When we ran away, we would go through the woods and fields, always watching for rattle snakes. I ran away a few times, me and a couple of my cousins, and of course they came and found us and brought us back. After months of this, I’d had enough of it, and I beat the shit out of her. One little girl used to taunt me every time we were at the store, she’d come out, and she’d make faces at me and call me names. The non-Indian kids would come out and taunt us, and we’d have to take it. It was such a profound moment, a deep wound that has stayed with me all these years. I felt such guilt and shame, then the anger began to rage within me. The nun turned to me and said, “Because Indian children steal.” In our dorm, there were about 40 beds, bunk beds, lined on both walls. It was bouncing a quarter off your bed to make sure that your bed was straight and tight. You got up at a certain time every morning and made your bed. You’d go in there, and you would strip down and they would wash you with lye soap, which burned. I didn't even know what lice was! Then they had this big, huge cement structure that looked like a pool. The next thing they did was put kerosene on your head for head lice. When we'd sit on his lap, he would smell our hair and say, “Take care of your hair.” We have traditional teachings that go along with our hair our hair in our culture carries our ancestors, our history and our future. It was like a bowl cut, like if they put a bowl on your head and cut your hair. The first thing they did when you arrived at boarding school was cut your hair. My other brothers and sisters were sent to different boarding schools. My mother had been in a bad car accident, my younger brother and sister and I were sent to boarding school.
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