A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF COLONIZATION AND BOARDING SCHOOLS

I'm coming back to the idea of colonization, which is defined as the "cultural exploitation" that occurred with European/American expansion. European/American colonization drastically altered the societies it colonized, as it sought to 1) control 2) exploit 3) subjugate both Indigenous populations and their land and resources. 

We can also understand colonization through the attitudes and beliefs that colonizers had about Indigenous peoples. Many believed that because Indigenous people were different from European and Euro-American people, they were inherently inferior. This process is called "othering," "the Other" being anyone who basically wasn't white European/American/Westerner. The underlying mentality of "the Other" was that Indigenous people were "uncivilized" and thus were "savages" and needed to be "civilized." They could be "civilized" by giving up their identities as Indigenous people and assimilating into Western society. 

Not only did the government view Indigenous peoples as inferior, the U.S. government considered Indigenous communities as being “in the way” of its expansion and progress. As the U.S. moved West, the government’s primary goals were land acquisition and resolving “the Indian problem" and it attempted to accomplish these goals through violence, relocation, assimilation, and termination.

In it's push West, the government forced many Indian communities onto reservations and more often than not, these reservations were located on barren land, unsuitable for cultivation or hunting. The reservations were often located on land that the government did not want. Reservations still exist today throughout the U.S., with the Navajo Nation (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah) being the largest.

The government also aimed to “civilize” Indigenous communities via assimilation into the dominant culture, especially through boarding schools. Richard Henry Pratt (1840-1924), founded of Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Penn., Because of his views, many view Pratt as an agent of cultural genocide. Many American Indian/Alaska Native children were sent to boarding schools, where they transformed the children by cutting their hair and dressing them in white attire, in an attempt “kill the Indian, save the man.” The images below show a "before and after" photo of a boarding school student.

Many boarding school children experienced physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of authority figures. Children were punished for speaking their language and punishment ranging from having their hands whacked, having their mouths washed with soap, to being locked in closet. Former boarding school students often refused to teach their children their traditional language after being punished, resulting in loss of language in subsequent generations.

I had mentioned that my aana (grandmother) attended a boarding school at White Mountain. Students at White Mountain were punished for speaking Inupiaq and many didn't pass down Inupiaq to their children, which is why many of us do not speak Inupiaq. I will add that my aana has a 10th grade education and my taata had a 3rd grade education. It's interesting to note this because my aana did not teach Inupiaq to her daughters but my taata spoke Inupiaq to his sons, so much that my uncle, their youngest son, speaks Inupiaq very well! 

I will talk more about history of colonization and I also want to mention that I will be discussing the idea of "culture" and why I am so concerned with culture and how colonization affected Indigenous cultures. I know that some people might say to all of this, so what? So what if we were assimilated? So what if we lost our languages, traditions and customs? After all, assimilation is inevitable right? I will get to these in a bit! 

ON DEATH AND MY AAQA

In light of all the wonderful things that have been happening in my life lately, I've also been thinking about death. My aaqa (grandmother) passed away within the last year and it was the first time I had experienced the feelings that accompany death of a loved one so deeply. There have been deaths in my family before and they did affect me but I think that this was the first time I embraced those feelings without avoiding or altering them (I guess you could say that I mindfully accepted her death). As I get older, I have begun to develop a better understanding of love and loss and her death taught me a lot about these two things.

I read this simple quote: "From the moment we are born, we begin to die." The ultimate paradox. I think it's healthy to think about death because it is a natural part of life and we must accept the fact that we are all going to die, as are our loved ones. There is a sense of freedom when you are no longer afraid of death. 

My aaqa's death affected a lot of people because she was a formidable woman. Most people remember her for her kind, gentle soul - when they speak of her, they tell me that "she was the nicest lady." She was generous, humble, funny as hell, and very loving. This is how I remember her and I feel blessed that she was in my life. I have much to learn from her, from both her life and death.

I don't know much of her childhood except for what my mom shared with me, which was that she was mistreated badly. She married my aapa (grandfather) very young and became a mother at a young age. She raised my aunts and uncles while my aapa went off to work and she even raised many of her grandchildren as her own, to the point of them calling her "mom" instead of "aaqa." I feel special in that I am one of the few who actually call her "aaqa." 

Truth is, she did not have an easy life. She worked hard most of her life, taking care of the household and her husband. She hardly rested in life and witnessed tragic deaths - first the suicide of her son and the murder-suicide of my cousin Eric. She witnessed how alcohol and substance abuse affected her loved ones and their children. Towards the end of her life she became very sick,which was most likely lung cancer. Towards the last few days of her life she was in great physical pain.

And yet, through it all she never complained and never mistreated anyone, even though she had been mistreated herself. She knew tragedy and she knew hardship and yet she continued on.

I read another quote by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, "“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." This describes my aaqa perfectly. She is one of my most beautiful people I've ever known and I think most people would agree.

She knew how to embrace pain and suffering and did not turn to drugs or alcohol to soothe her pain. She was incredibly resilient and possessed an inner strength that was profound and un-shakeable. When I think of her, I think of deep, still waters.

I want to be like her, I want to claim that strength for myself. I want to be able to embrace pain and suffering because life is hard and tragic at times. I've talked about sexism and misogyny in previous posts and wanted to write something about the strength of Inupiaq women in my life. Writing about her makes me miss her like hell but that's okay.