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Stealing Indians
"A poignant story of colonization and assimilation, something I know a little bit about. A masterpiece."—Chinua Achebe
"One of our most brilliant writers tells a harsh truth about American history."—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
Praise for Edge of Nowhere:
"Smelcer's prose is lyrical, straightforward, and brilliant . . . authentic Native Alaskan storytelling at its best."—School Library Journal (starred review)
"A spare tale of courage, love and terrible obstacles."—The Wall Street Journal
"More psychological depth than Robinson Crusoe."—Frank McCourt
Praise for Lone Wolves:
"A beautiful and moving story of courage and love."—Ray Bradbury
"Smelcer [is] a rockstar of Alaskan literature."—Mushing magazine
"Powerful, eloquent, and fascinating."—Kirkus Reviews
"Smelcer's work has a touch of the classical, combining good old-fashioned adventure and survival themes with heart-tugging moments of clarity and poignancy that recall Jean Craighead George's Julie of the Wolves."—Booklist
Praise for The Trap:
"A gripping and poignant story, made even more so because of its basis in historical fact."—Horn Book (starred review)
Four Indian teenagers are kidnapped from different regions, their lives immutably changed by an institution designed to eradicate their identity. And no matter what their home, their stories are representative of every story, every stolen life. So far from home, without family to protect them, only their friendship helps them endure. This is a work of fiction. Every word is true.
John Smelcer is the author of over forty books, including essays, story collections, poetry, and novels, and five YA novels.
"One of our most brilliant writers tells a harsh truth about American history."—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
Praise for Edge of Nowhere:
"Smelcer's prose is lyrical, straightforward, and brilliant . . . authentic Native Alaskan storytelling at its best."—School Library Journal (starred review)
"A spare tale of courage, love and terrible obstacles."—The Wall Street Journal
"More psychological depth than Robinson Crusoe."—Frank McCourt
Praise for Lone Wolves:
"A beautiful and moving story of courage and love."—Ray Bradbury
"Smelcer [is] a rockstar of Alaskan literature."—Mushing magazine
"Powerful, eloquent, and fascinating."—Kirkus Reviews
"Smelcer's work has a touch of the classical, combining good old-fashioned adventure and survival themes with heart-tugging moments of clarity and poignancy that recall Jean Craighead George's Julie of the Wolves."—Booklist
Praise for The Trap:
"A gripping and poignant story, made even more so because of its basis in historical fact."—Horn Book (starred review)
Four Indian teenagers are kidnapped from different regions, their lives immutably changed by an institution designed to eradicate their identity. And no matter what their home, their stories are representative of every story, every stolen life. So far from home, without family to protect them, only their friendship helps them endure. This is a work of fiction. Every word is true.
John Smelcer is the author of over forty books, including essays, story collections, poetry, and novels, and five YA novels.
200 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 2016
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About the author
John E. Smelcer
32 books33 followersJohn E. Smelcer is the poetry editor of Rosebud magazine and the author of more than forty books. He is an Alaskan Native of the Ahtna tribe, and is now the last tribal member who reads and writes in Ahtna.
His forthcoming novel, LONE WOLVES is being partially funded via an Indiegogo campaign. Check out this video and the unusual gifts offered. Among them, you can choose an autographed, numbered, limited-edition print of an award-winning poem by the author, with original artwork; you can have your name used for a character in the author's next book. http://igg.me/at/Leapfrog-Press/x/399...
Smelcer's first novel, The Trap, was an American Library Association BBYA Top Ten Pick, a VOYA Top Shelf Selection, and a New York Public Library Notable Book. The Great Death was short-listed for the 2011 William Allen White Award, and nominated for the National Book Award, the BookTrust Prize (England), and the American Library Association's Award for American Indian YA Literature. His Alaska Native mythology books include The Raven and the Totem (introduced by Joseph Campbell). His short stories, poems, essays, and interviews have appeared in hundreds of magazines, and he is winner of the 2004 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award and of the 2004 Western Writers of America Award for Poetry for his collection Without Reservation, which was nominated for a Pulitzer. John divides his time between a cabin in Talkeetna, the climbing capitol of Alaska, where he wrote much of Lone Wolves, and Kirksville Mo., where he is a visiting scholar in the Department of Communications Studies at Truman State University.
Smelcer is a prolific writer and poet whose many works focus primarily on subjects related to his Native American heritage. An Ahtna Athabaskan Indian, he also serves as executive director of the Ahtna tribe's Heritage Foundation. He is, noted a biographer on the Center for the Art of Translation Web site, the only surviving reader, speaker, and writer of the native Ahtna language. John holds degrees in anthropology and archaeology, linguistics, literature, and education. He also holds a PhD in English and creative writing from Binghamton University, and formerly chaired the Alaska Native Studies program at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
In the Shadows of Mountains: Ahtna Stories from the Copper River contains a collection of twenty-four stories from the Ahtna tribe. The stories consist of material by Ahtna elders and other tales told to Smelcer by his Ahtna relatives. These largely mythical stories "explore the processes that formed this world and created people, animals, places, and the distinctive interactions" between humans and nonhumans in legendary times, noted James Ruppert in MELUS. The tales range from stories common throughout Alaska, such as "The Blind Man and the Lion," to distinctly Ahtna stories specific to individual families and clans, such as "When They Killed the Monkey People." Ruppert concluded that Smelcer's book "has some value as a broad introduction to Ahtna narrative aimed at a general reader."
The Trap, Smelcer's first novel, is an "unforgettable survival tale, with both a life and a culture in the balance," commented Vicky Smith in Horn Book Magazine. Septuagenarian Albert Least-Weasel still clings to the old ways he has known all his life. While checking his traplines one cold winter day, Albert gets caught in one of his own wolf traps. Unable to reach his store of supplies, Albert faces certain death by exposure, dehydration, or animal attack, unless he can free himself or is rescued. At home, Albert's seventeen-year-old grandson Johnny becomes increasingly worried about his grandfather's welfare. Despite his best efforts, he is unable to generate much concern for the old man from his uncles, and cultural pride and the unwillingness to disrespect his elders prevents him from setting out on a search until his grandmother asks him to find her husband. By then, however,
His forthcoming novel, LONE WOLVES is being partially funded via an Indiegogo campaign. Check out this video and the unusual gifts offered. Among them, you can choose an autographed, numbered, limited-edition print of an award-winning poem by the author, with original artwork; you can have your name used for a character in the author's next book. http://igg.me/at/Leapfrog-Press/x/399...
Smelcer's first novel, The Trap, was an American Library Association BBYA Top Ten Pick, a VOYA Top Shelf Selection, and a New York Public Library Notable Book. The Great Death was short-listed for the 2011 William Allen White Award, and nominated for the National Book Award, the BookTrust Prize (England), and the American Library Association's Award for American Indian YA Literature. His Alaska Native mythology books include The Raven and the Totem (introduced by Joseph Campbell). His short stories, poems, essays, and interviews have appeared in hundreds of magazines, and he is winner of the 2004 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award and of the 2004 Western Writers of America Award for Poetry for his collection Without Reservation, which was nominated for a Pulitzer. John divides his time between a cabin in Talkeetna, the climbing capitol of Alaska, where he wrote much of Lone Wolves, and Kirksville Mo., where he is a visiting scholar in the Department of Communications Studies at Truman State University.
Smelcer is a prolific writer and poet whose many works focus primarily on subjects related to his Native American heritage. An Ahtna Athabaskan Indian, he also serves as executive director of the Ahtna tribe's Heritage Foundation. He is, noted a biographer on the Center for the Art of Translation Web site, the only surviving reader, speaker, and writer of the native Ahtna language. John holds degrees in anthropology and archaeology, linguistics, literature, and education. He also holds a PhD in English and creative writing from Binghamton University, and formerly chaired the Alaska Native Studies program at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
In the Shadows of Mountains: Ahtna Stories from the Copper River contains a collection of twenty-four stories from the Ahtna tribe. The stories consist of material by Ahtna elders and other tales told to Smelcer by his Ahtna relatives. These largely mythical stories "explore the processes that formed this world and created people, animals, places, and the distinctive interactions" between humans and nonhumans in legendary times, noted James Ruppert in MELUS. The tales range from stories common throughout Alaska, such as "The Blind Man and the Lion," to distinctly Ahtna stories specific to individual families and clans, such as "When They Killed the Monkey People." Ruppert concluded that Smelcer's book "has some value as a broad introduction to Ahtna narrative aimed at a general reader."
The Trap, Smelcer's first novel, is an "unforgettable survival tale, with both a life and a culture in the balance," commented Vicky Smith in Horn Book Magazine. Septuagenarian Albert Least-Weasel still clings to the old ways he has known all his life. While checking his traplines one cold winter day, Albert gets caught in one of his own wolf traps. Unable to reach his store of supplies, Albert faces certain death by exposure, dehydration, or animal attack, unless he can free himself or is rescued. At home, Albert's seventeen-year-old grandson Johnny becomes increasingly worried about his grandfather's welfare. Despite his best efforts, he is unable to generate much concern for the old man from his uncles, and cultural pride and the unwillingness to disrespect his elders prevents him from setting out on a search until his grandmother asks him to find her husband. By then, however,
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September 16, 2017
Smelcer's book is set in the 1950s and is located in the United States. Below are my notes and comments as I read his book:
CHAPTER ONE is about the four teenagers and how they were taken from their homes.
Lucy Secondchief is 13 years old. She's thinking about her father, who's been dead for four years. Specifically, she's thinking about the day of his burial, when some people brought food to their house, but others came to collect old debts. The latter took two rifles, a stack of lumber, the entire sled dog team, and the sled, too. That night, the sky was filled with the northern lights, which Lucy has been taught to fear because they are "a bad omen" and "a malevolent force that comes down to carry people away" (p. 18). Rather than stay inside she walks into a field. The lights drop down and surround her. People in the village watch in disbelief. Dogs howl and cower. Lucy starts to laugh aloud.
One day, a "tall-roofed black car" pulled into Lucy's driveway. Two men get out of it, approach Lucy's mother, and hand her a paper. Lucy's mother can't read, but (p. 22):
[S]he knew what the document said. Every Indian parent knew what it said. All across the country, Indian families were given the same piece of paper, which proclaimed the end to families. The paper was the law. It was the government's authority to steal Indian children from their families and send them far from their homes and villages. The law was for the sake of the children, a ticket to a better life free from the burdens of poverty and ignorance. The paper was the law that sent them to Kansas, Oregon, the Dakotas, California, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania--anywhere far enough away so that they would forget what it means to be Indian.
The men grab Lucy, drag her to the car, push her into the backseat and close the door. There are no door handles on the inside.
Simon Lone Fight is 14 years old. He lives in an "arid desert" (p. 22) of canyons, arroyos, buttes, and mesas. His parents were killed when he was 13. He is passed from "one cramped house of poverty to another" (p. 24). One of those homes is with his grandparents. One day, Simon sees a "black, high-roofed automobile" (p. 25) arriving at their house. Hiding behind the outhouse, Simon watches two white men get out of the car, briefcase in hand, and approach his grandfather. They argue, and then go into the house. Simon, a runner, takes off. That happens three more times that month. One day, his grandparents offer him ice cream if he'll go to town with them and help them sell hay. Instead of going into town, however, they pull off at the train station. Simon thinks they're going to load the hay onto a train. The train arrives, and Simon doesn't hear or see the black car. The two white men grab him. His grandfather watches and tells him "You must go to school. It's the law." He is put on the train.
Noah Boyscout is also 14 years old. He's out hunting in a snowy landscape. Uneasy when he sees something in the distance, "the young Indian" (p. 28) checks to see how many bullets he has. As he heads home he thinks about how, as a "half-breed" he's an outcast and that he feels more at home in the forest with animals than he does with people. His mother isn't Native and doesn't like the stories he tells her of his interactions with animals: a fox lets him pet it, and a baby moose lays its head on his hip and naps, and he speaks raven and grouse. The thing he saw in the distance turns out to be one of several wolves who are pursuing him. He is afraid of them, ponders shooting them, but figures out that they're really after the dead rabbits he has in his pack. He throws the rabbits at them and makes his way on home to their cabin where there's a "tall black car" (p. 33) in the driveway. When he goes inside, a man in a black business suit and hat greets him. His mother starts crying and runs to the bedroom. There are photographs and papers on the table. The man tells Noah he has to go away, to a school for Indian boys and girls. The story jumps to the next character, Elijah.
Elijah High Horse is with his cousin, Johnny Big Jim. They're in the woods, camping. With his hunting rifle Elijah shoots at a deer that Johnny can't see. Both are 14. "They were Indians" (p. 35). Time spent in the woods was sacred, "a time to be what their grandfathers had been long ago" (p. 35). The next day they visit their grandfather. Elijah tells him about the deer that Johnny couldn't see, and his grandfather, "an old chief" (p. 37), tells him that when he was a baby being baptized, his nose started bleeding when the holy water touched him. They knew, by that bleeding nose, that Elijah would be a shaman one day, if he was strong enough not to be used up by spirits he would eventually start to see. Later, "the two young Indians" (p. 39) sit by a fire, and Elijah tells Johnny he's also seen a white buffalo. A week later, Elijah's dad drives him to the train station, hands him a suitcase and a paper bag with fried chicken, a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, and two apples (p. 39):
Johnny was there to say goodbye. He wasn't going. The government had already taken two of his older brothers and a sister. He was allowed to stay. Not all Indian children were taken from their homes. That would have been unnecessary and, practically speaking, impossible. Neither the available room nor the funding would allow it. The government's goal could be achieved by taking only some, similar to the way the government didn't draft every young man from large families into military service during the war against the Nazis and the Japanese, over for only a few years.
Johnny waves goodbye, his father shuffles off, and "The young Indian" (p. 40) got on the train.
CHAPTER TWO is about the four teens and their experiences on their way to Wellington (fictitious name of the boarding school).
Lucy. After many hours on a narrow, winding highway, the car Lucy is in arrives at a diner where she has french fries, and then a few hours later they arrive at a bus station where she is given a bus ticket. She rubs the red welts on her wrists, but we don't know why those welts are there. She's told that the bus driver will know where she has to get off. She has nothing other than the clothes she is wearing (no jacket). In the morning when she re-boards the bus after a stop, there's a new rider on the bus: Noah.
Noah. Noah invites Lucy to sit with him. He offers her an apple. The bus travels hundreds of miles, south. They tell each other about their families. Late that day the driver tells them they have to get on another bus. They can sit and wait for it, but "the Indians" (p. 46) are tired of sitting and walk around the town. A pack of mongrel dogs come out of an abandoned warehouse and run at them. Lucy is afraid but Noah kneels, holds out a hand, and speaks to them. They drop to their bellies and let Noah pet them. After awhile he stands, points to the warehouse, and tells them to go home. The dogs go off, behind the building. "The two young Indians" (p. 47) return to the station, board their next bus and ride all night and much of the next day.
Simon. On the train, Simon heads northeast, knowing it will take two days to get to the town named on his ticket. With no food, he's hungry but "The Indian" (p. 49) goes to the dining car and grabs leftover food from empty tables. The next morning he sees "an Indian boy" (p. 50) has gotten on the train, too. It is Elijah, who leans toward Simon and asks his name.
Elijah. Elijah and Simon start to talk and learn they're going to the same place. Neither remembers the name of the school but talk about the photographs they saw of the iron arched gateway. Simon learns that Elijah had been on the train for a day and a half longer than he had and he's hungry because he's eaten up all the food his dad had given him. Together they go to the dining car, grab some leftovers, eat and that night, play card games. The next morning the train stops in a large city where they learn they will change trains. They have time before the next train arrives so the two set off to look around. Elijah ("the amazed Indian" p. 53) imagines people who work in the offices. Looking at the people milling about reminds him of salmon.
Simon and Elijah.
"The Indians" (p. 53) walk for blocks. "The amazed Indian" (Elijah) imagines all the people in the glassy office buildings they pass by. As they go, people hand them change (money), which they accept, thinking the city people are the friendliest ones in the world. They buy hot dogs and then go down some stairs to an underground train where they encounter four older boys who start to bully them. The oldest asks them if they're Mexicans and if they have any pesos. Elijah says "We're Indian!" One of the boys tries to grab Elijah's backpack. Elijah sees a vague image beside one of the boys. It is a man, holding an empty bottle in one hand and a belt in the other. Elijah tells that boy that he's going to end up like his dad, who drank too much and beat him. The boy is shaken by what Elijah says. Elijah and Simon fight the four boys. Afterwords, Elijah and Simon head back to the station and the chapter ends.
CHAPTERS 3-to end of book
On page 69 Elijah sees "English Only" posters on the wall.
On page 112 of Stealing Indians, Simon and another boy speak Navajo to each other. Their conversation is overheard and Simon ends up being locked in an old maintenance building. It is a dramatic scene. Simon is led to the back of the poorly lit room where he's handcuffed to a pipe and left to sit on the concrete floor for several days.
*****
CHAPTER ONE is about the four teenagers and how they were taken from their homes.
Lucy Secondchief is 13 years old. She's thinking about her father, who's been dead for four years. Specifically, she's thinking about the day of his burial, when some people brought food to their house, but others came to collect old debts. The latter took two rifles, a stack of lumber, the entire sled dog team, and the sled, too. That night, the sky was filled with the northern lights, which Lucy has been taught to fear because they are "a bad omen" and "a malevolent force that comes down to carry people away" (p. 18). Rather than stay inside she walks into a field. The lights drop down and surround her. People in the village watch in disbelief. Dogs howl and cower. Lucy starts to laugh aloud.
Debbie's comments: What is Lucy's tribal affiliation? We aren't told. Because of the northern lights and the sled dog/team, we can assume she's meant to be Alaskan Native, but which one? There are over 200. Amongst them, there are over 20 different languages. And of course, a diversity with regard to how they view the northern lights. Do some think they're a malevolent force? Maybe so, but it isn't likely they all feel that way. Lack of tribal specificity, then, has consequences for additional information we're given.
One day, a "tall-roofed black car" pulled into Lucy's driveway. Two men get out of it, approach Lucy's mother, and hand her a paper. Lucy's mother can't read, but (p. 22):
[S]he knew what the document said. Every Indian parent knew what it said. All across the country, Indian families were given the same piece of paper, which proclaimed the end to families. The paper was the law. It was the government's authority to steal Indian children from their families and send them far from their homes and villages. The law was for the sake of the children, a ticket to a better life free from the burdens of poverty and ignorance. The paper was the law that sent them to Kansas, Oregon, the Dakotas, California, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania--anywhere far enough away so that they would forget what it means to be Indian.
The men grab Lucy, drag her to the car, push her into the backseat and close the door. There are no door handles on the inside.
My comments: I've found nothing about tall-roofed black cars that were used to pick up and remove Native children from their homes. As far as I am able to determine (via print/electronic sources or through emails with colleagues in Native studies/law), there was no law like that. The boarding schools were designed to wipe out Native identity in students but there was no law written down on a piece of paper that was handed to families in the 1950s. I have not found evidence of such papers prior to the 1950s either. I did find something specific to removing Native children from their homes without the consent of their parents, guardians or next of kin, dated June 21, 1906, but it is about reform school, not boarding school:
25 USC § 302. Indian Reform School; rules and regulations; consent of parents to placing youth in reform school
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, is authorized and directed to select and designate some one of the schools or other institution herein specifically provided for as an “Indian Reform School”, and to make all needful rules and regulations for its conduct, and the placing of Indian youth therein: Provided, That the appropriation for collection and transportation, and so forth, of pupils, and the specific appropriation for such school so selected shall be available for its support and maintenance: Provided further, That the consent of parents, guardians, or next of kin shall not be required to place Indian youth in said school.
Many coercive measures were used to get parents to send their children to the schools. It is possible that two men in Alaska were using a paper like that, but it isn't plausible. It is more dramatic to present these removals with that piece of paper, but that isn't accurate, and is information that would have to be unlearned at some point. There's no reason, in my view, to add to the body of misinformation that already exists.
Simon Lone Fight is 14 years old. He lives in an "arid desert" (p. 22) of canyons, arroyos, buttes, and mesas. His parents were killed when he was 13. He is passed from "one cramped house of poverty to another" (p. 24). One of those homes is with his grandparents. One day, Simon sees a "black, high-roofed automobile" (p. 25) arriving at their house. Hiding behind the outhouse, Simon watches two white men get out of the car, briefcase in hand, and approach his grandfather. They argue, and then go into the house. Simon, a runner, takes off. That happens three more times that month. One day, his grandparents offer him ice cream if he'll go to town with them and help them sell hay. Instead of going into town, however, they pull off at the train station. Simon thinks they're going to load the hay onto a train. The train arrives, and Simon doesn't hear or see the black car. The two white men grab him. His grandfather watches and tells him "You must go to school. It's the law." He is put on the train.
My comments: There's that "law" again. As noted above, I have found no evidence of a law or piece of paper presented to parents. Use of "one cramped house of poverty to another" sounds like an outsider's observations rather than those of Simon or his relatives, and the way Simon was taken doesn't ring true.
Noah Boyscout is also 14 years old. He's out hunting in a snowy landscape. Uneasy when he sees something in the distance, "the young Indian" (p. 28) checks to see how many bullets he has. As he heads home he thinks about how, as a "half-breed" he's an outcast and that he feels more at home in the forest with animals than he does with people. His mother isn't Native and doesn't like the stories he tells her of his interactions with animals: a fox lets him pet it, and a baby moose lays its head on his hip and naps, and he speaks raven and grouse. The thing he saw in the distance turns out to be one of several wolves who are pursuing him. He is afraid of them, ponders shooting them, but figures out that they're really after the dead rabbits he has in his pack. He throws the rabbits at them and makes his way on home to their cabin where there's a "tall black car" (p. 33) in the driveway. When he goes inside, a man in a black business suit and hat greets him. His mother starts crying and runs to the bedroom. There are photographs and papers on the table. The man tells Noah he has to go away, to a school for Indian boys and girls. The story jumps to the next character, Elijah.
My comments: I think the snowy landscape and Noah's parka and snowshoes place him in Alaska, but as with Lucy, we aren't given a specific tribe. The use of "the young Indian" tells us he's Native but I find that phrase jarring. It objectifies him and sounds more like an outsider's description than an insider voice. There's that tall black car again and reference to papers, one of which I assume is that "law" that Lucy's and Simon's parents are talking about. The story immediately moves to the next character.
Elijah High Horse is with his cousin, Johnny Big Jim. They're in the woods, camping. With his hunting rifle Elijah shoots at a deer that Johnny can't see. Both are 14. "They were Indians" (p. 35). Time spent in the woods was sacred, "a time to be what their grandfathers had been long ago" (p. 35). The next day they visit their grandfather. Elijah tells him about the deer that Johnny couldn't see, and his grandfather, "an old chief" (p. 37), tells him that when he was a baby being baptized, his nose started bleeding when the holy water touched him. They knew, by that bleeding nose, that Elijah would be a shaman one day, if he was strong enough not to be used up by spirits he would eventually start to see. Later, "the two young Indians" (p. 39) sit by a fire, and Elijah tells Johnny he's also seen a white buffalo. A week later, Elijah's dad drives him to the train station, hands him a suitcase and a paper bag with fried chicken, a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, and two apples (p. 39):
Johnny was there to say goodbye. He wasn't going. The government had already taken two of his older brothers and a sister. He was allowed to stay. Not all Indian children were taken from their homes. That would have been unnecessary and, practically speaking, impossible. Neither the available room nor the funding would allow it. The government's goal could be achieved by taking only some, similar to the way the government didn't draft every young man from large families into military service during the war against the Nazis and the Japanese, over for only a few years.
Johnny waves goodbye, his father shuffles off, and "The young Indian" (p. 40) got on the train.
My comments: Again, we don't know what Elijah's tribal nation is, but the mention of the white buffalo suggests he's Lakota. That part about his nose bleeding sounds more like a horror movie than anything else. Elijah, in Christian stories, was a prophet. It strikes me as odd that this boy's family would name this infant--who they believe will be a "shaman"--by the name of a prophet whose holy water causes that nosebleed. And that part about Johnny being able to stay strikes me as an inconsistency. Remember--according to this "law," everyone has to go. Here, now, we have a different scenario. Does that "law" delineate exceptions for a 4th child in any given family?
CHAPTER TWO is about the four teens and their experiences on their way to Wellington (fictitious name of the boarding school).
Lucy. After many hours on a narrow, winding highway, the car Lucy is in arrives at a diner where she has french fries, and then a few hours later they arrive at a bus station where she is given a bus ticket. She rubs the red welts on her wrists, but we don't know why those welts are there. She's told that the bus driver will know where she has to get off. She has nothing other than the clothes she is wearing (no jacket). In the morning when she re-boards the bus after a stop, there's a new rider on the bus: Noah.
My comments: In the "Questions for Discussion" at the end of the book, item #4 is about a pair of handcuffs at the museum at Haskell Indian Nations University. I assume the author meant to include a passage about Lucy being handcuffed, hence the red welts, but it isn't there.
Noah. Noah invites Lucy to sit with him. He offers her an apple. The bus travels hundreds of miles, south. They tell each other about their families. Late that day the driver tells them they have to get on another bus. They can sit and wait for it, but "the Indians" (p. 46) are tired of sitting and walk around the town. A pack of mongrel dogs come out of an abandoned warehouse and run at them. Lucy is afraid but Noah kneels, holds out a hand, and speaks to them. They drop to their bellies and let Noah pet them. After awhile he stands, points to the warehouse, and tells them to go home. The dogs go off, behind the building. "The two young Indians" (p. 47) return to the station, board their next bus and ride all night and much of the next day.
Simon. On the train, Simon heads northeast, knowing it will take two days to get to the town named on his ticket. With no food, he's hungry but "The Indian" (p. 49) goes to the dining car and grabs leftover food from empty tables. The next morning he sees "an Indian boy" (p. 50) has gotten on the train, too. It is Elijah, who leans toward Simon and asks his name.
Elijah. Elijah and Simon start to talk and learn they're going to the same place. Neither remembers the name of the school but talk about the photographs they saw of the iron arched gateway. Simon learns that Elijah had been on the train for a day and a half longer than he had and he's hungry because he's eaten up all the food his dad had given him. Together they go to the dining car, grab some leftovers, eat and that night, play card games. The next morning the train stops in a large city where they learn they will change trains. They have time before the next train arrives so the two set off to look around. Elijah ("the amazed Indian" p. 53) imagines people who work in the offices. Looking at the people milling about reminds him of salmon.
My comments:
Noah's powers are handy but I view them as stereotypical in the one-with-nature-and-animals way that Native peoples are often depicted. But, my guess is that most of the American reading public will think "cool" when they read how he handles those dogs. As you see, I'm noting some of the places where "the Indian" or "the Indians" is used. I think it distances the reader from the characters. Imagine those passages if the author just replaced all of them with "the kid" or "the kids." Recall that Elijah saw a white buffalo, and so I thought he was, perhaps, Lakota. But now he's talking about salmon and being on the train longer than Simon, which suggests he's of one of the tribes on the northwest coast. Which is it? Is Elijah of a Plains tribe? Or a northwest coast tribe?
Simon and Elijah.
"The Indians" (p. 53) walk for blocks. "The amazed Indian" (Elijah) imagines all the people in the glassy office buildings they pass by. As they go, people hand them change (money), which they accept, thinking the city people are the friendliest ones in the world. They buy hot dogs and then go down some stairs to an underground train where they encounter four older boys who start to bully them. The oldest asks them if they're Mexicans and if they have any pesos. Elijah says "We're Indian!" One of the boys tries to grab Elijah's backpack. Elijah sees a vague image beside one of the boys. It is a man, holding an empty bottle in one hand and a belt in the other. Elijah tells that boy that he's going to end up like his dad, who drank too much and beat him. The boy is shaken by what Elijah says. Elijah and Simon fight the four boys. Afterwords, Elijah and Simon head back to the station and the chapter ends.
My comments: I can imagine these two boys being struck by what they see in a city, but the way their unfamiliarity is described seems a kind of mockery of their lack of familiarity with a city. And--again, the objectification of them is jarring.
Those are my notes for chapters one and two, where we meet the characters. There are flaws in the ways these characters are depicted which has bearing on the story. Once they arrive at the school, the four will meet other students. One talks about his journey. It struck me as odd (p. 62): "I was in the bottom of a ship for two days. It was dark and they didn't let us out, neither. It was like we was cows or something. They just herded us in and closed the door." Where, I wonder, did that ship originate?!
CHAPTERS 3-to end of book
On page 69 Elijah sees "English Only" posters on the wall.
To my knowledge, there weren't posters like that in the schools in the 1950s. Indeed, significant changes took place from the 1930s through mid 1950s. Under the direction of John Collier (appointed as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1933 by President Roosevelt), there was a shift to make the curriculum reflect Native life and instill pride in a Native identity. In My Mother's House by Ann Nolan Clark, illustrated by Velino Herrera, is one of the outcomes of that shift. With various Native illustrators, Clark wrote several books like In My Mother's House between 1940 and 1951. Some of them were published in a Native language. It seems unlikely then, that there would be "English Only" posters on the walls of the school Smelcer has in his story. Remember--it is set in the 1950s.
On page 112 of Stealing Indians, Simon and another boy speak Navajo to each other. Their conversation is overheard and Simon ends up being locked in an old maintenance building. It is a dramatic scene. Simon is led to the back of the poorly lit room where he's handcuffed to a pipe and left to sit on the concrete floor for several days.
That scene sounds a lot like what happened in the schools in earlier times. In particular, it reminds me of a scene from a documentary about Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Again, though, it doesn't ring true for the 1950s. There are other plot points that I also find problematic.
*****
My comments: I think I'll stop here. I've seen enough. I do not recommend Stealing Indians. It has problems of stereotyping, lack of tribal specificity, and problems with accuracy with respect to boarding schools of the time period in which the story is set.
Given the depth and breadth of inaccurate depictions of Native people--past and present--in textbooks, movies, TV shows, and children's books, I firmly believe that the experiences Native people lived through must be presented with integrity and accuracy. Over-dramatizing what happened is a disservice to their experiences.
August 24, 2017
As a residential school survivor it made me sick when I learned this white guy from Alaska committed words to paper as if he had gone through the horrors of residential school himself. This man has been outed as a fraud and a pathological liar by several blog sites, called out for his PEN USA nomination. This is the worst kind of cultural appropriation I have been witness to since Joseph Boyden.
This is not Native American literature. This is a sham. The man is a disgrace to the literary world. Just another Pretendian mining other people's legitimate suffering for his own profit and fame.
What he has done only further wounds those who survived the USA and Canada's monstrous residential school systems. Shame on you John Smelcer, you're a sad excuse for a human being.
This is not Native American literature. This is a sham. The man is a disgrace to the literary world. Just another Pretendian mining other people's legitimate suffering for his own profit and fame.
What he has done only further wounds those who survived the USA and Canada's monstrous residential school systems. Shame on you John Smelcer, you're a sad excuse for a human being.
August 24, 2017
How did Achebe blurb a book published AFTER he died? http://www.thestranger.com/features/2...
August 27, 2017
Dishonest man profiting off of the struggles of native folk.
http://www.thestranger.com/features/2...
http://www.thestranger.com/features/2...
December 3, 2019
The quote "This is a word of fiction. Every word is true" is accurate in that the author created four youth from different regions (although details of where they came from and what tribe they belonged to is oddly missing) to represent a microcosm of the thousands of Indian children that were forced to attend boarding schools and assimilate into white culture. Four teens- Simon, Noah, Elijah and Lucy- are kidnapped from their families under the guise of the law and sent to the fictional Wellington Boarding School (modeled after the infamous Carlisle School) and through their experiences are stripped of their cultural identity and family connectedness. This forced assimilation through total immersion, corporal punishment, and re-education breaks many student's spirits and led to many dying away from their loved ones. At times the chapters could be very heavy-handed with story after story of the abuses that the youth were subject to, yet it tries to bring attention to this sad chapter in history. That there was no redemption at the end for these four youth, makes this story a melancholy read, but hopefully, the discussion questions at the end will force people to be more aware of how they perceive other cultures. For further reflection on how these schools led to cultural disenfranchisement and ruined family bonds, read The Outside Circle by Patti LaBoucane-Benson which details the generational fall out that resulted from misguided government practices.
June 8, 2016
I have to compare this book to Diane Chamberlain's Necessary Lies in that it exposes a dark corner of American history most people probably aren't aware existed. When I read Necessary Lies, I immediately assumed it was an alternate history because the subject matter seemed so far from possible I couldn't believe it could be true. The same thing happened with Stealing Indians.
But the foundation of the story is true. It is based on historical accounts, true stories of the Indian Boarding School Experiment. It follows four teenagers as they're taken from their homes by the government to be transported to the fictional school, Wellington. These four students' experiences embody the horrors and degradations of having their identities stripped from them through years of indoctrination and abuse.
This book is only "young adult" because the protagonists happen to be teenagers. It's really for everyone who needs to be reminded of where we came from as a nation and just how insidious and deeply rooted our prejudices can be. I imagine it will foster a lot of conversations about the sanctity of cultural identity and our current national responsibility in righting the wrongs of our past.
But the foundation of the story is true. It is based on historical accounts, true stories of the Indian Boarding School Experiment. It follows four teenagers as they're taken from their homes by the government to be transported to the fictional school, Wellington. These four students' experiences embody the horrors and degradations of having their identities stripped from them through years of indoctrination and abuse.
This book is only "young adult" because the protagonists happen to be teenagers. It's really for everyone who needs to be reminded of where we came from as a nation and just how insidious and deeply rooted our prejudices can be. I imagine it will foster a lot of conversations about the sanctity of cultural identity and our current national responsibility in righting the wrongs of our past.
November 4, 2016
I admittedly haven't finished this. I picked it up because it got great Goodreads reviews and I'm on the waiting list for the next Tana French book, so I thought what the hey. This lacks depth in a way that really surprised me - there's straightforward, and then there's elementary. This felt like the latter. I can only imagine this is good if you have never ever encountered anything about Indian schools before, and if you lack the imagination to put together how horrifying it was. Anyway, I was hoping for more.
As an aside, why isn't Charles Eastman a bigger thing? That's who I'd like to read about.
As an aside, why isn't Charles Eastman a bigger thing? That's who I'd like to read about.
May 12, 2017
I've read teen fiction and nonfiction about indigenous people's experiences at residential school in Canada (and now Rabbit-Proof Fence set in Australia), and this is the first book I've read about Indian Residential School in the United States. Obviously that shows a gap in my research and understanding... and since I'm from Washington State originally, it hit me in a different section of the gut.
That admitted... I saw differences from what I've read about Canadian residential school experiences. In this book, the children are older when they're taken away. They travel farther from their reserves (I had no idea that was possible, given the situation in Canada, but it was). They can't go home over the holidays. They make friends with each other in a way I don't see reflected in other books I've read, and I can't tell whether
1) the nature of the friendships was different,
2) whether it has to do with the American way of friendship,
3) something about US Indian Residential School allowed for a different kind of friendship, or
3) it is the writing style that leads me to feel a difference.
The characters are compelling, multi-faceted, and defiant in creative, courageous ways. The students get revenge on the adults in ways that I haven't seen in other books - a man is called out for being a pervert; kids go to dance their style away from the school; they feed a boy in solitary confinement and even smuggle a letter to him; a teen would rather give up his one outlet and gift rather than give the headmaster the opportunity to "make our school proud". The epilogue is quietly heartbreaking.
Similarities between the Canadian and US experiences as related by these books: mandatory haircuts and physical abuse for speaking their own languages, graveyards next to the institutional school, institutionalized sexual and physical abuse, solitary confinement as punishment, powerful adults trying to break children's spirits, systemic racism infecting the teachers and townspeople and passed on to the students.
I highly recommend this book.
That admitted... I saw differences from what I've read about Canadian residential school experiences. In this book, the children are older when they're taken away. They travel farther from their reserves (I had no idea that was possible, given the situation in Canada, but it was). They can't go home over the holidays. They make friends with each other in a way I don't see reflected in other books I've read, and I can't tell whether
1) the nature of the friendships was different,
2) whether it has to do with the American way of friendship,
3) something about US Indian Residential School allowed for a different kind of friendship, or
3) it is the writing style that leads me to feel a difference.
The characters are compelling, multi-faceted, and defiant in creative, courageous ways. The students get revenge on the adults in ways that I haven't seen in other books - a man is called out for being a pervert; kids go to dance their style away from the school; they feed a boy in solitary confinement and even smuggle a letter to him; a teen would rather give up his one outlet and gift rather than give the headmaster the opportunity to "make our school proud". The epilogue is quietly heartbreaking.
Similarities between the Canadian and US experiences as related by these books: mandatory haircuts and physical abuse for speaking their own languages, graveyards next to the institutional school, institutionalized sexual and physical abuse, solitary confinement as punishment, powerful adults trying to break children's spirits, systemic racism infecting the teachers and townspeople and passed on to the students.
I highly recommend this book.
January 13, 2019
Ugh! This book is not worth the time. I teach high school English, and have read a lot of books by indigenous writers, about indigenous lives...great books, by the likes of Richard Wagamese, Richard Van Camp, Drew Hayden Taylor. They are indigenous and share their own truths, and I learned a lot.
John Smelcer is not indigenous, and his book often seems disrespectful towards indigenous people. It seems like he took various facts and tried to fit them into his version of a residential school story, not caring if the fact came from the 1800’s or the 30’s or from the West coast or the Plains. Nothing fits together.
He calls all the characters “Indians” and rarely mentions actual tribes or languages, never differentiating between different cultural traditions, or acknowledging the uniqueness of each group. They’re all just Indians. This book made me uncomfortable, because of its lack of respect for indigenous people.
I’m sorry I wasted money on this book, because I won’t use it in my classroom. There are so many much better, truthful stories about this topic.
John Smelcer is not indigenous, and his book often seems disrespectful towards indigenous people. It seems like he took various facts and tried to fit them into his version of a residential school story, not caring if the fact came from the 1800’s or the 30’s or from the West coast or the Plains. Nothing fits together.
He calls all the characters “Indians” and rarely mentions actual tribes or languages, never differentiating between different cultural traditions, or acknowledging the uniqueness of each group. They’re all just Indians. This book made me uncomfortable, because of its lack of respect for indigenous people.
I’m sorry I wasted money on this book, because I won’t use it in my classroom. There are so many much better, truthful stories about this topic.
October 4, 2019
I picked this book up at a library book sale.
Good Lord ya'll. I had no idea that these schools even EXISTED, so I am happy that I picked up this book and expanded my knowledge. I am not surprised they existed, or surprised at the things that happened there though, and that's sad.
This book follows 4 students who came from different parts of the United States.
It goes through how they were taken, how they traveled, and their horrific experiences while at the school, Wellington, and the aftermath of those years.
I absolutely want EVERY Caucasian person to read this book, particularly ones who live in North America.
We should always know our past. Always.
That's the only way to prevent things like this from happening again.
- CJ
Good Lord ya'll. I had no idea that these schools even EXISTED, so I am happy that I picked up this book and expanded my knowledge. I am not surprised they existed, or surprised at the things that happened there though, and that's sad.
This book follows 4 students who came from different parts of the United States.
It goes through how they were taken, how they traveled, and their horrific experiences while at the school, Wellington, and the aftermath of those years.
I absolutely want EVERY Caucasian person to read this book, particularly ones who live in North America.
We should always know our past. Always.
That's the only way to prevent things like this from happening again.
- CJ
November 27, 2023
DNF after two chapters when I learned about its inauthenticity. Looks like I can’t give this review without marking it read. I didn’t know the controversy before picking up this book, and I even read the “about the author” to ensure it was written by an indigenous writer before checking it out. Now that I know the controversy I just can’t finish this book. And I’m disappointed it was on a table at the library highlighting indigenous stories and indigenous authors.
A better book would be Five Little Indians by Michelle Good.
A better book would be Five Little Indians by Michelle Good.
February 22, 2017
This book was difficult for me to read. It was a fictionalized account of four native children going to the residential Indian schools. My great grandmother was raised on the Six Nations reserve in Brantford, Ontario and I kept thinking, this could have been my grandma, my great uncles, my dad! Definitely not a shiny moment in our histories. Worth the read, especially for jr high and high school history students.
January 14, 2020
Definitely not written to appeal to an adult audience, this book can be a great introduction for kids. It’s graphic but not gratuitously, and the kids’ tribal affiliations are nebulous enough that readers of many areas and nations could identify directly with them. It’s a fast read, gripping in its horrific detail.
July 24, 2022
The writing is very good. The similes tended to the hyperbolic, but what an important story to tell. I felt the stories underplayed how awful the experience was for the indigenous children ripped from their families — America’s version of ethnic cleansing. Unfortunately, the most awful stories likely went to the grave. It’s a good, quick read on a very important topic.
May 15, 2017
I have to admit that I can't finish reading this book. The topic is so important. It's a part of our history, and it's one we should be reading and learning more about, but this book unfortunately is overly simplistic and un-engaging to me. It may work for younger readers, though.
July 11, 2020
This book was fascinating and heartbreaking. I only wish there were more in this genre.
January 23, 2017
Not the best writing I've ever encountered, but an important history.
July 29, 2016
This is an important book. Stealing Indians tells the poignant story of four Native American teens who are taken from their homes in 1950 and shipped to boarding school. Smelcer develops rich psychological depth of character for each of the four protagonists as they develop deep bonds of friendship, discover the depth of bias stacked against them, struggle with their own identities when language and culture are taken from them, and cope with devastating news from home. This story is told lovingly by the son and grandson of survivors of these institutions and based on decades of research including hundreds of interviews with elders across North America. Stealing Indians exhibits lyrical writing associated with great literature and the mystical realism that characterizes the genre of Native American fiction. It challenges all of us to consider the lasting repercussions on individual lives and entire communities of a period of American history when distinct communities based on language, religion, and culture were considered a threat to mainstream American society.
August 9, 2016
Four Indian teenagers are forced from their homes on Indian reservations. They are sent to a boarding school in Stealing Indians. These teenagers are told not to speak their Native America language. The consequence for speaking any Indian language is imprisonment. Stealing Indians raises my consciousness that a different kind of prejudice and racism exists. Each character has a distinct Native American personality trait that I enjoyed. The female character of Lucy likes to tell stories about nature. The character of Elijah is a shaman and possesses the ability to see sprits and visions. The character of Simon has a talent for running. There is another character named Noah. He has a talent for tracking and hunting. I like how Smelcer develops his characters. The author includes sixteen discussion questions at the end of the book. I really enjoyed reading these questions. The questions makes me reflect on what I read.
October 6, 2016
When you are through reading this book you will understand the phrase that though this is fiction, every word is true. It is seared into your memory and you strive to think of what it would be like to have been one of them. It is more a book for young adults but it wends its way into your heart and the memory lingers in your brain for days. Stealing Indians is something in our past that is not easy for American's to think back on. John Smelcer has brought it back and reminded us, as with slavery, the US does not always do the right thing, judged by 21st century standards. Good job, John.
January 6, 2017
Stealing Indians is a fictionalized account of events that happened to American Indians, and a powerfully told story of Indian teens taken against their will to government boarding schools designed to erase who they are and put a veneer of "whiteness" on them.
Read
September 19, 2016Excellent story and sad.
September 27, 2016
3.5
Fantastic and important story. The writing left me wanting more.
Fantastic and important story. The writing left me wanting more.
September 5, 2017
Update. I believed this author was actually native as he represented himself. It turns out this is not true.
January 26, 2017
An eye opener into a part of our American history that I had no clue of.
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