How Far Have We Come?

Back in the 1800s missionaries went out west to “civilize” the Native America to teach them our ways and to force on them the ways of the white man. Almost two centuries later they are still forcing Native America to forget their heritage and take up the ways of the white man.

Menominee Seventh Grader Suspended for Saying "I Love You" in her Native Language
Native News Network
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges
February 3, 2012

SHAWANO, WISCONSIN - What's love got to do with it? Not much, especially if you say the words "I love you" in the Menominee language in front of a certain Wisconsin teacher.

Seventh grader Miranda Washinawatok, Menominee, found this out.

Miranda speaks two languages: Menominee and English. She also plays on her basketball team. However, two Thursdays ago she was suspended for one basketball game because she spoke Menominee to a fellow classmate during class.

Miranda attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. The school body is over 60 percent American Indian. The school is approximately six miles from the south border of the Menominee Indian Tribe Reservation.
[…]
The principal told Washinawatok that the assistant coach told him she was told by two teachers to bench Miranda for attitude problems.

The alleged 'attitude problem' turned out to be that Miranda said the Menominee word

    “posoh”
    that means
    “hello”

and said

    “Ketapanen”

in Menominee that means "I love you."

Miranda and a fellow classmate were talking to each other when Miranda told her how to say "Hello" and "I love you" in Menominee.

Unfortunately, I doubt much can be done because it is a private religious school. Unless they are receiving public funding they can discriminate all they want. But this incident is something out of the 1800s when missionaries took the Native American children from their families and forced them to lean the ways of the white man, it was despicable then and now it is even unconscionable that it is still happening. They should be teaching Menominee and celebrating their heritage instead of punishing the children.

The school did send out an apology letter...

Washinawatok has had a total of three meetings with school officials and was promised Miranda would receive a public apology, as would the Menominee Tribe, and the apologies would be publically placed.

"On Wednesday, a letter was sent to parents and guardians. A real generic letter of apology, that really did not go into specifics as to why there was this apology,"

The letter is nice, but one, it should never have happened in the first place and second, it took three meeting with school officials before the letter was sent out.