The Chilocco Indian School was established in Oklahoma and operated for nearly a century. While many consider the Indian Boarding School era to be an effort towards cultural annihilation, the author has students tell their complex stories from their time at the school. The interviews are filled with stories of despair and loneliness, but also of love and and support from fellow students who were bound together through this experience. From this experience new cultural identities were forged and old tribal ones were solidified, creating a new Indian identity.
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Source: Lomawaima, K. Tsianina. They called it prairie light: the story of Chilocco Indian School. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1994
