Although I’d say that the majority of the content covered in this class so far has upset me to a certain extent, what we went through this week was almost certainly the most upsetting. Everything about boarding schools just made me sick, and I just can’t shake it. There is a certain amount of empathy and even humanity that everyone should have when it comes to interacting with others; these feelings should double when it comes to dealing with children. I think, on a certain level, perhaps the government thought that sending these Native American children to boarding school would have benefitted them in some way, but the numbers make it abundantly clear that that was not the case in any way. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was functional for just short of 40 years, over that time 186 children died (Refer to slide 12 of the presentation shown on 25 September). That’s nearly 5 students dead every single year, and I’m certain they weren’t accidental in any way. I think the sort of abuse, including death, that these young Native Americans had to go through exemplifies the ways in which native peoples were treated over the course of American History. With contempt, a lack of care and, frankly, a complete absence of honor and decency. I’m certain that this practice fractured native communities even further. Stripping future generations of their culture and language while separating them from their families was an almost surefire way to extinguish any sense of community. The fact that so many native communities still exist today is a testament to their perseverance. I understand that, in some cases, communities are on their last legs, but, I think the fact that they are still together is commendable nonetheless. Especially seeing as mistreatment like that mentioned above was common throughout U.S History. I’d like to finish by commenting on what was said in the article posted for Friday the 27th concerning how those dead children at Carlisle Indian Industrial School have not been given their rights under NAGPRA. I think it’s disgusting. It shows how anti-Native sentiment is ingrained in American Bureaucracy. Things definitely have a long way to go.