The Intersection of Karuk Storytelling and Education

pedagogically linked to both Arnold and Reed’s activities upriver about a decade later,
and to ongoing development of indigenous curricula in Indian education today. But for
Káruk-aráaras shipped to off-reservation boarding schools, the drama wasn’t so Indianfriendly.
In 1802, the Hampton Institute put on “Columbia’s Roll Call,” a pageant of
American heroes like Christopher Columbus, John Smith and George Washington,
presented to the Indian students by the American goddess Columbia, wrapped in an
American flag. The play ended with the following exhortation to the Indian audience:
And the still ways of peace we would follow –
Sow the seed and the sheaves gather in,
Share your labor, your learning, your worship,
A life larger, better, to win.
Then, foeman no longer nor aliens,
But brothers indeed we will be,
And the sun find no citizens truer
As he rolls to the uttermost sea. (Adams 197-199)
The parts were all played by Indian actors, but it is unclear if any Káruk-aráaras
participated. In 1909, the second year that Arnold and Reed where working to promote
English literacy and pride in traditional ceremonies in Káruk country, the Haskell
Institute put on a play written by a teacher called “Chief Strong Arm’s Change of Heart.”
Again played by Indians, the play is a propaganda piece about a fictional chief Strong
Arm who initially opposes boarding schools like Haskell, but sees the light when he
witnesses the positive changes that the school has had on his son. It ends with the lines
The past seems lost,
Far, far away as in the night;
Alone I seem to stand –
I find no pathway leading to the light.
But when I turn,
And look into your faces bright,
And there behold your joy, your hope,
My heart is soft and light;
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