The Middle Five: Indian Boys at School — John Shaqi
The Middle Five: Indian Boys at SchoolLa Flesche, Francis
History
The Middle Five: Indian Boys at School
La Flesche, Francis
Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature
On the same floor with the school-room and the dining-hall, at the
north end of the building, was the chapel. Here we sat in rows on
Sunday mornings, afternoons, and evenings, and on Thursday evenings,
ranged on long, high, wooden benches without backs, our feet scarcely
touching the floor, and listened (sometimes) to sermons which were
remarkable for their length and sleep-enticing effects. I had many
delightful dreams in this chapel, about Samson and his jaw-bone war
club, the fight between David and Goliath, and of the adventures of
Joseph the dreamer,--stories that were the delight of my boyhood.
Brush, one of my dearest friends at the school, knowing my weakness,
secured a seat back of mine on purpose to support me when I was in a
slumberous mood. I shall never forget his goodness; he now sleeps in
the cemetery just above the Mission.
The two large rooms over the chapel were occupied by our superintendent
and minister. Above his apartments was the girls' dormitory, while over
all stretched the haunted, ghostly attic.
There were other buildings grouped around: to the back stood the
store-house and the smoke-house; out of the latter came our delicious
hams and our sermons, for a part of this building was used as the
minister's study. Then there was the great barn where we boys played
hide-and-seek in the hay-mow; the corn-crib with its yellow wealth
showing between the boards; and the dusty wheat-bins with padlocked
doors. Below on the bottom were the Government saw and grist mills,
where we often went to see the grinding of the Indians' grain and
the large trees sawed into lumber for Agency use or for the Indians'
houses. The carpenter and blacksmith shops were also down there, and a
long wooden house for the occupancy of the Government employees. All of
these buildings stood for the fulfilment of the solemn promises made by
the "Great Father" at Washington to his "Red Children," and as a part
of the price paid for thousands and thousands of acres of fine land.
Although there were high hills just back of the school, from which one
could get excellent views of the surrounding country, we boys preferred
to go up into the belfry on the top of the main building for our
observations. We did not go often; two difficulties were in the way:
the securing of permission from the superintendent, as but few boys
could be trusted up there; and we must go through the haunted attic
to get to the belfry. No boy during my school days ever went up there
alone.
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