American Indian Students Protest Fence

[Rose Siding]

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Barbed wire was removed from the top of an 8-foot-high fence being built around an American Indian school after protests by students and tribal members who said it felt like an attempt "to keep the animals" from escaping.

The fence, which construction crews began setting up this week, was ordered by the federal government to improve campus safety and define the grounds at the Chemawa Indian School, a boarding school that serves tribes across the country.

But Larry Byers, the school supervisor, said he was not told about the barbed wire atop the fence before the crews arrived. It was being removed on Friday before weekend celebrations of the school's 125th anniversary.

Nedra Darling, a Bureau of Indian Affairs spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the barbed wire was originally meant to be temporary.

"It will be taken off," Darling said Friday. "We certainly understand the sensitivity of this."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-fence-protest,0,5496372.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[ret5hd]

1. "originally meant to be temporary" ...

what the hell does that mean? The barbed wire was either needed or it wasn't. If it is needed (legitimately) then state why and leave it there. If not, explain what the hell you were installing it for to begin with.

[struggle4progress]

5. And here's another explanation:

... The federal government's explanation for the fence was to .. define the grounds at the Chemawa Indian School ...
http://freepress2005.blogspot.com/2005/02/us-federal-government-orders-barb-wire.html

Perhaps if we wait a bit longer, some Bushista official will say that the barbed wire was intended to beautify the place and that birds like to use it to build nests ...

[mutus_frutex]

2. This brings to mind another "fence"

Half a world away...

[chlamor]

3. Welcome to minimum security

Fences-Borders-Cages-Prisons

Are schools forms of institutional incarceration?

[EFerrari]

4. How did those children get into a boarding school in the first place?

We've got nothing on Jane Eyre.

[Kimber Scott]

6. Nothing's changed...

When I saw this exhibit at the Heard Museum, I cried.

"Originally established to "civilize" Native Americans into mainstream society, Indian boarding schools became a shaping force of a national Native American identity. Federally run Indian boarding schools became a key element of the widespread national effort to "Americanize" Native Americans beginning in the late 19th century. The BIA's first official boarding school, Carlisle Indian School, was established in 1879 in Carlisle, Pa. Because a comprehensive listing has never been created, the actual number of Indian boarding schools is unknown. The number of Indian boarding schools established since 1879 is estimated to be in the hundreds. Today, four BIA boarding schools are currently in use.

Remembering Our Indian School Days breaks down the walls of misunderstanding by presenting the common experiences of the American education system. Acculturation and Assimilation Boarding schools separated children from their families and tribal cultures and required conformity to Euro-American society. The boarding school experience thrust Native children into an unfamiliar environment. Children were abruptly taken from their families and homes and placed in government-run boarding schools around the country. Conversing in one's Native language was strictly forbidden, and students were required to wear standard-issue Euro-American clothing. Many students who arrived at the schools with long hair, which is spiritually symbolic for many Native cultures, received haircuts immediately following their arrival. Traditionally an act associated with special ceremonies, hair cutting became one of the most immediate and devastating experiences of boarding school life for Native Americans. The wearing of long hair has served as a powerful symbol of personal identity throughout the boarding school history."

http://www.heard.org/show-exhibit.php?id=6