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Reviews
Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School by Laurence M. Hauptman, Adam Fortunate Eagle
whitecat5000's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
1.0
DNF. This felt a bit in the same vein as The Glass Castle where a bad childhood is remembered through rose-colored glasses. I didn't like that either.
readingtheend's review
3.0
Adam Fortunate Eagle's memoir of his time in Pipestone Indian Boarding School counters -- to some degree -- the typical stories of deprivation, misery, and cultural disenfranchisement in Indian boarding schools. It's a little surprising that he generalizes his own (rather rosy) memories of Pipestone to a belief that "the boarding school system has been unfairly criticized for allegedly destroying our languages and culture," but it's clear that his own time at Pipestone taught him mainly pride in his heritage.
That said, for a book that claims to serve as a counter to the stereotype of boarding school misery, Pipestone features a non-zero amount of misery. Fortunate Eagle's baby sister dies at the school after teachers initially refuse to take her illness seriously. The head cook at one point throws a butcher's knife at a naughty kid, hitting him in the back so that he has to have stitches. Plus there's this frankly horrifying anecdote:
Gross.
Pipestone is a fascinating first-hand account of one person's experience at one Indian boarding school, but it is just that: one person's account. Many of the things Fortunate Eagle remembers as having been fairly good fun -- like the above story! -- can easily be imagined as far worse experiences for a less resilient and good-natured kid.
Verdict: I do not know enough about Indian boarding schools! I must read more about them! Your recs, as ever, are appreciated.
That said, for a book that claims to serve as a counter to the stereotype of boarding school misery, Pipestone features a non-zero amount of misery. Fortunate Eagle's baby sister dies at the school after teachers initially refuse to take her illness seriously. The head cook at one point throws a butcher's knife at a naughty kid, hitting him in the back so that he has to have stitches. Plus there's this frankly horrifying anecdote:
Mr. Burns comes into the basement where a group of us our playing prisoner's base. He says, "We have some runaway girls, and I want ten boys to help round them up." . . . . Finally, we hear the sounds of bodies running into the cornstalks. We've found the girls. Now we have to catch them. With shouts and screams the boys tackle teh girls. The older boys take advantage of the situation, and they try to feel the girls as they wrestle them to the ground. In spite of their screaming it seems as though some of the girls are enjoying their first contact with boys.
Gross.
Pipestone is a fascinating first-hand account of one person's experience at one Indian boarding school, but it is just that: one person's account. Many of the things Fortunate Eagle remembers as having been fairly good fun -- like the above story! -- can easily be imagined as far worse experiences for a less resilient and good-natured kid.
Verdict: I do not know enough about Indian boarding schools! I must read more about them! Your recs, as ever, are appreciated.
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