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Red Children in White America
Red Children
in
White America

Ann H. Beuf

®
University of Pennsylvania Press/1977
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Beuf, Ann Η 1938-


Red children i n white America.

Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Indians of North America—Ethnic i d e n t i t y .
2 . Race awareness. 3 . Indians of North America—
Children. I . Title.
E98.E85BU8 3 0 1 Λ 5 ' 19' 7073 76-U9737
ISBN 0 - 8 1 2 2 - 7 7 1 9 - 8

Copyright © 1977 by the University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.


All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America


To Native American children—
the Red Power of tomorrow.
Contents

List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Introduction 1
2. The World of the Native American Child 15
3. Racial Attitudes of Native American
Children 59
4. Towards a Theory of the Development
of Racial Attitudes 93
Appendix 127
Bibliography 131
Index 151

vii
List of Tables

1. Prejudicial discrimination and institutional-cultural


racism 5
2. Pretest of self-identification of Native A m e r i c a n
children with tribal and nontribal i n t e r v i e w e r s 69
3. Pretest of " v e r y n i c e " stereotype of Native A m e r i -
can children with tribal and nontribal i n t e r v i e w e r s 69
4. A n a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e : o w n - r a c e p r e f e r e n c e by r a c e 71
5. Analysis of v a r i a n c e : self-identification by r a c e 72
6. M e a n racial self-identification s c o r e s o f N a t i v e
A m e r i c a n and white children of younger and older
preschool age groups 73
7. Mean p r e f e r e n c e s c o r e s of Native A m e r i c a n and
w h i t e children of y o u n g e r and older p r e s c h o o l age
groups 75
8. O n e - w a y analysis of v a r i a n c e : o w n - r a c e p r e f e r e n c e
by race for correct doll-to-picture m a t c h e r s 76
9. Racial self-identification by r a c e for correct doll-to-
picture m a t c h e r s 77
10. A n a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e : Native A m e r i c a n children's
o w n - r a c e p r e f e r e n c e by parental activism 81
11. A n a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e : Native A m e r i c a n self-identi-
fication by parental activism 82
12. O w n - r a c e p r e f e r e n c e by r e s i d e n c e 84
1 3 . Self-identification by r e s i d e n c e 84
14. Age of child and p r e s e n c e or a b s e n c e of the f a c t o r s
a s s o c i a t e d with perceptions of racial dimensions o f
social life 120
1 5 . Interpretations of the influence of life in w h i t e
s o c i e t y on minority-group child and their implications
f o r solutions 124

ix
Acknowledgments

While it is impossible to list all of the people w h o h a v e


m a d e valuable contributions to this book, I would like to
express my gratitude to the following: to the Ford Foundation
for f u n d i n g the initial fieldwork; to the Guttman Foundation
for making the time in w h i c h to w o r k available; to Margaret
Tashquinth, Shirley Cayou, Oliver Sansoci and Vivian One
Feather for their hospitality and their help with the research;
to Margot Liberty w h o contributed a wealth of b a c k g r o u n d
information as well as a roof over my head in N e b r a s k a ; to
Eugene V. Schneider and Renee C. Fox for their critical read-
ings of the manuscript; to Bob Erwin of the University of
Pennsylvania Press w h o h a s been constructively critical and
most supportive; to Magoli S. Larson and Chek Beuf f o r their
continual s u p p o r t and interest in the progress of the w o r k ; to
Honey, Carlo and Peter Beuf w h o endured the rigors of field-
w o r k without complaint; to Martha Rosso for an interested
typing of the manuscript; to Shelley Block for one h u n d r e d
assorted tasks accomplished. I would like to a c k n o w l e d g e
especially the contribution of Judith Porter, teacher, advisor,
critic and friend, without w h o s e instruction and encourage-
m e n t this book would not h a v e been written.

xi
CHAPTER 1

Introduction

T h i s is a s t u d y of racial attitudes in N a t i v e A m e r i c a n pre-


s c h o o l children and a c o n t r o l g r o u p of w h i t e children. 1
A l t h o u g h our nation has w i t h i n its b o r d e r s n e a r l y one million
N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s , until r e c e n t l y s o c i o l o g i c a l and p s y c h o l o g i -
cal r e s e a r c h in the field of r a c e relations has r e v o l v e d almost
e x c l u s i v e l y around b l a c k - w h i t e relations. T h e past d e c a d e in
particular w i t n e s s e d a g r o w t h in the b o d y of r e s e a r c h on racial
attitudes inspired by the e a r l y Civil Rights and later B l a c k
Power movements.

1. T h e term Native American w i l l be used throughout the book. It is


the name w h i c h many of those commonly k n o w n as American Indians
prefer to apply to their own group. "Indian," after all, is a misnomer—
the result of Columbus's mistaken belief that he had reached the shores
of India. A s such, it is a relic of European "colonial" influence.

1
2 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

In contrast to the black, who has been studied within the


context of twentieth-century, industrial America, the Native
American has been the subject of social science research from
an historical perspective, as heir to a colorful past rather than
in his present status as a member of an oppressed minority
group. (One thinks of the way the social scientists seem to
divide the labor, as if some invisible authority had given
blacks to sociologists and social psychologists, while allocat-
ing Native Americans to historians and anthropologists.) Most
anthropological research has attempted to reconstruct Native
American customs from the accounts of tribal members, or to
discuss present situations in terms of "deculturation." Marga-
ret Mead's work on the Omaha, the studies of the Indian Edu-
cation Research Project in the forties, Murray Wax's Indian
Americans, and the contributors to Bahr, Chadwick, and Day's
Native Americans Today are notable exceptions. 2 However,
many of these studies were conducted before World War II
and much has transpired since then to bring far-reaching
changes to the lives of most Native Americans. The fantastic
growth of industry which has characterized the postwar
period, the spread of communication and transportation net-
works, the influence of the Civil Rights movement, and the rise
of Red Power have brought enormous changes to Native Amer-
ican life and thus demand a body of research that treats
Native Americans within the present historical context. Hope-
fully, this will be but one of many works which seek to
broaden the field of race relations to include the Native Ameri-
can group.
In the past few years, as a result of national attention

2. Margaret Mead, T h e Changing Culture of an Indian Tribe (New


Y o r k : Columbia University Press, 1946); C o r d o n Macgregor, Warriors
without W e a p o n s ( C h i c a g o : University of C h i c a g o Press, 1946); Alice
Joseph, R o s a m u n d Spicer, and Jane Chesky, T h e Desert People (Chicago:
University of C h i c a g o Press, 1949); Murray W a x , Indian Americans,
Unity and Diversity (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971): and
Howard Bahr, B r u c e A. C h a d w i c k and Robert C. Day, Native Americans
T o d a y : Sociological P e r s p e c t i v e s (New York: H a r p e r and Row, 1972).
Introduction 3

focused on the "Indian problem," there has been a heightened


awareness of the economic deprivation suffered by Native
Americans and the difficulties inherent in their relationship to
white society. Unfortunately, all too often when researchers
have focused on the present-day Native American their interest
has been in the deviant. Here the Native American is seen as
"the drunk," or "the suicide." While such persons do exist in
Native American societies, sometimes in alarming proportions,
they are not the majority, and their story does not tell us
about the thousands of Native Americans who lead day-to-day
lives void of pathology. More research is needed on nondevi-
ant Native Americans, and their relationship to the dominant
white society.
Nor should such research focus exclusively on adults. By
now it is well known that racial feelings are established at an
early age.:t Furthermore, psychologists who may disagree on a
plethora of theoretical issues are in accord on the importance
of early childhood experience. Feelings about race formed
early in childhood are bound to color adult race relations. For
this reason, it is important to learn what attitudes Native
American children hold about their own racial group, and to
investigate the contribution of cultural and social factors to
these attitudes.
Our aim is to investigate whether the Native American chil-
dren's attitudes are indeed different from those of a control
group of white children, and, if so, what may be the social
sources of such differences. How does the Native American
child see his or her race? How is he or she influenced by the
white concepts of "beauty" and "goodness" brought by tele-
vision, pictures in magazines and books, exposure to white
teachers or VISTA workers, and the conversations of those in
his or her environment?
In a broader vein, the study also addresses itself to a ques-
tion of concern to those interested in race-relations theory.

3. S e e , f o r e x a m p l e , Judith D. R. P o r t e r , BJack Child, White Child


( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1971).
4 RED CHILDREN IN W H I T E A M E R I C A

This is the relative importance in the formation of the mi-


nority-group child's racial concepts of the two phenomena
which I shall designate (1) prejudicial discrimination and (2)
institutional racism.
In a situation of prejudicial discrimination, the individual
incurs psychological abuse—or hurt feelings—through some
felt attitude or overt action on the part of others related to
their negative feelings about the minority group. Institutional
racism is more subtle, "the byproduct of certain institu-
tional practices which operate to restrict on a racial basis the
choices, rights, mobility and access of groups of individuals." 4
Cultural racism exists when racist images permeate beliefs,
norms, and values, or when a group is not present at all in the
culture, having been excluded. 5 Table 1 gives illustrations of
these concepts.
To be affected by institutional racism, the child need be
only a sensitive observer of the social situation.
Most studies of children's racial attitudes have assumed
that it was prejudicial discrimination which caused whatever
undesirable attitudes were found in minority-group subjects.
Yet recent studies of children's ability to understand a "peck-
ing order" and to comprehend political events" indicate that, at
an early age, children begin to understand social arrangements
and hierarchies. It may be comprehension of these social and
political factors which shapes racial attitudes. The child's
cognition would thus be of more importance in this process
than has been realized.
It would be quite difficult to determine the relative weights
of prejudicial discrimination and institutional and cultural
racism on the attitudes of black children, because, to a large

4. James M. Jones, P r e j u d i c e and R a c i s m (Reading, Mass.: Addison-


W e s l e y , 1972), p. 6.
5. Ibid.
6. See, for e x a m p l e , Melvin De Fleur and Lois B. De Fleur, " T h e Rela-
tive Contribution of Television as a L e a r n i n g S o u r c e for Children's
Occupational K n o w l e d g e , " American S o c i o l o g i c a l R e v i e w 32 (1967):
777-89.
Introduction

Table 1

Prejudicial discrimination and institutional-cultural racism

A s p e c t s of
Explanation Example M i n o r i t y Reality
1. T r a u m a t i c name- "nigger" Prejudice and active
calling and "I don't w a n t to discrimination,
social sit b e s i d e that e x p e r i e n c e d by
rejection b r o w n girl." individual.
2. O b s e r v a t i o n of Child s e e s t e a c h e r s are
the s o c i e t y ' s Indian, h e a d teacher
role structure, is w h i t e .
realization that
m i n o r i t i e s fall The s o c i a l w o r k e r is Institutional-
w h i t e ; s h e can tell cultural racism.
b e l o w w h i t e s in
the hierarchy mother w h a t to do.

D a d d y g e t s dirty at
work. White men w e a r
clean shirts and tell
D a d d y w h a t to do.

extent, they are subject to both influences simultaneously.


However, reservation Native American youngsters are rela-
tively isolated from the prejudicial discrimination factor,
having little contact with whites. This is especially true of
preschool youngsters who stay close to mother or grandmother
and thus avoid the one-to-one relations with whites which
older children encounter on shopping or recreational expedi-
tions.
T h e children w h o took part in this study were 229 pre-
schoolers—117 Native Americans and 95 whites. The Native
American children come f r o m three different tribal groups
w h o s e histories and life-styles are described in depth in chap-
ter 2. Fifty-five are from a tribe w h o s e ancient agricultural
lands lie to the south of Phoenix, Arizona. Twenty are f r o m a
Dakota plains tribe. The other group, a former hunting-gather-
ing plains group of the upper Missouri, is divided into reserva-
tion and u r b a n subsamples. Half of these children reside on
6 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE A M E R I C A

their tribal reservation of rolling Nebraska farmland, while


the others are residents of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Institutional and cultural racism permeate the lives of all
Native Americans. To whatever institution one looks, the reins
of power are in white hands. In politics, economics, education,
and health, while there may be Native Americans involved, the
final decisions are always made by whites. With the coming of
radio and television to the reservation, today's children, more
than any other generation of Native Americans, receive early
exposure to the social system of this country. With the excep-
tion of a f e w token representatives of the Native A m e r i c a n s -
most often cast in the role of "the enemy"—the people they see
are white or perhaps black. The decision makers appear to be
mostly white.
This situation permits us to examine the relative importance
of prejudicial discrimination and institutional and cultural
racism in determining children's racial feelings. Sheltered as
they are from the grosser incidents of prejudicial discrimina-
tion, Native American children might be expected to evince
f e w feelings of discomfort concerning their racial status. At
least, such would be the hypothesis of those who have
assumed that such feelings originate in the child's coming face
to face with such incidents. However, the central hypothesis of
this study is that institutional and cultural racism alone make
themselves felt in the life of the isolated reservation child,
imparting the awareness of white dominance to him or her at
an early age. Thus there are three main tasks before us, the
first of which is to establish that cultural and institutional
racism do exist with regard to Native Americans, and that they
have a profound influence on the lives even of rather isolated
reservation children.
Our culture is riddled through with anti-Native American
beliefs and values. The insensitivity with which the Native
American image is treated is accentuated when we contrast
the new sensitivity of the American public to the black image.
Amos 'n' Andy are gone but Tonto continues to "ugh" and
" h o w " his w a y into the lives of millions of children.
Introduction 7

H a l l o w e e n provides another example. No p a r e n t w h o con-


siders himself a right-minded A m e r i c a n would blacken his
child's face, and give him an A f r o wig and calico shirt for
trick-or-treating, yet every O c t o b e r 31 the streets fill with
children in moccasins, breech-cloths, feathers, and w a r paint.
In short, the culture conspires to m a k e a joke or a threat of
Native A m e r i c a n s .
As G o r d o n Allport noted, language itself can help form
prejudicial images simply by imbuing w o r d s with symbolic
m e a n i n g w h i c h becomes associated both with an unpleasant
idea and a minority group of people. 7 T h u s black is associated
with sin, the terrors of night and death, as well as with
Negroes. Red, too, is associated with unpleasant notions: with
blood, a f e a r f u l concept in childhood w h e n it is seen in times
of pain, with anger ("seeing red"), and recently with a n e w
" e n e m y , " Communism.
An Indian-giver is one w h o takes back what he h a s given
(although Indian generosity is legendary). People speak of
"going on the w a r p a t h " with regard to pursuing an angry
course, and the preparations a w o m a n makes for sexual con-
quest may be called "putting on her w a r paint." As for the
p h r a s e "give it back to the Indians," Vine Deloria c o m m e n t s :
"It's a terrible thing for a people to realize that society has set
aside all non-working gadgets f o r their exclusive use."" And
w e are all familiar with "the only good Indian is a dead
Indian."
A survey by Kathleen Houts and Rosemary Bahr of stereo-
typing cartoons revealed that Native Americans, w h e n por-
trayed, w e r e shown in most cases wearing feathers and w a r
paint, and engaged in shooting a r r o w s or other warlike activity.
T h e a u t h o r s state, "The message they [magazine cartoons] con-
v e y is that the Indian in American life is important only as a

7. G o r d o n Allport, The Nature of Prejudice (Garden City, N.Y.:


D o u b l e d a y A n c h o r Books, 1958).
8. Vine Deloria, Jr., Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
(New York: Avon Books, 1969), p. 10.
8 RED CHILDREN IN W H I T E A M E R I C A

pi'mitive, historical, bow-and-arrow type who has no place in


the modern society.'"'
My own work on the image that television projects of the
Native American shows that here, too, the image is one of a
warring primitive, with an occasional basket weaver thrown in
for "educational" value. In 1 9 7 2 - 7 3 , we saw only two pro-
grams which dealt with a twentieth-century Native American
and the problems he faced in white society. Usually the Native
American is presented, not only historically, but as "the
enemy," and in television cartoons he is treated with callous
humor, in the poorest taste.
Textbooks have long been a prime source of the Native
American image. Lee Bowker, in a content analysis of texts,
found that Native Americans, as well as blacks, are under-
represented in texts on American history, especially consider-
ing the role they have played in American life. In addition,
many of the references were unfavorable and degrading. 10
Deloria also deals with texts and points out that the few
positive characters who appear, such as Squanto and some of
the scouts during the Indian Wars, were traitors to their own
people who facilitated white encroachment on Native Ameri-
can lands. Such Native Americans, Deloria says, were not
really "good Indians," as the texts would have it, but simply
Native Americans as the white man wants them to be—strong,
friendly, and subservient. In this context, he cites the fictional
Tonto, companion to the Lone Ranger, dumb, monosyllabic,
and always there, placing him in the same category as the
devoted Negro butler and the Japanese gardener—also white
creations. 1 1 T h e same could be said of the Native American

9. Kathleen Houts and Rosemary Bahr, "Stereotyping of Indians and


Blacks in Magazine Cartoons," in Bahr, Chadwick, and Day, Native
Americans Today, pp. 110-14.
10. Lee H. Bowker, "Red and Black in Contemporary American His-
tory Texts: A Content Analysis," in Bahr, Chadwick, and Day, Native
Americans Today, pp. 101-09.
11. Deloria, Custer Died for Your Sins, pp. 9-34.
Introduction 9

friend of the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's Leather-


stocking Tales.
All of these factors promote a consistent a n d rarely chal-
lenged image of the Native American as an u n t a m e d child of
nature, as in one movie which I analyzed, in w h i c h the whites'
accomplishments were attributed to intelligence, and those of
Native A m e r i c a n s to "intuition." Sometimes friendly in an
amusing or f a w n i n g manner, the Native American is more
often depicted as an enemy, frightening as well as inspiring
feelings of w h i t e superiority.
It seems u n n e c e s s a r y for the p u r p o s e s of this study to ex-
plore the existence of cultural racism in greater depth. It is so
apparent and so widespread that we must accept the fact that
many Native American children as well as w h i t e s are exposed
to negative, racist images through texts, storybooks, movies,
television, figures of speech, and advertising campaigns which
invoke Native Americans as mascots or t r a d e m a r k s .
Institutional racism and its impact on the lives of Native
American children are more complex and d e m a n d thorough
treatment. T h e history of institutional racism in Native Ameri-
can life, the institutional a r r a n g e m e n t s which n o w shape and
limit the life experiences of Native Americans, and the man-
ner in w h i c h these forces act on the three groups studied
during the research are discussed in chapter 2, "The World of
the Native American Child." I would like to emphasize that
this chapter seeks to present, in r a t h e r bold strokes, an over-
view of the history of Native American-white relations. It
does not represent an attempt to give a comprehensive his-
torical account of the relations between the two groups.
Anthropologists will probably find little with which they are
not already familiar. However, as I have been intentionally
interdisciplinary in my a p p r o a c h , it is necessary to supply
some basic historical b a c k g r o u n d for the sociologists, psy-
chologists, and educators w h o m a y have great interest in the
minority-group child but lack e x p o s u r e to Native American
history.
O u r second task is to investigate and set forth the attitudes
10 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

which preschool Native American children hold about racial


matters and to consider how such attitudes articulate with
their perception of the social order. The results of this research
will be presented in chapter 3, "Racial Attitudes of Native
American Children." The third and most difficult task is to
suggest a theory which can incorporate empirical findings with
theoretical material in such a way as to explain the observa-
tions made in this study and findings from the field of the
development of children's attitudes in general. An appraisal
of my own data, combined with consistent findings in other
studies of children's racial attitudes, suggests the necessity
for incorporating several sociological and psychological prin-
ciples into a new theory of the development of racial attitudes.
This effort will concern us in chapter 4, "Towards a Theory of
the Development of Racial Attitudes."
The data presented in this book have been gathered from
numerous sources, employing a variety of methodologies. The
core of the study is the projective storytelling test and the
responses of the preschool children to the test questions. How-
ever, spontaneous remarks made by the children were noted,
as were the plots of the stories they made up themselves and
their behavior with the test equipment. Field notes were kept
on classroom behavior and special notes made of any conver-
sation that related to race.
Informal and unstructured interviews were also carried out
with parents of some of the children. Many mothers expressed
interest in the project, and the conversations we had helped to
give me background data on some of the children. These
women conveyed to me some anecdotal material regarding the
children's racial experiences, which was of immense help in
developing and illustrating a theory of the development of
racial attitudes.
Teachers and members of the community were also inter-
viewed informally. These informants provided the vital socio-
logical information needed on the community as a whole and
on the individual children in particular. For instance, one of
the variables which was of interest to me was parental activ-
Introduction 11

ism. Questioning the i n f o r m a n t s a b o u t the children's p a r e n t s


and their roles in the community allowed me to classify chil-
dren as coming f r o m either a nonactivist h o m e , a h o m e in
which one p a r e n t w a s an activist, or a h o m e in w h i c h t w o
p a r e n t s w e r e activists.
Participant observation also played a role in the accumula-
tion of data. Field notes were taken on all of the communities
involved in the study and every potential source of i n f o r m a -
tion w a s investigated. This involved interviews with Model
Cities workers, eighty-year-old w o m e n , and those involved in
the A m e r i c a n Indian Movement. Conversations with children
outside the sample also are utilized in our consideration of the
material, as well as a f e w " s e r e n d i p i t o u s e x p e r i m e n t s " de-
scribed in chapter 3.
I spent as much of my leisure time as possible with Native
American people, going to s u p e r m a r k e t s , drinking coffee, at-
tending p o w w o w s , helping p r e p a r e f o r a funeral, and generally
socializing. Through these activities I gained a sense of the
social world in which m a n y of the first A m e r i c a n s p r e s e n t l y
live. I also m a d e some good f r i e n d s with w h o m I h a v e re-
mained in contact and w h o m I h a v e visited in the s u m m e r s
since the year in which the bulk of the research w a s carried
out. These repeated visits h a v e crystallized m a n y of t h e im-
p r e s s i o n s which appear in the section on the w o r l d of the
Native American child. S o m e t i m e s things have changed, as in
the dramatic acceleration of social protest on one of t h e res-
ervations. I h a v e attempted to keep up to date and to p r e s e n t
the reader with as c o n t e m p o r a r y a portrait of Native A m e r i c a n
life-conditions as possible. In addition, I carried out a c o n t e n t
analysis of fifty television p r o g r a m s to expose the m e d i a ' s
image of Native Americans.
T h e library, as well as t h e field, has played a vital role in
gathering the empirical and theoretical material essential if the
b o o k is to convey all that I h o p e it will. The Native A m e r i c a n
publications—in particular, A k w e s a s n e Notes and Wassaja—
h a v e kept me constantly i n f o r m e d on Native American a f f a i r s
in general, and on the three groups represented h e r e in par-
12 RED CHILDREN IN W H I T E A M E R I C A

ticular. Histories, ethnographies, and agents' letters all aided in


the preparation of the historical and demographic sections.
Finally, through a continued involvement in Native Ameri-
can affairs, I have had access to that most subtle source of
information—communication with peers. By moving b a c k and
forth between these informal, word-of-mouth sources and reli-
ably documented confirmation or refutation of such messages,
I have kept in close touch with events that will have an impact
on the lives of my subjects.
Thus, it would be misleading to describe this study solely as
a social-psychological testing of preschool children. Such a
description conjures up images of an efficient " t e s t e r " who
appears in the school, tests all the children, and disappears
into the computer room for two weeks to emerge with a pat
study ready for publication. My involvement with my subjects
has been more intense than that of a tester. I have lived on
their lands, read their papers, attended their conferences, at-
tempted to tell their story to white students and the white
press, rejoiced with them on victories won, trembled by the
"all n e w s " radio through the night when Nixon threatened to
invade the occupied village of Wounded Knee, and felt the
frustrations of those who rebelled only to see the old order
re-established. T h e children in the study came to be my
friends. Parting brought sadness on both sides.
T h e question of "value freedom" plagues all sociologists,
but particularly those who seek primary data and thus inter-
act directly with their subjects. No matter how hard I try, I
cannot regard these children as only "data." But beyond this
bias, there is the more persistent question of the political and
social values of the researcher and the manner in which
these might influence the selection of research topics and the
interpretation of the data. I adhere to the position that value
freedom is an impossibility for the sociologist. One's interests,
guilts, and politics do indeed play vital roles in the selection of
a topic. That is certainly the case with the present work. Val-
ues color our interpretation of the accumulated material.
Measures can be taken to guard against this: for example, the
Introduction 13

selection of an unbiased sample and the use of statistical tests


minimize the influence of the researcher's biases on the inter-
pretation of data. However, these, too, can be influenced in
subtle ways by one's own values. Thus the sociologist must
face the inevitability of some intrusion of values into his or her
work, and place the burden of objectivity on the reader by
openly stating those values and letting the reader take them
and their possible influence into account in assessing the argu-
ments set forth. Therefore, I should like to present to the
reader the intellectual and ideological underpinnings of this
book.
The question of values is closely related to another concern,
the neglect sociology has exhibited toward cognitive factors
and their role in social interaction. Such neglect prevents the
acquisition of a total picture of attitude formation, which thus
is viewed as the product of child-rearing and traumatic child-
hood experiences. The child is an actor in the process of devel-
oping attitudes, not simply a receptacle into which knowledge
is poured. Thus I confess to a cognitive bias in considering the
children's responses to my questions. It is my belief that
actual material situations which exist in the social system
have as great an influence on children's perceptions of the
world as do events of their inner psychological lives. For this
reason I have focused on the role of institutional arrangements
in the acquisition of racial attitudes.
I must confess also to a structural bias with regard to social
change. Waiting to "change the hearts and minds of men" will
avail us little. This book's message, if it has a single message,
is that social-structural factors play a vital role in establishing
negative images about one's own group, and social-structural
changes must occur to change them. This book is for those
w h o have an interest in the Native American situation in
1977, for students of race-relations theory, and for educators
who are concerned with the development of children's racial
attitudes. It is also a statement of my own orientation to soci-
ology. In recent years, with an increased interest in wide-
sweeping social change and macrosociology, there has been a
14 RED CHILDREN IN W H I T E A M E R I C A

general lack of interest in socialization and in the relationship


between personality and social systems. T o describe this as a
lack of interest is perhaps an understatement, for there has
been, in fact, a certain suspicion of, and hostility toward, those
who would devote their efforts to these fields of study. It is
assumed that such people are disinterested in social change,
concerned with internal personality factors rather than with
the institutional and other environmental factors which im-
pinge on the consciousness of people, and, in general, lacking
in humanistic and perhaps professional values. Such is not
necessarily the case. T o discover the effects of oppression on
personality is not to place its source within the individual or
to deny the absolute necessity for changing social conditions.
At the level of personality we come face to face with the
impact of unjust societal arrangements in an unavoidable
manner. It is my belief that the study of personality has far-
reaching implications for understanding the mechanisms and
effects of injustice.
CHAPTER 2

The World of the


Native American Child

In considering h o w children view their o w n race and the


other races w h o m a k e up the society in which they live, it is
necessary to set forth the context in which their attitudes are
being f o r m e d . Kurt Lewin's concept of "the field" h a s t a u g h t
social scientists that most perceptions take place within a
given set of circumstances and that an individual's concept of
himself and others is colored by the spatial and temporal c o n -
texts in which that perception occurs.' To do justice to a con-
sideration of attitudes, then, w e m u s t take seriously C. W r i g h t
Mills's m a n d a t e to regard as our subject the intersection of
biography and history.

1. Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social S c i e n c e : SeJected Theoretical


Papers (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951).

15
16 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

Because so much is known about the social milieu of white


children, especially by those in the fields that comprise the
social and behavioral sciences, we shall concentrate on the
Native American child in this chapter. What are the economic,
physical, and educational characteristics of the world in which
this child lives?
Generalizations about "Indians" necessarily distort the
truth. Those Native Americans who deviate from the typical
situation, for better or worse, do not emerge in bold relief
from such an approach. I realize this and apologize to those
whose life circumstances differ from the picture I will be set-
ting forth in this chapter. I would also caution the reader to
keep this in mind. The overview of Native American life pre-
sented here is based on the typical reservation situation. It
does not treat the urban Native American thoroughly, nor does
it deal with the nascent middle-class and professional groups.
It is an "ideal type" in the Weberian sense and should be
considered only as such. For example, the reader should re-
member that when we cite a per capita income for the Native
American group, we are citing the mean. There are millionaire
Native Americans (precious few) whose situation is obscured
by such a treatment, and there are those whose poverty is such
that it falls well below the mean and, indeed, is of such depth
as to defy statistical description. Nonetheless, given the gen-
eral lack of awareness on the part of most whites (particularly
in the eastern United States) concerning Native Americans
and the lives they lead, and with this caution in mind, it
would still seem of benefit to describe the typical reservation
situation, that the reader might better understand the re-
sponses of Native American children that will appear in the
data presentation and gain some "feel" for the world as it
appears to these children.
First I will briefly examine the history of Native American-
white relations. Then I will present an overview of the life
conditions which confront most Native Americans today. Fi-
nally, an ethnographical approach to the three groups of
Native Americans who took part in this particular study will
The World of the Native American Child 17

indicate how their lives fit into this general picture and are,
indeed, representative of it.

An overview of the Native American experience

Bitter roots in the past

From the outset, exploitation and cultural supremacy were


the hallmarks of white attitudes toward Native Americans.
Greeted with friendliness, the invaders, with their growing
population, soon felt the need to expand westward and pro-
ceeded to do so, removing more and more land from the inhab-
itants. What Native Americans regarded as the wisdom of
conservation and the co-existence of man and nature was
regarded as ignorance and wastefulness by the white settlers.
With psyches dominated by the Protestant ethic, they ration-
alized and justified atrocities against Native Americans in
terms of their belief that land and resources that were not
being turned into something else were being improperly util-
ized. Thus they were not above rejoicing when disaster and
plague struck the indigenous peoples, going so far as to thank
God for sending smallpox to the Native Americans. These
people considered the original inhabitants of the continent as
somewhat lower than human beings, a species of animal. Had
they known of evolution, they would doubtless have placed
the Native American somewhere beneath homo sapiens on the
evolutionary scale. 2
Of course, white ethnocentrism is most evident in the con-
cept of discovery itself. It is difficult to perceive how one can
"discover" and lay claim to territory which is already inhab-
ited. It is only if one considers one's own ethnic group to be

2. T h i s t e n d e n c y w a s evident in a display I s a w in 1972 in a p r o m i n e n t


m u s e u m in the S o u t h w e s t . On o n e wall, t h e evolution of man w a s dis-
p l a y e d . T h e p r o g r e s s i o n w a s m o n k e y , higher primate, N e a n d e r t h a l ,
" I n d i a n , " and h o m o sapiens, w h i t e !
18 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

the only h u m a n group that one can ignore over a million peo-
ple a n d claim such territory. Yet, to this day, white a n d Native
A m e r i c a n children are taught in their schools that Columbus
discovered America. Such teaching is u n d e r s t a n d a b l y confus-
ing f o r Native American youngsters. This ethnocentric con-
cept—discovery—has b e e n the subject of a good deal of Native
A m e r i c a n h u m o r . P e r h a p s an example of this h u m o r will help
w h i t e r e a d e r s to u n d e r s t a n d h o w insulting and d e m e a n i n g it
is to h a v e an entire population imagined out of existence—
especially if you h a p p e n to be part of that population.
I would say that we discovered the white man, too. At that
time we hadn't known that there was land across the sea, so I
think by the same token that the next time I go to England or
Italy, I intend to take a flag and plant it and claim it for my
Indian people, because, after all, it would be the first time that
I had ever seen it, so therefore I would be discovering it.3
The accumulation of Native American land almost always
took place u n d e r the guise of friendship, with treaties and the
exchange of gifts. T h o s e tribal leaders w h o caught on and
r e f u s e d to go along with the charade are those we are taught
in school to regard as " b a d Indians." "Good Indians," on the
other hand, a r e those w h o not only b e f r i e n d e d the whites but
w e r e traitors to their o w n people.
The e x p e d i e n t n a t u r e of white policy t o w a r d s Native Amer-
icans is a p p a r e n t in the history of the colonial period and the
time f o l l o w i n g independence. So long as other Europeans
posed a t h r e a t to the settlers, care w a s t a k e n to insure alli-
ance with N a t i v e Americans. Promises w e r e f r e q u e n t l y m a d e
to tribes in e x c h a n g e f o r their assistance in w a r f a r e . These
promises w e r e just as frequently left unfulfilled once hostili-
ties ceased. A f t e r the colonies had gained independence, and
prior to the Louisiana Purchase, fear of the French kept the
colonists h o n e s t . To insure the borders, f r i e n d s h i p s with

3. Anonymous, quoted in I Have Spoken: American History through


the Voices of Indians, ed. Virginia Armstrong (New York: Pocket Books,
1972). Italics added.
The World of the Native American Child 19

strong Native American groups were formed and supported


by fur-trading posts, which paid fair to very good prices. As
soon as the purchase had been made and there was no external
threat on the border, the posts were closed, and traders who
paid unfair prices for their furs were permitted to assume the
Native American trade.
The desire for land was becoming more intense, and huge
profits were realized as the government bought land from the
Native Americans for a pittance and resold it to whites for
handsome sums. Sometimes the government realized a profit
amounting to ten times what it had paid for a piece of land.
This type of exploitation continued throughout the early days
of the nation, as Manifest Destiny took the white man's hunger
for land and sanctimonious belief in his divine right to it
across the continent. Indeed, we can see signs of Manifest
Destiny still: in the government's attempt to make the sacred
Blue Lake of the Taos people part of a national park; in the
extensive strip-mining undertaken on many reservations by
large corporations; and in the state of New York's "removal"
of a large portion of the Tuscarora reservation to create a
reservoir.
White desire for more land for cultivation brought about the
first effort at "relocating" Native Americans. Despite protest
from the Supreme Court, Andrew Jackson's administration
began the process of moving all the Native Americans east of
the Mississippi to the western side. This was accomplished
under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, with the loss of many
lives on the notorious Trail of Tears. There is a particular
irony involved in this event which demonstrates the extent of
white racism at that time. The groups most damaged by this
treaty were those known as the "civilized tribes," tribes
which had gone to great lengths to accommodate the invad-
ers. They had become first-rate farmers, spoke English as well
as their own tongues, read and wrote, dressed like Europeans,
and were Christianized. Yet in the final analysis this availed
them little. Although white rhetoric relied on the concept of
"the heathen savage" to justify the taking of lands, it mattered
20 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

not at all that these people bore little resemblance to the


stereotype. Their land was demanded by whites, for whites,
and they were forced to move. 4
After the Civil War, the inventions of barbed wire, the ar-
tesian well, and the repeating rifle made possible white con-
quest and cultivation of the Plains, which whites had not
wanted before. The deliberate killing of the buffalo hastened
the downfall of the powerful Plains tribes, and the bitter Indian
Wars finished the process. Government policy was capricious,
as alternating humane and punitive measures were proposed
and initiated. The brutal treatment of early reservation Native
Americans, tragically symbolized by the Wounded Knee
Massacre,'' aroused moral indignation in some quarters and
genocidal determination in others. In dialectic fashion, these
two responses were synthesized in the concept of assimilation.
It made the moralists happy, because it was "doing good" for
Native Americans to give them clothing, food, education and
religion; it satisfied the genocidal faction, because the desired
end-product was the disappearance of the Native American,
who would be absorbed into the dominant society as his lan-
guage, customs, religion, and family structure were demolished.
It was a compromise policy, designed to result in the cultural,
although not physical, destruction of an entire ethnic group.
The policy of assimilation was behind the boarding-school
system of the day, which forbade the speaking of any lan-

4. There are still Native Americans east of the Mississippi b e c a u s e


many had assimilated into white society and were not defined as "In-
dian" at the time of the act, and also because the Seminoles refused to
be removed and entered into a long-enduring armed conflict with tthe
United States government which cost the government a fortune. T h e
Seminoles never did move west of the Mississippi.
5. A group of Sioux returning from a religious event were disarmied
and shot down by government troops in 1878. Many of the victims w«ere
women and children. The bodies were left unburied and frozen on tthe
ground for several days and then subjected to mass burial in trenches.
Photographs of this event bear uncanny resemblance to those of simiilar
events at Dachau and Auschwitz. For a complete description of t h e
massacre, see Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown.
The World of the Native American Child 21

guage other than English, the outlawing of Native American


religious celebrations, and the Dawes Act of 1887. This act,
also k n o w n as the Allotment Act, divided Native A m e r i c a n
lands into individual parcels. The m a n i f e s t reason for this w a s
to promote assimilation and to turn the Native A m e r i c a n into
a b r o w n replica of the white farmer. H o w e v e r , it is interesting
to note that the act also f u r t h e r e d exploitation of the Native
Americans' resources. First, it was f o u n d that there w a s a
good deal of land "left over" after tribally held lands had been
distributed to Native American individuals. T h e g o v e r n m e n t
opened these lands to white h o m e s t e a d e r s instead of return-
ing them to the tribe. In addition, the f a r m i n g model, w h i c h
reflected white values of individuality and the private o w n e r -
ship of property, was not an appealing way of life to m a n y
Native Americans.
Individual ownership in many cases brought economic dis-
aster at the h a n d s of the land speculators. Traditionally foreign
to the concept of private property, naive and u n t u t o r e d in
white economic dealings, possessing an ethic which v a l u e d
display, sharing, and generosity over individual acquisitive-
ness, m a n y Native Americans sold their allotments f o r w h a t
they believed to be a great deal of money. The money soon
was spent, and they returned to f r i e n d s and relatives p e n n i l e s s
and without land for farming or grazing. In all, nearly one
million acres were transferred from Native American to w h i t e
h a n d s as a result of the Dawes Act.
During the twenties there was a heightened realization of
the poverty and poor health conditions which plagued the
Native American population. Action w a s proposed in C o n g r e s s
that no land in the territory previously held by Spain w o u l d
be considered legitimately held unless those upon it could
p r o d u c e the original land grant. Groups of white s y m p a t h i z e r s
joined with a Native American alliance to prevent the loss of
land by the southwestern Native Americans, and the action
was d e f e a t e d .
T h e government commissioned Lewis Meriam to r e s e a r c h
conditions on the reservations, and the Meriam Report, c o m -
22 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

pleted in 1928, condemned the reservation system with a ven-


geance. It recommended the restoration of languages and reli-
gions, the cultivation of Native American leadership, and a
greater role for Native Americans in the conduct of their own
affairs." The Roosevelt Administration attempted to imple-
ment the suggestions of the report, but without total success.
It fostered a return of Native American lands and halted the
further sale of such lands. It also instituted a system of loans
to tribes for the development of business enterprises and
industrial development. In addition, measures taken at this
time, to alleviate the conditions faced by the general popula-
tion during the Depression also affected the Native American.
Such groups as the Papago were able to find their first employ-
ment in the Civilian Conservation Corps on or near their home
reservations.
The Eisenhower administration reversed these gains by
adopting a resolution of "termination" of the special rights and
services enjoyed by Native Americans. Some tribes were sim-
ply defined out of existence, while others, deprived of tax-
exempt status, lost all of their land.

Native Americans today

Economics

Most Native Americans are poor. 7 Per capita income ave-


rages around $1,500 a year, about one-half the national "pov-
erty level," but individual cases are often worse. On some
reservations, large families may have a total income of under
$1,000, and Native Americans tend to have large families.

6. Lewis M e r i a m et al., The Problem of Indian Administration (Balti-


more: Johns H o p k i n s P r e s s , 1928).
7. Most of w h a t follows is derived from M u r r a y W a x , Indian Ameri-
cans; D e p a r t m e n t of C o m m e r c e , U.S. Census of Population, 1960 (Non-
white Population by R a c e ) (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1963); a n d Helen Johnson, "Rural Indian A m e r i c a n s in Poverty,"
in Bahr, C h a d w i c k and Day, Native A m e r i c a n s T o d a y , pp. 24-30.
The World of the Native American Child 23

The birth rate is considerably higher t h a n that of the country


as a whole, and the traditional e x t e n d e d family still prevails
in m a n y places. T h e r e f o r e , when we are talking about such
low incomes, w e may be talking about a group of ten or twelve
people w h o m u s t survive on these sub-poverty level earnings."
Not only is income low, but when w e e x a m i n e the sources
of Native A m e r i c a n income we find that a large part of it
comes f r o m g o v e r n m e n t assistance, veterans' aid, land leases,
and g o v e r n m e n t employment. It is difficult for Native Ameri-
cans to obtain ordinary n o n g o v e r n m e n t employment. This is
partly b e c a u s e most reservations are well out of commuting
range of the better e m p l o y m e n t markets. It is also due to lack
of education at a time w h e n arbitrary s t a n d a r d s are set f o r
hiring, such as the requirement of a high-school diploma for
w o r k on an assembly line. Lack of training in the more market-
able skills in a changing economy is also a h a n d i c a p as ma-
chines take over many of the tasks for which antiquated
technical schools have trained Native American youth. W e
should also note that discrimination in hiring practices plays
an i m p o r t a n t role in limiting the availability of good employ-
ment for Native Americans. There is little doubt that w h i t e
p r e j u d i c e exists, although f e w studies, since the early Bogardus
studies, have systematically examined attitudes t o w a r d s Na-
tive A m e r i c a n s . Bogardus s h o w e d that the unfavorable image
of N a t i v e Americans was not changing at the same rate as
p r e j u d i c e t o w a r d s other groups in society. In the area of social-
d i s t a n c e prejudice, for instance, prejudice t o w a r d s Native
A m e r i c a n s increased b e t w e e n 1946 and 1956, while negative
a t t i t u d e s t o w a r d s other groups s h o w e d a decrease in this
respect. 0 In a study of anti-Native American prejudice in a
C o l o r a d o mining town, Ralph Luebben noted that p r e j u d i c e

8. O f c o u r s e the e x t e n d e d f a m i l y can b e an asset, and s o m e h a v e


a r g u e d that it is i n d e e d the merit of c o m b i n e d i n c o m e which h a s per-
p e t u a t e d that f a m i l y structure a m o n g N a t i v e Americans.
9. E m o r y Bogardus, "Racial D i s t a n c e , " in Sociological Analysis: An
Empirical A p p r o a c h through Replication, ed. Murray A. S t r a u s s and
Joel I. N e l s o n ( N e w York: Harper and R o w , 1968), pp. 276-81.
24 RED CHILDREN IN W H I T E A M E R I C A

was accompanied by discrimination in hiring and in admission


to community organizations, such as the Boy Scouts. 1 0 Joseph,
Spicer, and Chesky note that the general public in the area
near a reservation look upon Native American people as a
lower-class group with a tendency towards drunkenness, and,
though they are not subjected to as marked social discrimina-
tion as Negroes, they must endure a certain amount of racial
prejudice. 1 1
Macgregor's analysis of white attitudes is more sophisti-
cated because he considers the effects of social class on inter-
group attitudes.
T o sum up, attitudes vary generally with the social status of
the white man. T h e tradespeople, well-to-do farmers and gov-
ernment e m p l o y e e s who form the middle class of South Dakota
and Nebraska, look upon most Indians as socially and economi-
cally inferior. T h e Indians who are a c c e p t a b l e to this group are
those w h o s e education, employment and social behavior are
like their own. T h e r e is, however, another group of whites in
the area to w h o m the Indians, especially the mixed bloods, are
m o r e a c c e p t a b l e , and with whom there is s o m e inter-marriage.
This group is largely composed of the poorer farmers and
townspeople, often those who live on " t h e wrong side of the
tracks."12

Mead noted little real social contact between the "Antlers"


and the whites of towns near their reservation. " T h e distribu-
tion of whites and Indians over the same territory does not
make for much contact between races. The two groups live
separate lives, often curiously centered about the same
event." 1 '' Thus, even a well-trained and educated Native
American has problems gaining employment close to home.
The result is an unemployment rate which is nearly twice the

10. Ralph A. Luebben, "Prejudice and Discrimination against Navajos


in a Mining Community," in Bahr, Chadwick and Day, Native Americans
Today, pp. 89-101.
11. Joseph, Spicer, and Chesky, The Desert People, pp. 191-221.
12. Macgregor, Warriors without Weapons, pp. 205-09.
13. Mead, Charging Culture, p. 36.
The World of the N a t i v e A m e r i c a n Child 25

white average, a n d which on individual r e s e r v a t i o n s h a s been


known to run a s high a s 70 percent. In the city, N a t i v e Ameri-
cans, like blacks, tend to be " l a s t hired, first fired."
M a k i n g a living on the reservation, without w o r k i n g for the
government or the B u r e a u of Indian A f f a i r s (BIA), is a l s o dif-
ficult. T h e land given N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s at the time the reser-
vations w e r e set out w a s land whites believed to b e useless. 1 4
T h e r e f o r e N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s live on s o m e of the m o s t n o n a r a -
ble, n o n g r a z a b l e land in the country. Water m a y be h a r d to
come by, a s white f a r m e r s and ranchers divert it f o r their o w n
p u r p o s e s . This m a k e s irrigation virtually i m p o s s i b l e . In addi-
tion, the Native A m e r i c a n f a r m e r f a c e s all the difficulties con-
fronted by any small f a r m e r in an era of f o o d - i n d u s t r y ,
agricultural capitalism. T o c o m p e t e with the large agricultural
c o r p o r a t i o n s is difficult if not i m p o s s i b l e . T o even attempt to
enter the s a m e market a s these corporate giants, the agricul-
turalist m u s t invest in huge modern machinery ( s o m e b a l e r s
cost a s m u c h a s $25,000), v a s t s p r e a d s of land and e x p e n s i v e
irrigating equipment, all well out of the reach of m o s t N a t i v e
American farmers.
Furthermore, the long-lasting e f f e c t s of the D a w e s A c t ren-
der f a r m i n g or ranching difficult. The years f o l l o w i n g that
p r o g r a m of individual land allotment s a w a g o o d d e a l of
N a t i v e A m e r i c a n land p a s s into white hands. What land did
remain in Native A m e r i c a n o w n e r s h i p h a s been s u b d i v i d e d by
inheritance to a c o n f u s i n g degree. This m a y leave the indi-
vidual with small p a t c h e s of land all over a given r e s e r v a t i o n .
F a r m i n g such small chunks of land is extremely i m p r a c t i c a l
a n d in s o m e cases—say where the individual o w n s one q u a r t e r
of an acre—ridiculous. A hypothetical e x a m p l e of w h a t can
h a p p e n f o l l o w s : Joe, who lives on a midwestern r e s e r v a t i o n

14. W h e n w h i t e s later found they h a d m i s s e d a trick and t h a t s o m e -


thing of v a l u e did e x i s t on Native A m e r i c a n land, they took it b a c k . T h e
c l a s s i c e x a m p l e of this trend is the c a s e of the Black Hills, w h i c h w e r e
d e e m e d w o r t h l e s s a n d included in the S i o u x reservation until gold w a s
d i s c o v e r e d in them, whereupon the U n i t e d S t a t e s changed the t r e a t y to
r e m o v e the Hills from S i o u x o w n e r s h i p .
26 RED CHILDREN IN W H I T E A M E R I C A

had a grandfather who received 160 acres by the Dawes Act.


T h e grandfather had four sons, each of them, including Joe's
father, inheriting 40 acres. Joe, being one of six children, then
becomes owner of 6 2 /з acres. Now Joe also may have become
heir to property—from his mother, from a childless uncle, or a
brother killed in Korea—in different locations on the reserva-
tion. Obviously, to cultivate his holding Joe would have to
spend most of his day driving a tractor (if he could afford one)
from one little tract to another. This situation is typical of
many throughout the reservation system. The result is that the
joint heirs to a 160-acre parcel of land usually lease it to a
white farmer, and each heir receives a check for his or her
portion of the land. There is a problem here, too. While whites
can lease property on the free market, the Native American
must have approval of the BIA for any land-lease transaction.
Essentially this means that the bureau acts as a middleman,
setting the rates and dealing with the white leasers, then mail-
ing checks to the Native American. There is, very often, a
sweetheart arrangement between the bureau and the local
white farmers, whereby the bureau makes Native American
ands available at lease rates far below those of other lands in
the area. The farmer can then rent cheap and sell his products
high, realizing a good profit, while the Native American heirs
remain trapped in poverty, depending on the low rent they
have been paid. This system is self-perpetuating, as each gen-
eration splits the ownership of the original parcel several
times. In addition, children are denied the Native American
role models they need by seeing whites in control of Native
American lands while their own fathers have been rendered
unemployed.
With jobs in the white market-place so hard to come by, the
question is inevitably raised of the establishment of a Native
American job sector—reservation industries owned either by
Native Americans or by outside corporations who would em-
ploy Native Americans. Several different sets of problems
arise in this regard. First, there are facts of life which make it
difficult to persuade corporations to establish businesses on
T h e W o r l d of the N a t i v e A m e r i c a n C h i l d 27

r e s e r v a t i o n s . T h e l a c k of w a t e r and, in s o m e c a s e s , electricity
m e a n s that the c o r p o r a t i o n will h a v e to i n v e s t a great deal in
the p h y s i c a l set-up, bringing in its o w n p o w e r a n d p l u m b i n g
s y s t e m s . T h e g e o g r a p h i c a l isolation of m a n y r e s e r v a t i o n s ren-
ders them i n a c c e s s i b l e to m a r k e t s . M a n y r e s e r v a t i o n s l a c k
s u c h b a r e e s s e n t i a l s as the p a v e d r o a d s n e c e s s a r y f o r t r a n s -
portation of r a w m a t e r i a l s and finished p r o d u c t s . L a n d i n g
strips, a n d / o r decent h i g h w a y s , t h e r e f o r e , a l s o b e c o m e a p a r t
of the i n v e s t m e n t the c o r p o r a t i o n is c a l l e d upon to m a k e .
F i n a l l y , the c o r p o r a t i o n w h i c h i n t e n d s to e m p l o y a large n u m -
ber of N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s m u s t be p r e p a r e d to i n v e s t in a train-
ing p r o g r a m .
E v e n g i v e n these d e m a n d i n g criteria, a f e w c o r p o r a t i o n s
h a v e v e n t u r e d onto the r e s e r v a t i o n s to set up f a c t o r i e s , a n d
they h a v e m a d e the i m p r o v e m e n t s n e c e s s a r y f o r a v i a b l e in-
d u s t r y . B u t there h a v e been u n f o r t u n a t e r e s u l t s in s u c h c a s e s .
H a v i n g o b t a i n e d tribal c o u n c i l a p p r o v a l f o r their e n d e a v o r ,
s o m e c o r p o r a t i o n s h a v e f o l l o w e d the old pattern of d i s r e g a r d -
ing p r o m i s e s the N a t i v e A m e r i c a n b e l i e v e d w e r e m a d e in g o o d
f a i t h . For e x a m p l e , most a g r e e m e n t s to a l l o w outside i n d u s t r y
to settle on the r e s e r v a t i o n are m a d e with the u n d e r s t a n d i n g
that the n e w f a c t o r y will p r o v i d e jobs f o r the m a n y u n e m -
p l o y e d N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s w h o r e s i d e there. W h e n the f a c t o r y
is o p e r a t i n g , h o w e v e r , the c o r p o r a t i o n s h a v e p r o c e e d e d to h i r e
few N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s . T h o s e h i r e d are o f t e n paid s u b s t a n d a r d
w a g e s and relegated to the l o w e s t jobs on the ladder, w i t h
little o p p o r t u n i t y f o r a d v a n c e m e n t . In addition, m a n y t r a d i -
tional N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s are w a r y of outside industries a n d
the e f f e c t that they m a y h a v e on the e c o l o g i c a l b a l a n c e of the
r e s e r v a t i o n . Strip-mining, oil w e l l s , and h e a v y industry l e a v e
e n v i r o n m e n t a l destruction in their w a k e w h i c h , some c o n t e n d ,
is s c a r c e l y w o r t h the slight d e c l i n e in u n e m p l o y m e n t that t h e y
bring about. M o r e o v e r , they s i m p l y bring the colonial n a t u r e
of all N a t i v e A m e r i c a n life in the United S t a t e s closer to h o m e ,
c l a i m the e l d e r s . T h e f a c t that w h i t e industrialists b e c o m e the
c o n t r o l l e r s of w h a t little l a n d is l e f t in N a t i v e A m e r i c a n h a n d s
o f f e n d s m a n y N a t i v e A m e r i c a n s , w h o call f o r s e l f - d e t e r m i n a -
28 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

tion: they would like to see all industry on the reservation in


Native American hands, tribally, not individually, owned, em-
ploying all Native Americans at high wages, with the profits
returning to the people.

Education

Education presents a dismal picture, too, with dropout rates


fifty percent higher than the rest of the population. Fewer than
eighteen percent of students in federally run Native American
schools go on to college. Results of tests indicate that while
Native American children perform almost as well as white
children on achievement tests that are nonverbal, their verbal
work is affected by their lack of English language skills and
knowledge of white culture. 15
The same inconsistency that prevailed in territorial and eco-
nomic matters has been the rule in education. At first a f e w
schools teaching technical skills were established on or near
reservations. T w o eastern boarding schools, the Haskell Insti-
tute and the Carlisle Indian School, in the latter half of the
nineteenth century took Native American children away from
home, until outcries against the uprooting of children and
separation of families brought about the establishment of
schools nearer home. However, because of the distance in-
volved, many of these are also boarding schools. These schools,
unfortunately, did not seem to train children for economically
successful life, nor did they really prepare the Native American
child for higher education by teaching the academic subjects
that would permit him or her to go on to college. 16 In all
instances, an effort was made to de-Indianize the Native
American. Children were sometimes kidnapped from their
homes by BIA employees and forced to attend BIA schools.

15. Bruce A. C h a d w i c k , "The Inedible Feast," in Bahr, Chadwick, and


Day, .Vntive A m e r i c a n s Today, pp. 131-45.
16. See Mead, C h a n g i n g Culture, pp. 113-29, for a description of early
education.
The World of the Native American Child 29

Physical p u n i s h m e n t , unheard of in most Native American cul-


tures, w a s and s o m e t i m e s still is cruelly applied. 1 7
Both Parmee, w h o studied the Apache, and the Waxes, w h o
studied education at Pine Ridge, noted that reservation parents
do not take an active interest in their children's education, and
they stress the n e e d to m a k e education relevant to the p a r e n t s
as well as to the children. Often, because the values of home
and school are so different, the child must choose between
being a good Native American and being a good student. T h e
W a x study places more importance on the effect on Native
American children of interaction b e t w e e n the two cultures,
stressing as they do two different sets of values. In addition,
white t e a c h e r s are considered in their roles as socializers, not
as beings w h o come into the child's life after his personality is
completely f o r m e d . The parents' exclusion f r o m active involve-
ment with the schools (an example of institutional racism) is
p r e s e n t e d as a w e d g e driven b e t w e e n the two w o r l d s in w h i c h
the child lives. The W a x e s urge those coming in contact with Na-
tive A m e r i c a n children and their families to b e c o m e sensitized
to Native A m e r i c a n values and to attempt to m a k e educational
p r o g r a m s responsive to the n e e d s of the entire community. 1 8
P a r m e e ' s study of Apache education also points to the incom-
patibility of school and reservation life, but he bluntly includes
the anti-Native American attitudes of white educators in his
explanation of the Native A m e r i c a n child's passive failure in
school. 1 9
T h e Coleman report f o u n d that the deficiencies of Native
A m e r i c a n children in school w o r k were most strongly related
to language problems, "cultural deprivation," and negative

17. A description of twentieth-century education is presented by Rob-


ort Burnett and John Köster in The Road to Wounded Knee (New York:
Bantam Books, 1974).
18. Murray Wax and Rosalie Wax, "The Enemies of the People," in
Bahr, Chadwick and Day, No live Americans Today, pp. 177-92.
19. Edward A. Parmee, Formal Education and Culture Chnnge: A
Modern Apache Community and Government Education Programs
Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1968).
30 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

self-concept. 2 " Those factors frequently cited as reasons for


poor performance—facilities, curriculum, and quality of
teachers—were not strongly correlated with the performance
of Native American youngsters. This finding is particularly
significant if we consider it in the light of a theory of institu-
tional racism. All three of the major variables are related to
each other and attributable to institutional racism.
The "language problem," as it is called, reflects the cultural
white supremacy and ethnocentric Anglo bias of the educa-
tional system: the language problem would not be a problem
at all if children were taught in their own language. Language
is obviously a major problem for children who, at home, speak
something other than standard middle-class English. Native
American children who have, until first grade, spoken a tribal
language or even "reservation English," find themselves in a
classroom where the most basic skills are being conveyed in a
language they do not comprehend. Some children literally have
no idea what the teacher is saying. To compound the problem,
the children are tested on these skills and their performance
judged in terms of a national "norm." Small wonder that by
such measures they appear to be behind majority-group
children.
Incidentally, such tests are very good examples of institu-
tional racism in action. A "correct" answer for test items is
based on Anglo culture and the norms that flow from it. Espe-
cially on verbal tests, there may be no intrinsic correctness to
a response but only a correctness as the majority culture de-
fines it. In other words, the performance of white middle-class
children establishes the norm for these tests, and the per-
formance of other children is deemed "good" or "bad" depend-
ing on the degree to which it conforms to that norm. Thus we
can see the arbitrary establishment of an ethnocentric cultural
system within the educational institution.
Children w h o speak a language other than English are not

20. James S. C o l e m a n et al., Equality of Educational Opportunity


(Washington, D.C.: G o v e r n m e n t Printing Office, 1966).
The World of the N a t i v e American Child 31

alone in suffering f r o m these arrangements. Children w h o


speak an English that is not middle-class s u f f e r as well. The
black ghetto child, the reservation Native A m e r i c a n , and the
working-class white (who s a y s "he don't" or " t h e y w a s " ) all
may do poorly on verbal tests. The unfortunate aspect of this
situation, of course, is that those in the field of education (and
many others) do not v i e w correct English simply as conformity
to middle-class verbal norms, but tend to equate it with intelli-
gence. T h u s children w h o speak some variant of the language
emerge from the testing situation and f r o m interaction with
their teachers labeled stupid, not just speakers of another
kind of English. This link between the speaking of standard
English and concepts of intelligence a f f e c t s both teacher
expectations f o r students and students' feelings about them-
selves.
Teachers have been observed by many social scientists to
be very much attuned to language differences and to show
more positive behavior toward students w h o use standard
English. 2 1 More attention is given to the intellectual and emo-
tional growth of these middle-class children when, f o r exam-
ple, compositions are discussed in class. T h e working-class
child's w o r k in this situation is discussed in terms of what
grammatical corrections are needed.
Certainly those students w h o are treated seriously and with
respect by their teachers are likely to perform better and to
enjoy school more than children w h o are constantly treated
with disapproval. Such children may lose self-esteem and come
to v i e w school as an unfriendly place. This is reflected in the
high dropout rate among groups of nonstandard English
speakers. A s long as racial and social class speech patterns
influence the expectations and attitudes of teachers, w e can
s a f e l y say that language and the schools will serve to perpetu-
ate the existing class system of the society. Higher education
is an important pathway to u p w a r d mobility, and the lack of

2 1 . T h e work of anthropologist Jules Henry is particularly s e n s i t i v e in


this regard.
32 RED CHILDREN IN WHITE AMERICA

it confines these children to the same occupational options


which were available to their parents, maintaining the status
quo for another generation. Thus language may function to
lower self-esteem and future expectations on an intraracial
level, as well as for minority racial groups, with poor whites
being victimized by sanctions against their own "non-norma-
tive" speech patterns.
In the case of Native Americans, language has always been
recognized by white educators as being of key importance,
although, as we have seen, not always for the right reasons.
Physical punishment for the speaking of tribal languages char-
acterized almost all of the early schools and is still employed
in some schools. There are two reasons for this. The first is
the educators' fear of children who could have secrets from
them by speaking in a "foreign" tongue. The second reason
was the desire to use the schools as deculturating institutions,
turning little Native Americans into English-speaking, Chris-
tian, Anglo-like citizens, much as the children of the immi-
grants were being deculturated by the schools in the East.
The introduction of Native American teachers and teacher's
aides, and growing community participation in educational
matters on the part of many Native American parents, as well
as the enlightened establishment of bilingual programs on
reservations, have eased the situation somewhat. However,
there is a need for more Native American teachers. In the
absence of these, some tribal groups are requesting that white
teachers be required to demonstrate a knowledge of tribal
language and culture before being permitted to teach on the
reservation.
The Coleman report cites cultural deprivation as a second
major factor in determining the academic achievement of
Native American children. "Cultural deprivation," as Chad-
wick has pointed out in his paper, "The Inedible Feast," would
be better phrased as cultural differences. 22 Wax has called the
entire notion of cultural deprivation "vacuum" ideology, im-

22. Chadwick, "Inedible Feast."


The World of the Native American Child 33

plying as it does that there is no culture in Native American


homes.^ Here we h a v e a perfect e x a m p l e of the Western
assessment of those w h o spring f r o m other cultural back-
grounds: they are not different but d e p r i v e d ; their culture is
not unusual or interesting, it does not exist. The Coleman
report may have told us more about the schools than about the
children, for if cultural deprivation, w h i c h is really cultural
difference, is strongly associated with poor school perfor-
mance, may it not be precisely because our educational system
is predicated upon a familiarity with white culture, that it
is mysterious and to an extent irrelevant to those w h o do not
share that familiarity? The Eskimo child c o n f r o n t e d by a test
in which cows, picket fences, and the ubiquitous Spot figure
prominantly is being c o n f r o n t e d by a series of symbols which
are utterly void of meaning for him.
Considering all of this, it is hardly surprising that poor self-
concept figures as the third important variable in the Coleman
data. But rather than see these as three separate variables
relating to the degree of a c c o m p l i s h m e n t in the school, they
would be better viewed as a f e e d b a c k system.
Most Native American children attend one of three types of
schools: ΒΙΑ-run boarding schools, BIA day schools or public
schools which are p r e d o m i n a n t l y white, and religious boarding
or day schools.
A great deal has been written about the poor conditions that
exist at many BIA boarding schools. Among these conditions
are physical punishment, poor housing, inadequate staff-pupil
ratios, the ethnocentrism of teachers, the cruelties of half-
blood against full-blooded children, and the use of such p o w e r -
ful tranquilizing drugs as t h o r a z i n e for disciplinary purposes. 2 4
Christianity has historically and in the present era b e e n
stressed over indigenous religion. In short, efforts to d e s t r o y
Native American culture and m a k e the Native American pupil

23. M u r r a y L. Wax et al.. " F o r m a l Education in an American I n d i a n


C o m m u n i t y . " Supplement to Social P r o b l e m s 2, no. 3 (1964).
24. See Burnett and Köster, R o a d to W o u n d e d Knee, pp. 42-70.
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In één uur tijd was de geweldige marktdrukte komen
áándonderen in furiënd gescharrel en gesjouw,
geraas, getier en roezemoezende stemmenbotsing.
Paarden met karren, al méér, al méér, klakkerden en
bonkerden onder de belommerde kastanjelaan,
schurend langs de huisstoepen, zwenkend, tegen
elkaar òp. Vrachtrijders verkrijschten: ho!.… ho!…
hai!-daar!-geroep, [88]tusschen kerels, vrouwen en
kinderen; tusschen ladende en lossende werkers, of
dwars door rumoerige groepen, opgepropt òm groote
groenteuitstalling van afslag, waar koopgierige
schobbejakkige venters rond-kankaneerden in schor
opbied-geschreeuw, als dronken duivels.

Van zijstraatjes uit, dobberde zwaar-stootend gedrang


van karren, de eene al hooger achter de andere
òpbergend, met kisten- en zakkenlading.

Tegen half zeven daagde van allen kant ’t landvolk òp,


voortstuwend pyramiden van kleurdruipende groenten,
als was aan akkerzij van Wiereland overstrooming
losgebroken, de zee over de duinen heengegolfd. Als
was daardoor ’n chaotische beroering, ’n opstand,
dwars door paniekheen gescheurd; had zich ’n drom
angstigen aanééngestoet, verschrompelde
bemodderde kerels, reddend van hun zwaren ploeter
àl wàt ’r op ’t land nog te halen viel. Eén wilde, woeste
samenstrompeling van mannen, vrouwen, kinders,
met kisten en manden en zenuwbevende handen, die
meehielpen aansjouwen en wegduwen van kar naar
boot.
Aardbeigloei, rood-fel en purperdiep, brandde weer in
zonnelaai. Honderden en duizenden bakken met de
roode pracht-furie der vruchtjes gingen van hand tot
hand op de booten, van de karren naar de
dekplaatsen, en van alle kanten losten de wagens uit,
stortten een groentezee neer, in branding van kleuren,
aanklotsend tegen zonnegolven; tegen broklijven van
schuiten, kerels, karren, paarden en honden, één
woeste uitgolving, òpzieding van groen, groèn, van
zeng-rood, vuur, donkerend purper en hel prachtig
wortelen-oranje.—

Hemel was blauw-diep weer uitgetinteld, tusschen


zilverende wolktochten en in de koelender
zilverglanzen van gloedroode, stillere zon, lag de
kastanjelaan doorzeefd in wondren glansnevel,
doorvlàmd en zonnemistig tegelijk. En de
groenbemoste boomstammen, in flitsen grillig
beserpentiend, kromden gevangen in gouden kronkels
van glans-slangen.

Dampig gezeef van goudschemer, gloedrood, vloeide


over de bronzen en roode kielen der woelende kerels,
werkersstoeten [89]in sfeer van gouden lichtdamp en
roode toortsentooverij bewegend.—

Midden in zonnetoover daverde ’t haventje van


helsche donderbonkerende rumoering. Telkens
ratelden van de zijwegen, uit smal-doffige broei-
steegjes, nieuwe karren áán, waarachter angstig-
verwrongen gezichten èven uithoekten, tusschen
bakken en manden; monsterlijk gerammeide
zweetkoppen, doodòp van zwoeg, benauwing en
snikhitte.—Hun bakken overstroomden de markt,
verzwolgen ’t licht. Uit àl andere weggetjes en
spleetstraatjes, van rechts, van links, dwars, opzij, uit
nog fel-bezonde achteraffe gaatjes en steegjes,
flonkerend en dampend in verblindend schellen
lichtgloei, bonkerden en schokkerden ààn, al meer
paardwagens en handkarren, aardbeien en
groentevrachten, rood en groen; felle uitbarstende
gamma’s van purper naar papaver-vuùr, en al soorten
smaragd, tusschen gelige goud-gloeiende kolen, al
méér, al méér, als moest ’t haventje begraven,
verzwolgen onder de bakken, manden, vrachten en
vaten. Overal, de heete hartstocht van ’t gloeikleurig
rood en oranje, de felle klater van ’t schelle en
zingende groen, dook òp van alle zij, uit zon-
overstorte zijweggetjes, blakerend, smal en vunzig
verstoft in de Julihitte, met hun ordelooze wemeling
van krijtwitte, bruine, fel-groene bekalkte geveltjes en
rooddakig brio.—Overal doken òp, geweldig in
drommen tusschen ’t kleurheete, zengende geveltjes-
koloriet,—ònder de roodgoud doordampte
boomenlaan uit,—al nader, àl nader, de wagens met
hun lichtend groen en vruchtenpurper, tègen de
hemelblauwing in; de huisjes al kleiner, verder wèg, de
karren àl grooter en massaler, aanbonkerend op de
Haven.

Later nog, de kastanjeboomen zeefden in zonnemist


en de kruinen stonden weer uitgegloeid als was ’t
goud er tusschen vervloeid.—

Hier en daar nog van boven schampte ’n flits, ’n


gloeiende kronkel, ’n trillende spiraalglans; was
lichtweb uitgescheurd en blijven hangen wat bevend
spinsel van goud-gloed.—

Links van de karren zwenkten de tuinders hun


paardwagens àchter paaltjes áán, op stiller gedeelte,
’n end van d’r [90]boot af.—Stil, tusschen rumoering,
suften de paardkoppen, de voorste vastgetouwd aan
paaltjes. Maar ook dààr, heel gauw, dromde ’t stikvol,
schoven al meer karren in, stonden de beesten met de
lijven op elkaar ingedrongen, koppen,
droefmelankoliek naar beneden, in zorgelijke
bepeinzing over ’t oorlogend havenrumoer, geraas en
gekrijsch. Te wachten, roerloos stonden de beesten,
d’r half-leeggeladen karren kleure-jolend in zinkenden
zonnedoop, kermisjubel van helblauw, groen, hard-
geel, bruin en menie-roode beschildering. Zacht
zwiepten de staarten, knokelden schimmel-blanke,
goudbruine en donker-bronzen ruggen, gloed-laag
beschenen. Van alle kanten manoeuvreerden,
tusschen ’t geraas van weggeslingerde kisten, de
karren zoo dicht mogelijk bij boot waarop geladen
moest worden, voor vertrek van den volgenden
ochtend. Hoog bestapeld, van achter tot voordek,
krioelden de booten in rij vóór den wal. Geen plekje
kon onbezet blijven. Dekknechten en kapteins
sjouwden gelijkelijk mee met de tuinders, droegen de
bakken met vruchten en groenten ààn, in zwaren
zwoeg, over keiweg en loopplanken. Handiger dan de
tuinders wrongen zij zich tusschen de kisten, mand-
en zakvrachten door, opstapelend in zwaren smak van
uitputting, de nieuwe vrachten. Dwars door elkaar,
bouwden ze òp, monumentaal, dat de groentebakken
vèr boven verschansing, als ’n kleurig fort van ruw
hout, neergeblokt stonden. En overal bij spleetjes,
gloeiflitste ’t vruchtenrood tusschen het
monsterbouwsel van kisten, levend monument van
vruchten, gesmoord tegen orànjebrand van wortelen
en groen.—

Op alle booten tegelijk, bleef de laatste stapeling


aardbeibakken, langs heel den havenwal neergewolkt
in vuur, en de gemeen-beschilderde kisten in ruig
koloriet, dansten een kankan van helsche kleuren in ’t
doorzonde, heete havenrumoer. Zwoele stanken
drassigden in de lucht ’t zoet uit van de vruchtjes,
zwoel-vochtig tusschen de groenten, die
opeengebroeid, voozer verstonken. Over den drogen
gloeiend-stoffigen sintelgrond verwàlmden geuren,
dwarrelde rond, draaikolk van stanken, zoetige en
ransige, kanteloeplucht en citroenen, sinaasappels
[91]en bedorven uitwasemende poonen, scharren, zuur
en eieren; gotenlucht tusschen ’t aardbeizoet,
dòòrwaaid weer van kroegstank en spiritus. Alsof
zieke reuzen ergens heeten stankadem uitbliezen
over de Haven, zóó van alle zij wasemden de dingen
hun luchten uit, vermengd en verbroeid in de hitte. En
telkens gulpte van spoordijk, rook-roetige wolk-
smoezel, in woeste vegen donker heendampend over
’t havengewoel, òver karren, vruchten en
menschenoppropping, doorzond en verstoofd in
kleuren en licht. Zóó, fel omklaterd en verbrand van
kleuren, in de hartstochthitte der zwoegers,
verdampten de geuren bevend licht bòven de karren,
de mensch-koppen, kisten en manden dompelend in
zichtbare sfeer, stralend-fijn van ijl stofgoud.—
Sfeer van trillend licht, als neergestroomd uit reuzige
zonnelantaarns, in banen van damp en warrel. En
tusschen de menschkoppen en koopwaar, grillig-
verspatte nog zonnevuur kleurfelle vlakken, gooide
vlammig spel op bevende kaken, òp handen, in
oogen. Telkens nieuwe kisten sjouwden dekknechten
met tuinders áán, in hijg-zwoeg, dood-af gewerkt van
den ganschen dag landwerk; telkens in hun gang
gestuit, teruggestooten, weggeduwd en verkneld, door
andere werkers met vrachten op nek, hoofd en
schouders, ingebukt en woest in d’r moeheid,
terugsjokkend van de loopplank, achter elkaar, met de
doffe, of kleur-felle kisten op de schonken, wat ruzie-
schor verschreeuwend tegen de kerels die opdrongen
of worstelden om plaats. Dan hier, dan daar holden en
kankaneerden de sjouwers op zij, vòòr paardkoppen
of langs geweldige vrachtwagens, die tusschen hen
indrongen. Overal was gestruikel, gestrompel; dof-
klankten smakkingen, daverde gebonker van
verslingerde kisten en manden, gloei-stroom van
jachting, verkronkelend in dol-botsende drukte. De
kleurige booten, achter elkaar langs den wal, sloegen
’n branding in ’t hart van ’t levende haventje. Eén
vloed en eb deinde er van duizenden verlompte
werkgangers die òp en af, dwars en tusschen elkaar’s
groen-waar heensjouwden en reden.—Zoo golfde bij
den wal ’t sterkst, woeste stroom en tegenstroom, zich
vertakkend en [92]verbrokkelend in zijwegjes, weer
aanspoelend in kleinere hurrie-golfjes van andere
kanten. Drang tot afdoen vloeide samen op één punt,
bij al de booten, drang en jacht, die angst-steigerend,
al hooger àànstortte tegen ’t forthooge bouwsel, kleur-
heet monument van bakken en manden; stroom die
plots weer àfrazernijde naar kroegen, dat er spuiing
kwam en luchtiger rammeling van karren tòt in de
afgelegenste, koel-uitgezonde hoeken, bij pakhuizen
naar polderkant.

Langs de havenvaart, achter kastanjelaan, lag de kei-


en sintelweg hooger met leege kisten bestapeld,
teruggestrooide vracht van ’n boot, die al twee maal
aardbei naar de groote stad had vervoerd. Nu ook van
polderkant donderden en bonkerden paardkarren en
ezelwagentjes ààn, met ’n geraas of ’r mijlen in ’t rond
muren van glaswerk instortten, telkens één op den
ander vergletscherend. Tusschen ’t lawaai van lossers
en laders, gilden en joelden kinderen aan karkrukken,
klauterend in stemmenschater over wagens, kisten,
manden; hingen en wipten ze aan karhoeken, elkaar
bejoedelend òprukkend of terugsmakkend. Beestig
woelden ze rond, furiënd in de herrie, stremmend ’t
gedrang en gesjouw, tot plots in woedevlaag van
werkers, ze verjaagd werden naar andere hoeken.
Maar ook daar woelden en klauterden ze weer als
losgebroken apen uit dierentuin, òphitsend de honden
die basten en jammerden gelijk schreiende gekken.—

Als wegratelde, met kar en hond, één tuindersgroepje,


stortten nieuwe wagens rumoer uit, was ’r in enkele
minuten weer kargedrang en gestoot op-elkaar-in.
Achter boomgroen, waar goud-rooden gloed dampte,
en scheemrig de laan lommer-glansde, keken vreemd
de geheim-stille ruiten, nù onder half bladerduister, in
haven-zonnerood vertooverd; bij brokken
weerkaatsend ’t belichte gewoel, worstelzwoeg van
tuinders, die er vóór sprongen en holden, tierden en
hotsten als gestrafte misdadigers, kankaneerend op
heete platen, met hun verweerde tronies tusschen
eigen walmende reukwaar in. Geen sterveling in ’t
stroomrumoer, die stààn kon blijven. Van alle kanten
stootten de vrachten òp, mannen, vrouwen, kinders,
[93]vloekend, scheldend tegen elkaar in. Méér dragers
balanceerden bakkenstapels boven ’t hoofd, waar ze
in angst naar grepen, als ze zich teruggebonkt
voelden, in den karren-kronkel. Minuten lang werden
lijven geblokkeerd, ingesloten, door dwarrelgang van
andere sjouwers vòòr de booten, en eindelijk haastig
strompelde ’n troep vooruit, als er spuiing kwam aan
den walkant. Snel warrelden ze dooréén,
aanschuivend en verglibberend op stronken en
groenteafval, met één voet soms tusschen ’n opening
ingekneld, de andere op bakken en manden
neergetrapt. Elk bloot keiplekje lag dadelijk
dichtgesmakt, als ’n werker z’n voet wegtrok, opschoof
of weer naar z’n kar terugdrong om nieuwe waar af te
laden. Angstig geroep en gekrijsch van ho!.. ho!.. hai-
je-hee!.… verklonk opjagend de werkgangers.

—Kaik veur je!.… paa’s d’r-op-bout!.… hee doar je


kop!—màin snuit ook nie!.… kruiste en spatte tegen
elkaar òp, in rauwe ironie en spot. Bij de minuten nu,
zwol áán de razernij, ’t gewoel, gedrom, gekrioel op
havenengte, en wilder ging werkjacht onder de
menschoppropping, de samengeknelde worstelende
zwoegers, teelders van Wiereland, Duinkijk,
Kerkervaart, Lemperweg, Lemper en van al de dorpjes
rondom; moeë kerels, afgejakkerd door dàglangen
landarbeid, met heeten wrevel in d’r lijven, tot laat in
den avond opsjouwend naar marktwemel.—
Van de kroegen uit, tierde, raasde, ziedde rumoer. Als
dampige holen, volgerookt met smook-blauwigen
nevel, donkerde daar roezemoes van zuipende kerels,
uitspattende drinkers en pijprookers, klodderend en
spuwend op zandgrond. Flikkering en lichtflitsjes gloei-
speelden ijl over karaffen en glaasjes bij buffet,
onderschepte vonkjes en glansjes van verdwaald rood
en groen-goud licht. Van alle herbergen stonden de
deuren wagenwijd open, en achter de boomenlom’ring
uit, verdrongen de werkers elkaar rumoerend, om
eerder in haastigen slok ’t brandvocht, droge, moeë
keelen in te gieten.—

Benauwend sloeg de stank van groenten, visch en


aardbei de kroegen door. In woelige, opgedrukte
kringetjes zaten groepjes [94]bijeen onder schor
dronkenmanslawaai, en telkens schoot geschater uit,
dat als jammerhuilen verklonk. Jovialig beklopten ze
elkaar op de petten, schouers, of stond ’n troepje, bij
’n hoek opgedrongen, met de jeneverkelken in de
hand, morsend en plassend over kleeren en polsen,
d’r groen-waar te versjacheren, klakkend in handslag.

Vlak langs de huizen en stoepen schuurden de


paardwagens, uitwijkend als ’t kon, voor
groenteuitstallingen om boomstammen; ging rond, ’n
gang van slenterende meiden en moeders met
kinderwagens, zuigelingen, angstig verschrikt
kermend en krijschend tusschen den jachtarbeid in.
Telkens uit zijwegjes en onder boomlaan uit, doken de
paardkoppen vlak tusschen de verweerde
menschtronies in, joelde de havelooze kinderbent,
onder paardenpooten, achter karwielen, vaten, zakken
en bakken uitklauterend. En heviger, boven alles uit,
furiede hondgeblaf, angstige huilgamma’s van
verhongerde kreupel-getrokken beesten, dorstig,
geranseld, in woeste razernij van klachten, òver heet
werkersrumoer heen, met ’n ontroerend-
menschelijken jammerhuil in d’r blaf, als verschreiden
ze hun ellende, hun dorstgemartel in hitte;
verklaagden ze elkaar hun slaag en driftschoppen van
d’r bazen, waarvoor ze zwoegden, den heelen
zomerdag door.

Tusschen het ketsende paardgetrappel en kargeratel,


door dwarsweggetjes uitgestort en neergeworpen in
den woelstroom van ’t donderbonkerend marktgeraas,
bleven de honden blàffen. Eén jammerkoncert van
droeve klaagklanken, van nijdig gekef, van gekerm,
gejank; schor en dreigend gebrul van door kinderen
gesarde dieren, tegen de wielbanden getrapt, aan de
spanriemen vermarteld, met steenen besmakt, dat de
schrei-blaffende koppen verkrampten tegen de assen
òp. En àl meer karren ratelden ààn, met span van drie
en vier beesten vóór en ònder de wielen, die dadelijk
meeblaften in oorscheurend geweld.

Plots braakten twee hoekkroegen ’n stoet uit van


krijsch-jolende kerels, in malle sprongen, hals-bloot,
met slappe handjes naar elkaar toe kankaneerend.
Dronken verzwollen koppen, [95]roode stropdoeken,
losgescheurd op bloote borst, joolden ze èng en
opgestooten onder paardkoppen door, waggelend
tusschen kar-honden, die nijdig aanbasten, en in dol
geterg, met hun woeste, kwijlige schuimbekken
dreigden te happen. Voor de zuur- en vischstalletjes
bleven de kerels staan, gretig grabbelend in de zon-
bebronsde poonen, waarvan de vellen glansden als
gloeiend ceramiek. En schor joegen ventersstemmen
de kerels òp.

—Fersche poòne.… mooie poòne? faine skarre!.…


fersche skarre!

Verhitte relletjeskring van arme tuindersventers, die


onder elkaar wat bakken groenten hadden verkocht,
niet op bootveiling en afslag hoefden te wachten,
zongen rauw, in dronken joel:

—Oooaaw.… waa’t ’n skà-ànde!..

Hun vervuilde kleeren stonken en drank-asem


walmden ze elkaar in de roode bakkesen.—Van rechts
golfde ’n nieuwe zwoegstroom áán, die den lolkring
terugdrong weer, in de smookige donkere kroegen,
waar de zweetwasem verbroeide als zure
vleeschstank, tusschen de scherpe prikkellucht van
tabak en jenever.

Oorverdoovender buiten, brulde, loeide, raasde en


kermde de hondenbent onder de karren; duizenden
woedende en schreiende dieren tusschen ’t
menschgekrioel in.—

Ze huilden als uit dwangbuizen losworstelende


gekken, door brandangst, in ruimte zonder uitgangen,
opgejaagd. Tegen elkaar in blaften de beesten onder
assen, wielen of krukken, met bassende, dreigende,
hakkende, schorre hoog klank-martelende razernij,
onvermoeibaar in één krisis van kretensmart. En
vonkwild, bloedbeloopen, gloeiden hun oogen zonder
dat ’t landvolk omkeek naar de dieren, die ze
verhongeren lieten, en versmoren van dorst.—

Aan linkerkant van Haven, waar menschen, paarden,


karren, ezels en honden in één oppropping, ’t sterkst
dooreenkrioelden, daverde zwaaibreed ’t
kistengesmak; keilden tuinders, manden en bakken
rond, klonk rauw gekrijsch, barstten vloeken uit,
[96]giftig en grof, in heete stemme-botsingen.—’n
Politieman, tusschen geraas en gedrang, verkrompen
tot mager angst-gestaltetje, keek rond, hand op de
sabel, dan hier, dan daar geschouerbonkt, tegen z’n
rug, getràpt tegen z’ beenen, z’n kop, geen raad
wetend soms, waar zich te bergen.—Aldoor sprong ie
opzij tusschen karrenknel en hondgedreig, maar
dadelijk weer ver-bonkten ze’m naar andere plekken.

En overal om ’m, zwol ’t daverend marktgeraas,


ontkraterde het heete onweer van zwoeg, de
sjouwende kleurige opstand van marktkerels; deinde
de zee van druischend woelgeweld, in d’r licht en
kleur-golvend beweeg, geraakt nog door laten
zonnebrand; in d’r klotsende schuiming
overstroomend, vèr, al verder, de Haven, de booten,
den polder, met daverend rhytmus van treinengang,
dreunend in den lagen, snikheeten zonneval.—

Tusschen het geraas en de blaffurie klonk als ’n


demonische hooge stemmenspot, plots bel van den
afslag, uitrammelend z’n schellen schater boven de
kleurig-opgepropte menschenmassa. Daad’lijk trok ’n
bronskleerige tuindersstoet met straat-groente-
venters, zonder eigen grond, rond den afslager, die
bengelen bleef; tusschen de helle klank-strooiing
dóórkrijschend, dat nieuwe omgang van afslag
beginnen zou. ’n Helper riep naast den verkooper, met
twee handen aan den mond als toeter gebogen, heftig
dat ’t bloed ’m naar de wangen schroeide, ’t zweet
glimmig van z’n slapen druppelde, den
druischdonderenden warrel van ’t marktgeraas
pogend te overschreeuwen. De schelle
klankenrammel bleef luiend lawaaien en daaràchter
de schor-verkrijschte afslagers-stem, onverstaanbare
radde handelstermen uitbrabbelend. Op ’n hooge
stapeling van kisten stond ie naast z’n helper, en rond
’m, de stom toekijkende beweeglooze, ingedrukte
klomp brons-kleerige tuinders, loerend naar de
uitgestalde groentewaar, den geweldigen kring van
sla, groen-doorzond, als smagarden kwallen, geplooid
en bekerfd; douwig-doffe doppers, platte peulen,
rhabarberbossen, rooiig-groen, en korrelig blanke
boeketjes bloemkool, op stapels dooreengesjouwd, in
kisten en bakken. Eindelijk stopte afslager,
satanischen klankstrot van bel dicht, kringden de
koopers [97]nauwer op en achter elkaar. Kleine
baasjes-pachtertjes stonden in den koopkrans
gedrongen, met d’r sluwe kaal-geschoren tronies,
loenscherig berekenend in klankloos lipbeweeg, wat
ze voor de waar geven konden. Anderen, in
gedachten, staarden als gekataleptizeerden naar de
nu stille bel op kistenhoogte, die flonkerde bronzerig in
zongloed, tusschen ’t groen. Lager gloei-glansde zon
rond de kijkkoppen, rood-gouden toover sprankelend
op tronies-brokken, de kerels vervlammend in
toortsigen brand van d’r pracht-bronzende kleeren.
Demonisch vlàmde er gloed, inbijtend op den kring,
hier fel-licht verblindend op wit gekiel, daar goud-
wolkerig verzevend op fronskoppen, bronzen ooren en
handen, kleurige kielen en schonken.—

Venters die Wiereland doorsjacherden met wat


groenteafval in hun verrotte schrompeling van kleeren,
beloerden elkaar woest-nijdig, vooruit al bang, dat een
den ander zou opjagen. Onstuimiger drong de stoet
bijéén, scharrelkring van schorre kerels, in naakten
drang elkaar met oogentaal vermoordend van afgunst.
Snel, in woordratel van z’n kisthoogen stapel àf, had
afslager z’n waren geprijsd.—

—Veur tachtig de duuzend,.… veur dertig.… die.…


veur vaiftig die.…

—Main.… gilde één uit den kring, angst-ontzet als


zouden ze ’m slaan.

Daar weerklankte helsche stemmestrot, van bel


tingelingelinge! lingg!.… tin.… gelinge.… lingg-ling!
ling! schel neerziedend in verdoovende vaart, in ’t
rondomme geraas van karren, honden en menschen.
Achter den afslager en kijkkring, was weer ’n
ontzaglijke, aaneengekettingde rij aardbeikarren
aangerateld, helrood tusschen de losgestapelde
peenbossen. Als ’n geweldig fantomige opstand van
plukkers en rooiers, was er ’n nieuwe stroom reuzige
werkers en sjouwers uit den stationskant
aangedrongen, dwars door de paardjes en ezeltjes, in
’n davering van ho!.. ho!.. hei daàr!!’s. Opstanding van
titanische plukkers uit ’n heel anderen landhoek, tegen
de paarden ingaand, die verhit, in pracht van trek-
gang, trappelden en vernielden wat onder den hoef
kwam.— [98]

Rond handen en lijven, rond oogen van dieren en


menschen bleef razen een heet gewoel, een druisch-
hevige energie van demonische jacht, één krioelende
gang van leven, tusschen boomen, tenten, stalletjes
indringend en weer uitgulpend met overstroomenden
golfslag van rondfuriënden ploeter.

Pal in den zinkenden zonnedamp, làger verglanzend


in sfeer van goudrooden brand, doken de woeste
zwoegkoppen òp, uit al meer verdonkerd
boomlommer. Dààr, onder ’t verduisterd bladergroen
sjacherden de kerels, met d’r tronies in geheim-fijnen
schemer van half-licht, groen-goud en bleekblond
omzeefd, soms plots uitgesmakt naar walkant, in ’t
roodgoud gewolk, tot de voeten begloeid in fanatieken
worstel van glansen.—

Van alle kanten in de avondzon, duwden ze òp de


kerels, pracht-gespannen de spieren van stuw, al
mèèr groenten, heele steden overrompelend met hun
monumentale warenmassa. Inééngedrongen dààr, op
karren bij elkaar, geplukt en gerooid, lag de éérst
mijlen verspreide zwoeg van hun land, om straks te
zien verdwijnen hun waar, hun voedsel en zoete spijs,
als offerden ze, in angstige, stomme biecht van arbeid,
aan den donkeren grom-muil van groote geweldige
stad, verslindende metropool, die maar slikte, slikte,
elken dag meer van wat er brandend en zweetend uit
hùn gloeihanden zich opstapelen kwam.—
Van heinde en ver trokken ze op, van de stilste
afgelegenste akkerhoekjes, waar eerst hun waar in
zonnebrand had te gloeien gestaan. Van heinde en
ver de kerelsstoeten trokken òp in orgieënden zwoeg,
omjoeld van laat hemellicht, dat schaduwde en zacht
vervlamde in beev’rige, goud-roode vegen, aarzelend
purper en nevelig hitte-brio, verdonkerd onder
lommerlaan in zeegroenige zweefglanzen. De
kerelsstoeten er in, tusschen hun nog half levend
goed, met den sappenden streng uit den grond gerukt,
in den zwijmel van landgeur, den frisschen zwelg van
aarde-lucht, verbrandend, verstovend in de
havenstanken. Kerels-stoeten als ’n leger van
werkers, met hun kleurfelle, gloei-dronken schitter-
spijzen van overal, worstelend en optrekkend [99]naar
den grooten verren donder der stad, toestoppend den
grommenden lekkenden reuzigen muil van het
zwelgend, vraat-dolle, hongerige massa-monster,
waar zij nu voor saamstroomden, met hun lèvende
waar, doorzogen van hùn zweet; kerelsstoeten,
onbewust van hun demonischen aanvoer, hun
luidruchtige geweldigheid, en heet-koortsend
kleurenbrio, hoorend in ’t kraterend marktgeraas, echo
van den ontzettenden honger-grom van stads-strot.—
Al maar, achter de kastanjelaan uit, van steegjes en
weegjes, doken de karren òp, nu drukker in bedrijvig
gedrang bij den molenkant van station. Ze waggelden
de wagens, zwanger van hun vrachten, ratelden,
hotsten heviger, alle door ’n blondroode baan van licht
heenwadend, doortrilden gouddamp, die àchter hun
koppen, hun waar, bleef hangen als ’n bevende nevel,
laat zonnevuur waaruit ontzag’lijk, reuzige menschen
groeiden. Eindelijk, hun lijven en karren, dromden
buiten de lichtbaan, die zich achter hun koppen weer
sloot als ’n wolkerig wonder van goud-roode
glansen.… Al lager sloeg ’t zonnevuur de haven in
tooverroes van kleur-vlammige schijnsels, als
gebroken licht-vitrails, in scherven en brokken
rondgestrooid over keien, sintelgrond, karren en
vruchten, hout en steen; vlammige brandingen van ’n
Juli-avond, waarin ’t marktgedruisch ziedde, kookte, in
helle-sfeer van broeiing.—

De booten stonden al hooger opgestapeld, achter en


òm de donkere pijpen en koelkast, bòven
machinekamer. Gedraaf, hijgend òp en af de
plankieren daverde en krioelde langs den wal. Te
zinken dreigden de schepen van overvolle angstig-
dicht opgepakte vracht. Burchten van ruw hout, in al
woester koloriet, waar de late zon op neerlekte
lichtvlammen. ’t Hoogst, bòven de bakkleuren uit,
roest-rood, brons, groen, hel-blauw, goud-geel, bleven
de aardbeien gloeien in hun ijl-zang van hel inkarnaat,
purperend zonnegoud òpzuigend; de bakken
volgedaverd van lichtende vruchtjes.—Daartusschen
pyramidaalden bergen doppers, selderie, sla,
postelein, wortelen, tuinboonen, bergen groen en
oranje.—De bloemkoolen schaars aangevoerd van
polder, stonken tegen de aardbei-zwoelte in, [100]en
telkens, uit den kroeg-smokigen mist, doken kerels òp,
doodaf, in zweetvet verglommen, den heeten asem
van hun drank in sjacher verhijgend over hun
vruchten.

Midden in het oorsuizend donder-dof gesmak van


bakken, in jagender tempo, stond plots ’n Jood,
moorsch-zwart, op ’n kruk, voor ’n hoog standaard-
tafeltje, waarop wat vuile tangen met kromme snavels,
dooréén lagen; grimmig roodroestig gereedschap als
martelwerktuigen van middeleeuwschen kerker.—

Midden tusschen ’t gekrioel en den furiënden


aanstroom van lossing en lading, was de Jood
tweemaal tusschen karren en boot doorgedrongen,
maar weer teruggesmakt van z’n standplaats. Eindelijk
had ie z’n tafeltje bij ’n wat uitgedaverd walhoekje
vastgemoerd, was ie spraakloos in de giftige woeling
rondom, blijven staan. Vòòr ’m dromden handkarren,
volgestort met felgele komkommers, goud-glanzend,
bij punten gepolijst, en telkens daverden kerels met
groentebakken voorbij, die licht rondsloegen tusschen
’t overal wolkende aardbeirood.

Moorsch-zwarte Jood, met vonk-donkere oogen, stond


hoog en rustig eindelijk op z’n smalle kruk, boven z’n
tafeltje uit. Onder z’n tasch, tusschen de tangen,
greep ie naar ’n trompet, tamboer-gebarig voor z’n
mond drukkend. Valsch geschal toeterde en stootte ie
uit, ééntonig als bazuindreun op grooten verzoendag
in synagogen, kreten van vermoeienis en uitputting
verjammerend.—Telkens bonkten, in ruwen daver
kisten en manden tegen z’n kruk op, dat ie waggelde,
zich vastgreep aan z’n vastgesnoerd tafeltje. Maar
onvermoeid, toeterde ie door, energisch fel
klankgescheur, dat de karhonden rondom nog
ellendiger uitraasden, grienden en blaften, en telkens
stortte ie ’n heet stjing! stjing! van bekkenslag er
tusschen in.—
Achter den Jood, op z’n kruk, koepelde ’t geweldig
polderluchtruim, doorgloeid van glansen, waartegen
donkerhoog z’n gestalte oproer herautte, in ’t
rondomme gebarrikadeer van manden, kisten en
karren. Donker vonkten z’n oogen, en strak, taai-
energisch, bleef ie toeteren en heete tjings van
bekkenslagen [101]afpauken in ’t geraas. Hem voorbij,
in nijdige onverschilligheid, donderde ’t gewoel en
gedraaf, gebroei en geschroei der zweetzwoegende
kerels. Geweldige lasten voortzwoegende paarden
zwenkten schurend langs z’n hoog standaardtafeltje.
Ezeltjes huilbalkten achter z’n rug, en in loomen luister
naar z’n getoeter en getjing-sjing stonden
paardkoppen rondom, vlak tusschen het tuinders-
gewoel, met heftigen tril van hun oortjes.—Wèg bleef
’t luistervolk, nog gebukt in sjouw, en sterker toeterden
en dreunden de moorjood trompetscheuren, heet als
schuimflitsen van golflicht, hooggoud en brandend
rood, òver ’t woeste hurrie-rondkolkend marktgetier.—
Eindelijk wat jongens en kerels, gedaan met sjouw,
bleven hangerig en landerig staan voor z’n tafel,
lacherig of in stompen staar bot òpkijkend naar den
trompettenden Jood.—Grinnekend scholden ze ’m uit,
krijschte een roomsch-nijdige kop, fel-spottend en dik-
tongig.

—Enne.… ààpramm.… gewòn Isaak!… enne


Issaakh!.. gewon Sjàkop enne.… Sjàkop ’r.. gewon..
heè! rot-smaus, appie!.… d’ur is d’r ’n goàtje in je
trepetter!—

Maar Jood bleef star-kalm in z’n donkere figuring op


de kruk, z’n vonk-zwarte oogen, hevig suggereerend
in z’n hoofd. Stil had ie op z’n tafeltje de trompet en
tsjing neergelegd, groote toortsen papier gerold en in
brand gestoken, dat ze rookvlamden in z’n handen.
Zachte kringen van vlammenlicht, zwierden hoog om
z’n zwart hoofd, donkerend tegen den laag-stralenden
zonschijn in. Walm-rook dampte blauwige mist rond
z’n hoog-staand lijf, dat reuzigde tegen de polderlucht.
Telkens als toortsen bijna uitgebrand waren, rolde ie
met linkerhand nieuwe, zwaaide ze in kringen, dan
één, dan twee, geheimzinnig om z’n gelaat; stak weer
andere áán, wierp wèg de uitgebrande.—Nu en dan
bazuinde ie tusschen het smokige, roetige gloed-rood
gewalm, in den mist van z’n mysterieuze goochelsfeer
trompetklanken uit, dat angstiger, burlesker, z’n
omdampt-moorsche kop scheen te zwellen tegen ’t
hemel-rood in.—

De jongens schaterden om mallen Jood, maar kerels


nu bleven [102]lijzerig staan kijken, bot, den mond van
loome verbazing opengegaapt.—

Dirk was uit de kroeg, op ’t walmgerook


toegesprongen in den kring, verbluft òpstarend naar
den kwakzalver, als zag ie ’n wonder uit den hemel
tusschen ’t havengewoel neergestort.

Onder de kastanjelaan woelde marktgescharrel, ’t


drukst nu, rond de kleine tentjes en
groenteuitstallingen.—De groote huisramen gloeiden
rood in ’t zonnezinken, vreemd flonkerend, fel in
gouden mist, onder den zwoel-duisteren
bladerenschemer uit, rooden gloed, die diep, dièp, ’t
marktkrioelen in bloedende gamma’s òverleefde,

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