(left to right" Charmaine, Arlington and
Garland ponder the next move to make at our
Northwestern Chilocco Chapter meeting, January, 16, 2009)
In 2007, the National
Congress of American Indians passed a resolution stating that “if
there was ever a place in America where so many tribes and nations
could call common ground, Chilocco would be that place.”
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Cherokee Nation recently
provided $25,000 in funding to assist in the restoration project at
Chilocco School, a former Native American boarding school located in
the old Cherokee Strip of Kay County. “We are pleased to be a partner in this
restoration effort,” said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee
Nation. “During its operation, Chilocco School brought together
thousands of Indian students from more than 120 tribes across the
country. It is the duty of all tribes to participate in preserving
this common ground for future generations to remember the Indian
boarding school era.” In
1880, the United States government created five original boarding
schools across the country, once of which was the Chilocco School. Of
the five schools, the Chilocco School site is the only remaining place
in the U.S. where many tribes can share a common ground, and is the
only school of the original five available for development today. Numerous Cherokee students lived at and attended
the school. In its heyday, Chilocco was the only Indian school that
was totally self-sufficient, complete with running water. Courses of
study included a nursing program, clerical studies, printing, farm and
agricultural programs and crafts such as horseshoeing and welding.
The school even had a competitive football team. “The buildings were beautiful in their day,” said
Linda Donelson, Director of Real Estate Services for the Cherokee
Nation. “The entire campus was very impressive.” After 96 years of service, operation of the
school ended in 1980. Today, the campus has approximately 70
buildings and is governed by the Council of Confederated Chilocco
Tribes, consisting of the Kaw, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee, Ponca and
Tonkawa Nations. The Cherokee Nation owns thousands of acres of land
surrounding the campus, including the entrance to the school. In 2007, the National Congress of American
Indians passed a resolution stating that “if there was ever a place in
America where so many tribes and nations could call common ground,
Chilocco would be that place.” Today, the Chilocco Benefit Association is
spearheading the restoration project of the campus and its buildings,
with the idea that the site should symbolically belong to the
collective body of American Indians who have a heritage of the Indian
boarding school legacy. For more information on the
Chilocco School site or of the restoration project, visit www.chilocco-benefit.org.
Most of the alumni
say this is "beating a dead horse."I don't feel that way. I just think the
world should know about what the folks mean when they say "speaks with
a forked tongue."
We as a nation of Native Americans were robbed, first of our land, and
then of our way of educating our children so that they could cope with
the world around them.
The horse may be dead, but these visual images are there to note and
record the way we have been treated in having our greatest gift taken
from us, the ways and means for educating our children, mind you, not
in the Native customs, but the way of the conquering peoples.
Even with the education given to me from
Chilocco it has not been easy to survive in this world, but without
that I can't imagine having been able to cope as far as and providing
for a family.
