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School Girls at the Government School
12. School Girls at the Government School, 1896
(Wind River Historical Center/Dubois Museum)
 The
policy of having older children help or supervise younger ones,
indispensable to teachers and administrators who couldn’t communicate
with new students who couldn’t speak English, but it was an
unfortunate part of the system when considering the military quality
of the discipline at the Government School. All too often it made
it too easy for older children to abuse their position and power.
Stories of bullying by older students were recorded in what for
many were still angry and bitter memories:
She (a former class mate) was just the meanest human on earth
when she was going to school there. She was one of the older girls
that was over a number of small ones. We were just treated like
slaves at times, and then at other times we were treated like
we were in the army....I don’t think I learned a thing down
there but mopping floors and washing dishes. And some of the little
ones, you know, it was really hard on them cause the big ones,
like...was just as mean as they could be. If they stepped out
of line or fell down, she would raise the devil with them. And
then the matron stood up for her—that’s what she was
“supposed to be doing!” Just like an officer or something
in the army! She’d yell at you, just like you was in the
army....They (some of the early students) don’t like to talk
about it you know, they want to forget all that. (Dorothy Peche)
The dorms were segregated, but some of the girls were kind of
weird and would take the little ones and abuse them...by tying
them to beds and pouring water in their shoes and stuff like that.
And then they were very strict because they had a truant officer
and were forever chasing kids. (Lillian Hereford)
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