So painful to read, Jill. My heart goes out to this family. I wonder how many children were required to decide the fates of their siblings, to break up their own families. How many parents had their children stolen from them. Thank you for bringing us this story.
Thanks Mary. I know this is not the only Indian family in Warroad, Minnesota, whose children were removed during this period. That it was happening during my childhood and I didn't have any knowlege of it until decades later still gets to me.
Congratulations Jill on the honor of being included in the Fond du Lac literary journal. You keep on telling us about our history so these atrocities won’t be repeated, for learning and healing as Margaret Holt says. As well as for more “compassionate leaders and less harmful consumption.” Thanks to you both.
I had intended to extend my congratulations and appreciation earlier. Great to have this piece published and getting the real history "out there"! And, thanks for the work that went into the years of research and for the creative telling of the story that's hard to hear....let alone acknowledge that the state agency was doing their job "in the name" of the citizens of Minnesota.
Reading this I found myself fill with sadness yet become riveted with the depiction of the way things were for so many native peoples. I hate the way things were then and still now and to think it may get worse.
Powerfully written and so, so sad. It connects me to your story of this enduring family and also to the report in the Washington Post of children abused by nuns and priests. These kids were defenseless and abandoned. Hungry and neglected by the government and church. My heart aches. Thank you for writing about the real history. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/sexual-abuse-native-american-boarding-schools/
Thanks for the link to the WaPo article. It provides more background and context to this at the national scale. I think it wasn't until the Boston Globe successfully took on the Spotlight project that it became possible to imagine holding institutions like the Catholic Church accountable. The WaPo article digs into the boarding schools runs by churches. This went far beyond churches, however, and involved county welfare agencies, public schools, and local law enforcement. And it wasn't only Warroad but all across the country. Sad, yes, but in Martha's memory there is also strength and survivance.
Thank you for telling these children's stories, Jill - for continuing to bring this all to light. So many heart-wrenching injustices. And also, congratulations on this publication - your writing is vivid and powerful!
Thanks, Constance. Thunderbird Review is an excellent literary journal. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College recentlly started publishing books. Their first publication last month is by Carl Gawboy, a graphic history of the French fur trade from an Ojibway perspective. It's an honor to have been published by this excellent journal and I am a fan of the guest editor, Linda Lagarde's writing.
I think of the words several who have commented have used like sadness and pain, and I feel the same and perhaps something even more for me --- I want to believe that we can stop similar things from happening now by knowing these stories. I wish for the people who are still with us who suffered to know there are many of us who care about them and harbor deep regrets for how they were treated. So I guess words that come to my mind are "healing" and "learning". These are things I feel you are contributing to in a most positive and honest way.
No matter what we choose, we are going to move on - I for one hope we can move forward which means for me with a greater appreciation and valuing of humanity and a capacity to do the kind of critical thinking that prevents us from making the errors of the past. We need more compassionate leaders and less regard for harmful consumption.
So painful to read, Jill. My heart goes out to this family. I wonder how many children were required to decide the fates of their siblings, to break up their own families. How many parents had their children stolen from them. Thank you for bringing us this story.
Thanks Mary. I know this is not the only Indian family in Warroad, Minnesota, whose children were removed during this period. That it was happening during my childhood and I didn't have any knowlege of it until decades later still gets to me.
Congratulations Jill on the honor of being included in the Fond du Lac literary journal. You keep on telling us about our history so these atrocities won’t be repeated, for learning and healing as Margaret Holt says. As well as for more “compassionate leaders and less harmful consumption.” Thanks to you both.
Thanks Heidi.
I had intended to extend my congratulations and appreciation earlier. Great to have this piece published and getting the real history "out there"! And, thanks for the work that went into the years of research and for the creative telling of the story that's hard to hear....let alone acknowledge that the state agency was doing their job "in the name" of the citizens of Minnesota.
Thanks, George. I feel fortunate to have been trusted with their story.
Wow! This was so moving - especially memory of the sweetness of the cookies at the end.
Thanks, Sharon.
Reading this I found myself fill with sadness yet become riveted with the depiction of the way things were for so many native peoples. I hate the way things were then and still now and to think it may get worse.
Powerfully written and so, so sad. It connects me to your story of this enduring family and also to the report in the Washington Post of children abused by nuns and priests. These kids were defenseless and abandoned. Hungry and neglected by the government and church. My heart aches. Thank you for writing about the real history. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/sexual-abuse-native-american-boarding-schools/
Thanks for the link to the WaPo article. It provides more background and context to this at the national scale. I think it wasn't until the Boston Globe successfully took on the Spotlight project that it became possible to imagine holding institutions like the Catholic Church accountable. The WaPo article digs into the boarding schools runs by churches. This went far beyond churches, however, and involved county welfare agencies, public schools, and local law enforcement. And it wasn't only Warroad but all across the country. Sad, yes, but in Martha's memory there is also strength and survivance.
Thank you for telling these children's stories, Jill - for continuing to bring this all to light. So many heart-wrenching injustices. And also, congratulations on this publication - your writing is vivid and powerful!
Thanks, Constance. Thunderbird Review is an excellent literary journal. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College recentlly started publishing books. Their first publication last month is by Carl Gawboy, a graphic history of the French fur trade from an Ojibway perspective. It's an honor to have been published by this excellent journal and I am a fan of the guest editor, Linda Lagarde's writing.
Such an honor! That's wonderful!
I think of the words several who have commented have used like sadness and pain, and I feel the same and perhaps something even more for me --- I want to believe that we can stop similar things from happening now by knowing these stories. I wish for the people who are still with us who suffered to know there are many of us who care about them and harbor deep regrets for how they were treated. So I guess words that come to my mind are "healing" and "learning". These are things I feel you are contributing to in a most positive and honest way.
Learning from the past and applying lessons to the future might be the kind of healing we are all looking for today.
No matter what we choose, we are going to move on - I for one hope we can move forward which means for me with a greater appreciation and valuing of humanity and a capacity to do the kind of critical thinking that prevents us from making the errors of the past. We need more compassionate leaders and less regard for harmful consumption.
I agree.