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Post by alum on May 29, 2024 15:53:50 GMT -5
There is a lengthy and sad piece in the Washington Post today about sex abuse at Indian boarding schools run by the Jesuits and other Catholic religious orders by agreement with the federal government. www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/sexual-abuse-native-american-boarding-schools/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f002www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/american-indian-boarding-schools-history-legacy/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f001Unfortunately, we know well the problem of sex abuse and the Church. Although I have long been aware of the Indian boarding schools, I learned a lot in the David Maraniss biography of Jim Thorpe ("Path Lit by Lightning:The Life of Jim Thorpe) about this dark chapter in US history and I just finished a book by Ned Blackhawk, The Resdiscovery of America, which devotes about a hundred pages to the topic of Indian schools. FWIW, neither of these books were an easy read. The Thorpe bio spent a lot of time on nitpicking detail I didn't need. The Blackwhawk book is a lengthy reassessment of the treatment of Native Americans and the impact that colonial and US policies regarding Native Americans had on the development of the United States, politically, economically, and socially. I found it unwieldy in its approach which was part chronological, part geographic, and part topical. I think that he tackled too much for a single volume.
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