Stealing Indians

Gr 6–10—Smelcer gives voice to four teens, Lucy, Noah, Simon, and Elijah, who are taken from their families and forced into Indian residential boarding schools in the mid-1950s. Thrown together by chance on their way to Wellington, a fictional institution likely based on the infamous Carlisle School, friendships are forged that later become lifesaving. The boarding school functions under the unfortunately real-life motto repeated at the time, "Kill the Indian To Save the Man." Educators severely punish the kids who speak their Native languages, have darker skin, or defy mainstream teaching. The cemetery in the yard serves as a reminder that failure to submit could cost them their lives. The cost of surviving, and thereby losing their Native identity, changes all four students permanently and continues to affect current generations today. Smelcer tackles the reality of boarding school abuse and treatment, without graphic details of horrific happenings. There are also questions for discussion at the end. Unfortunately, the author fails to depict any tribal specificity, relying heavily on the generic term Indian instead. The flattening of Native identity in the narrative is especially troublesome given the lasting effects of real schools like Carlisle and the lack of knowledge about Native nations among the majority of American readers.