Benefits
While many students remember their years in boarding schools as a painful time in their lives, some students found advantages to the boarding school experience.
Commodities
"On the reservations there was no electricity or running water. When kids came to the boarding school they had these things--showers and clean clothes--and they ate decent food."
- Arnold McKay, Lummi |
Friendships
"I think that the sharing in the government boarding school was an important part of that period. Just having the time to share with other Indian students a life that was completely different from your own was something that created a bond."
- Vi Hilbert, Upper Skagit |
Sports
"The boys played baseball, broadjumping and ran foot races, played mumbley peg and marbles, spin the top and a lot of other things for entertainment."
- Frances LeBret, Fort Spokane Indian School |