Sherman Indian High

The impression that I got from this documentary was that the former students expressed their appreciation toward Sherman Indian High. From the previous readings for class, I thought the education in Indian Boarding Schools is biased, and students were receiving negative influences from it. However, the interviewees sounded appreciative to it.

Some said that they loved living in school because the school was like the second home for them. Also, the students kept coming back to the school (area near school) because they felt connected to the school and people at school. Many of the interviewees were former students as well as the employees of the school. Some students said that their parents were also Sherman students. I think the values of the Sherman Indian High students had been passed down by those who studied there.

It was interesting to see the change in their education. At first, the school tried to create uniformity among students and to educate them to become 'Americans.' However, they started providing cultural education; the school was a place for Indian American students to develop identity as Native Americans. One lady said that she was happy that she studied there because the school gave her the opportunity to seek her own way (as an Indian American, I think). The school is trying to implement cultural study, but I think that 'culture' is influenced by non Indian cultures to some extent.