A lot of things happened to Native American people during the Boarding School era that required them to be courageous. They needed to be courageous to get through all the things they were put through. The people were suffering from many things. They were dying. Their rights were being taken away from them left and right. What happened to them was wrong and very dehumanizing.

Many people were suffering for many different reasons. Some reasons

were diseases, such as small pox, influenza, tuberculosis, diabetes and

heart disease. Other reasons for their suffering were: alcoholism, poor

nutrition,  and starvation. They needed to be strong through all of

that.  These terrible things were happening to their moms, dads,

grandparents, other relatives and friends.

Another thing that was

happening to Native American people was that their kids were taken

away. The U.S. Government and the churches were taking them and sending

them to boarding schools. These agencies were forcing them to be like

the white man, and forced them to be Christian. The kids didn’t even

get to go home after all that, they were sent to non-native foster

homes.  If they weren’t courageous, I don’t think they could have made

it through all that.