Michigan Indian Boarding School Survivors Speak Out

The impact of Indian boarding schools has been devastating for generations of Native Americans, and the aftershocks continue to affect their descendants today.  Michigan was home to three: Baraga, Harbor Springs, and Mt. Pleasant.  The last to close was Holy Childhood School of Jesus, in Harbor Springs, in 1983.  Sharon Marie Brunner set out to intensively study the family history and boarding school experience of nine Native American survivors who attended either the Mt. Pleasant or Harbor Springs institutions.  Each face problems linked to the scars of this experience, although their recollections included positive and negative reports.   woman whose mother attended one of these institutions, and a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Brunner is uniquely positioned to understand the cultural background.