[Snowbrushy]

Woman's thesis about an old Salem native boarding school cemetery reveals past conditions. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/01/unearthing-dark-native-boarding-school-160103072842972.html

[Pyrites]

The Canadian study only went in depth into schools with at least some records available. Most had no death records available. Amongst the comparisons is that it was safer to be a WWII Canadian infantryman than to be a kid placed in the church schools in the last century. Infantry. Early in the last century death rate at many schools was greater than 50%. Compares to the Gulag Archipelago.

[salish]

I have ancestors who were at Chemawa. My mother and her sister attended Indian boarding schools in Idaho & Montana. My aunt died of TB at a young age and is buried in an unmarked grave in Montana, along with several others. It used to be pretty depressing for my mother when we would visit the cemetery with flowers for her mother's grave. She knew her big sister was there, somewhere, but exactly where no one could tell us. Regarding the boarding schools, I've heard some pretty dreadful things, especially with my grandparents generation. My aunt was, apparently, a little rebellious, and she ran away from the schools at least once, maybe twice. But for my mother, the boarding schools were her only source of stability and structure in an otherwise miserable life. The sisters and staff at the convent school in DeSmet were especially kind to her, providing her with the care she never had at home. So I guess that's an alternative view of these schools that you don't often hear. It's probably the exception. My wife is Ojibwa and her family is from Ontario. From what I understand, her mother and aunt had very bad experiences in Canadian Indian boarding schools. So much so that they refused to talk about it much. Cheers, Cliff

[Seventy2002]

[Snowbrushy]

[salish]

Thanks Snowbrushy. Unfortunately, all of those who would have more information are now gone.