Children Left Behind: The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools - Tapa blanda

Tim Giago weaves memoir, commentary, reflection and poetry together to boldly illustrate his often-horrific experiences as a child at an Indian Mission boarding school run by the Catholic Church. Through his words, the experience of one Indian child becomes a metaphor for the experience of many who were literally ripped from their tribal roots and torn from their families for nine months of the year in order to be molded to better fit into mainstream America. They were not allowed to speak their own languages or follow their traditional customs, and cases of physical, sexual and psychological abuse were common. As a result, the Mission school experience often resulted in isolation, confusion, and intense psychological pain. This has contributed to problems including alcoholism, drug abuse, family violence and general alienation in an entire generation of Native Americans. Dramatic and intensely moving black-and white illustrations by Giago’s daughter Denise illuminate the text.

Tim Giago is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. He was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and attended Holy Rosary Indian Mission for ten years. Following a stint in the Navy and studies at the University of Nevada at Reno, he became a journalist. He was awarded the prestigious Nieman Fellowship in Journalism to Harvard University for the years 1990-1991 and is a nationally syndicated columnist with the Knight Ridder Tribune News Service in Washington, D.C. In 1981 Giago founded the Lakota Times, re-named Indian Country Today in 1992. He was its editor and publisher for 18 years before selling the paper in 1998. Two years later he started the Lakota Journal and served as its editor and publisher until his retirement in July, 2004. He founded the Native American Journalists Association in 1984 and served as its first president. He recently retired as president of the Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc., and as editor and publisher of the monthly magazine Native American Review. Giago has received many professional awards, including the H.L. Mencken Award. His published books include The Aboriginal Sin and Notes from Indian Country Volumes I and II. Giago also edited and helped write The American Indian and the Media. He has appeared on national television on programs such as Nightline and the Oprah Winfrey Show. He now makes his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.