theme of "authenticity"?
