Lessons from an Indian Day School: Negotiating Colonization in Northern New Mexico, 1902–1907 by Andrea Lawrence (review)

The book is based on an Office of Indian Affairs (oia) day school teacher, Ms. Clara D. True, placed at the Santa Clara Pueblo community from 1902 to 1907. The author is a non–Native American scholar who collected archival letters, newspapers, and federal reports from Superintendent Clinton J. Crandall, who was responsible for both the Santa Clara Pueblo’s school and the Santa Fe Indian School. Lawrence identifies some lessons learned through these documents relating to how federal oia policies were implemented and operated within the school. The book is written as an “ethnographic reconstruction” through archival literature between oia day school teacher True and Superintendent Crandall.

In the five chapters, the author revisits True’s stories through archival documents related to land, disease, citizens, institutions, and education. The day school teacher was born in Kentucky, but throughout her childhood her family relocated several times. As for her career, she had been in oia school systems in Kansas, Washington, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. Lawrence describes some intense situations that the Anglo teacher found herself in while she was fulfilling her duties in Santa Clara. Sometimes True did not adhere to federal policies because she did not understand Santa Clara Pueblo’s protocols regarding how to work with the community. She was a considerate “outsider,” and this caused her to feel challenged in the community.

In chapter 1 Lawrence describes the historical background relating to Santa Clara Pueblo land. True and Crandall dealt with livestock theft, timber issues, and boundaries of the Santa Clara land. True and Crandall were to ensure that federal policies were followed. Superintendent Crandall reported back to Congress on their progress. Although these issues were not directly related to the school, Crandall was advocating for Santa Clara and enforced policies. The author mentions that Crandall assigned some duties to True related to federal policies. For example, True reported a trespassing situation to the Santa Clara governor, but her report was not addressed.

In chapter 2, entitled “Disease; or, the Initiation of Clara D. True,” Lawrence describes how the day school teacher dealt with the diphtheria outbreak in Santa Clara. Most of the federal crisis plan was enforced by the oia, which ordered Superintendent Crandall to carry out the plan. The plan sought to force sick children to seek medical attention, but True struggled to complete this task, because the Santa Clara tribal members refused Western medical treatment due to their cultural-religious beliefs. There were many other factors that conflicted with the oia plan for Santa Clara Pueblo. True and Superintendent Crandall were seen as the US government representatives, which explains the resistant that they received from the Santa Clara Pueblo.

Chapter 3, entitled “Citizen; or, the Legal Education of Clinton J. Crandall,” is a descriptive biographical chapter on the superintendent. Crandall is given the responsibilities to carry out the duties under the assimilation policy. Members of the community felt they were being treated like children. Throughout the United States, tribes were forced to be more Anglo. The US government schools were designed to force Native American children to not speak their language nor practice their cultural beliefs. There were many issues for the Santa Clara people if they were to be accepted as US citizens or be considered civilized. Superintendent Crandall was challenged by the Santa Clara Pueblo because federal policies such as taxes were not well received by the community. The critical questions were raised whether the Santa Clara people were citizens of New Mexico or the United States, and if they were state or federal citizens, then did property taxes apply to them?

In chapter 4, entitled “Institutions; or, Getting Schooled by the U.S. Colonial System,” the author provides information on US government schools for Indians. During Thomas Jefferson Morgan’s term in oia, many Indian children were forced to attend school. Lawrence describes several drastic strategies that were used by...