Michael L. Cooper

"If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary that eagles should be crows."
—Sitting Bull (Teton Sioux)

“A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has been an enormous factor in promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man . . .”
—Richard Henry Pratt

Michael L. Cooper has synthesized information from a number of scholarly works and Native American memoirs to create an engaging and informative book for young people about Indian boarding schools in the US. The schools were essentially the brainchild of Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt, who’d been a frontier Indian fighter before becoming an educator. In the late nineteenth century, he aimed to solve the “Indian problem” (indigenous resistance to white settlement) by killing the Indian inside in order to save the man—in other words, by sending the Indian to school to learn the white man’s ways. In 1879, Pratt met with forty warriors and renowned Sioux chiefs on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, reminding them that things had not gone well for them with the whites. The huge herds of bison were disappearing and with them the Indian way of life. If the chiefs wanted their people to survive, they’d best send their children a thousand miles away to the school he’d founded. Needless to say, the Native Americans initially resisted. “The white people are all thieves and liars,” said Spotted Tail, the most powerful and respected Brûlé chief. “We do not want our children to learn such things.” In the end, however, the chiefs relented. Within days, 84 boys and girls were packed off, travelling first by steamboat and then by train to what was the first residential Indian school in the USA: the Carlisle School in Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania. This, the largest and the most famous Indian boarding school, would be the model for dozens of others across the country.

There were, in fact, some schools on Indian reservations, but Pratt didn’t like the idea of them. Students remained too much under the influence of their family, friends, and tribe. What was needed was to “cut the tribal connection”—rip children from their homes and their culture—so that they could be properly assimilated into white society. The farther from home they could be transported, the better. The fact that their families were at such a distance would not stop some children from running away from these places and trying to return home.

Upon arrival at the schools, indigenous kids had their hair cut (a frightening violation of their bodies and identities); students were bathed; boys were forced into military-style uniforms (something the chiefs would be appalled by when they visited their children and grandchildren in the spring of 1880); all children were given Christian names; and they were forbidden to speak their own language. With no words to communicate their frustration and despair, it’s no wonder kids ran—some never to be seen again. Kids rebelled in other ways, too. A pair of girls twice attempted to set their dormitory on fire. They ended up serving an 18-month sentence in the Pennsylvania State Women’s Penitentiary. Perhaps the most powerful and inspiring act of resistance was that of a youth facing corporal punishment for arguing with a teacher. The boy told Superintendent Pratt that the man was “muy loco” (very crazy) if he thought he was going to strap a Native American kid: “Nobody has ever struck me in all my life, and nobody ever will. I could break your neck with my bare hands.”

Cooper covers an amazing amount of ground in this relatively short book. While the Carlisle Indian Industrial School is his main focus, other Native American residential schools are also mentioned. The historical context, administration, governing philosophy, curriculum, training, routines, and sports programs are among the many topics considered. Cooper includes many high-quality black-and-white photographs, which show conditions at the school, including the labour students performed every afternoon. Boys were trained for a number of trades; girls were prepared for their future domestic duties. Pratt loved taking “before-and-after” photographs of his students. One of these can be seen on the front cover of the book. At the top, we see a young long-haired, hoop-earring-ed Navajo student upon his arrival at Carlisle, and, at the bottom, we’re presented with an image of the same young man three years later, barbered and dressed in suit and tie. A photograph of the massive student cemetery at Carlisle bears testimony to the huge loss of life at the institution. Profoundly homesick and malnourished kids living in crowded conditions often succumbed to contagious diseases, such as TB and influenza.

What makes Cooper’s book so engaging and valuable is his judicious use of direct quotations from the Native American students themselves. Pratt, government officials, and teachers are also quoted. The material is well organized, and the writing is clear and fluent. Cooper finishes by recommending three websites. Only one of the addresses is current, but it isn’t hard to find the new online sites for the “Native American Press Archives” and the “Index of Native American Resources on the Internet” simply by googling. A “Reading for Young People” section, a bibliography, and an index are also included.

I learned a lot from this book and recommend it for anyone over the age of 11 or 12. Though it is now 20 years old, it still provides an excellent and often moving introduction to a dark chapter in American history.… (mere)

If you didn't appreciate the covers of this book before you read it, you will by the end. Theodore Roosevelt's life story, examined wonderfully by Michael Cooper, reads like a great work of fiction. As a politician,, he had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. This streak of success is a testament to his character. He lived a life like no other President before or after. Imagine a 59 year old former President aspiring to rally 200,000 civilians to fight by his side in WWI, only to be stopped by his rival Woodrow Wilson.
I wrote down phrases and quotes that I found amusing while I read the book. I regret not checking the book's source notes before I read the book. It contained the sources for the quotes. This is an incredible resource and could tell you a lot about the author's through his choices. The bibliography only has 20 sources but the author was able to include over a hundred quotes that added a lot of substance to the story. An index was included and honestly should be mandatory in a book that is almost 200 pages long.
I enjoyed reading this book that highlight an American that took the reins of the country during the beginning of the 20 century. In 7 1/2 years, Teddy showed us how to, "speak softly and carry and big stick". I thank him for his wisdom.
The book is able to tell an excellent story. I enjoyed reading and learning a few new things about Roosevelt. I was unaware of his relationships with his rivals, such as Presidents Taft and Wilson. He was a cool guy that came from a terrible gene pool that still made 2 great Presidents. I like the book and would recommend it to people with a passive interest in a Teddy Bear.… (mere)