The strength of this documentary is that the actual voices of Sherman Indian High School graduates are included. The voices of the graduates can reflect the impact of the education at the Sherman Institute.
The students were forcefully brought to the school to be assimilated into American culture. I tried to think about the “by-product” of this learning environment from Bateson’s perspective. At first, I was curious why graduates of Sherman Indian High School would all express positive feelings towards their school when what I saw and learnt so far of their education was that it was militaristic and involuntary. I was reminded that intentions are not necessarily being received as they are. So I thought what I saw was rejection of internalization. However, it may be the contrary. I realized that they internalized the message so much that they came to like the school. They were taught to refuse their traditional cultures and not to speak the language. They were taught how white American culture was better. For one of the students, it has become a family tradition to come to Sherman. The parents encouraged their children to go to the school and experience what they have experienced.
The education at Sherman gradually changed with time. Cultural and traditional programs developed and teachers are teaching history of Native Americans. Students stated that they are happy to be able to learn their culture and express them... Have the covert messages changed?
1 comment:
Okay. But I am not certain I see how this argument follows from Bateson. Is it a "learning to learn" or a "framing" shift you are seeing? Notice too that a few of the students were actually critical. People forget to notice that because the overall tone is so positive. And remember too that the film tells you that the place changed over time. It now embraces the children's home cultures and communities more than it did, certainly more than the cultural genocidal era, but also more than the Indian Reorganization Act era.
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