KERA's Think The painful history of Indian boarding schools
Apr 30, 2025
Mary Annette Pember, a national correspondent for ICT News and author of "Medicine River," explores the painful legacy of Indian boarding schools. She discusses how these institutions aimed for forced assimilation, creating generational trauma among Native communities. Pember shares personal stories of hunger and abuse faced by children, highlighting the struggle for identity and cultural reclamation today. The conversation also contrasts U.S. efforts with Canada’s responses to historical injustices, examining the ongoing impacts of the past.
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Mother's Boarding School Stories
- Mary Annette Pember's mother shared harsh boarding school stories often as heroic tales.
- She colored the truth to protect Mary and to emerge as a heroine in those stories.
True Purpose of Boarding Schools
- The government's official goal was education but real aim was forced assimilation.
- Eliminating Native language and culture was key to opening land and workforce control.
Nuns' Isolation and Longevity
- Nuns running boarding schools often endured isolation and fear, leading some to "go crazy".
- They stayed for decades in remote, harsh settings with little interaction outside the school.