Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness
Sherman Indian School
Riverside, CA, May 26, 2009
Grand Entry of the Sacred Hoop. The roots of Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California go back to the Perris Indian School, which was established in 1892 not far from where Sherman Indian High School stands today. By 1904 Perris Indian School came to an end and its students were transferred to the new Sherman Indian School. Perris, and then Sherman, were the first non-reservation Indian boarding schools in California.
Sherman Indian School was a government boarding school established to assimilate Indians into mainstream society following the brutal model set up by General Pratt and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. But Sherman survived over one hundred years of changes to become the excellent high school for Native Americans that it is today. Students come from more than 85 tribes in big cities and reservations across the country.
Henry Allen Carries the
Wellbriety Forgiveness Staff. Wellbriety Day at Sherman began with the unifying Grand Entry of the Sacred Hoop, the Wellbriety Forgiveness Staff and the Red Silhouette of Brandy Jo. Carrying in the Hoop and the other elements was very spiritually charged. It is always a beautiful act because it sets spirituality at the very center of the coming day.
The Hoop Carriers on this warm California day were Julie Andrews, Jesus Cardenas, Randy Plummer and Josephine Montes Villa. Henry Allen carried the Eagle Staff and young Anna Buckley carried Brandy Jo. Allen Saul delivered the opening prayer and Dr. Richard Hanks welcomed us to Sherman. Then the mic was turned over to Don Coyhis of White Bison. Don set the tone of the day with a presentation that told some of the history and truth of what really happened during the boarding school era. Following Don’s orientation talk, Marlin Farley who is also traveling with the Journey talked about the meaning of the 100 Eagle Feather Hoop and its four gifts. Marlin also talked about the Hoop Ceremony, which everyone would get a chance to take part in later in the day.
Max Mazzeti The Elders’ panel was a high point of the morning. Max Mazzeti went to Sherman in 1940 and 1941. He recalled that it was rough for Indians because it was a military school in the 30s–– their hair was cut and they made them march. By the 40s it changed because the government had made a change of policy in 1934 and it was just taking affect in the 40’s. He remembers it as a great school and recalls listening to Glenn Miller, one of the great swing bands of the times.
Ernie Siva talked about Francisco Morongo who died in 1906, and whose name is carried by the nearby Morongo Indian Reservation. He said that Morongo told the natives that their time had come to change, that the white brother was coming and would take over. Mr. Siva said Morongo told the people not to ever forget their language or where you came from or you will be lost. Mr. Siva also said that, “…our languages are a gift from our Creator. Culture resides in our language even if you learn another one.”
Pauline Murillo said her mother had bad experiences in the boarding school. She said her mother told her the girls would get slapped, mistreated and isolated but that her mother would not give up. Her mother would still speak the language with the other girls while attending the boarding school. Her mother was always getting into trouble. She came home for Christmas one year and would not return.
Ernie Silva Henry Allen was eight years old when he first started attending boarding school. He recalls a bus coming out to the Navajo Agency and loading them all up. He said the officials told the parents to let the children learn, but they did not tell the parents that they would get government issued clothing and have to march to and from places. Henry said his boarding school experience was helpful in the service.
Later in the afternoon there was an opportunity for sharing from the audience. One woman talked about her life with her mother who was a boarding school survivor. Her mother ran away from the boarding school when she was 13. She said that she had to learn everything on her own. She felt her mother didn’t love her. She never understood it until now. All her mother knew how to do is what the boarding school taught her. With her own children, she tries not to be the way her mother was to her.
George and Pauline Murrillo Another participant said she remembers that her grandma found it very difficult to hug her children and grandchildren. She did not touch.
A non-Indian woman got up and apologized to the people. She says she has white shame and asked for forgiveness.
We talked with one of the organizers of the event in order to get some perspective about the healing process that people need to go through in order to face the legacy of what happened in the schools.
Tony Robichaud Tony Robichaud is a chemical dependency counselor with Riverside County Indian Health. He noted that a high percent of the panel had stories that reflected the positive aspect of their experiences. He noticed that the responses were guarded. He said people do have troubling stories, but it has been the habit of an older generation to choose the stories that are less painful so you can go on. It’s a kind of denial in order to survive. People use selective memory and talk only of non-painful places. The attitude is “forget it and go on,” which explains some people’s insistence to tell only good boarding school stories.
“As a counselor, I come from a spiritual basis and a psychological basis,” he told us. “If you don’t really recognize the source of the problem then you’re not in healing. There has to be recognition of what happened. This movement of remembering and forgiving is just so fundamentally sound from a counseling viewpoint. But it is going to take awhile for people to get used to it. Don’t give up,” he urged us.
Panel Sue Frank is another organizer for the day. She said, “My ancestors went to Perris school, which became Sherman school, and they all ran away. I was happy to do this because I wanted to know that they weren’t forgotten and I wanted to make sure that this would never happen again in anyone’s lifetime.” Was it a successful day? “The people who attended were meant to attend,” she said. “What was meant to happen, happened. And what people got out of it was meant to be. It always works that way, even though our turnout (about 75) was less than we expected. I’m glad it took place and that I could be a part of it.”
~ Forgiveness Journey Team
Reconciliation tour of Indian campuses visits Sherman in Riverside (pdf) ... >
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