You gotta gargle and then you gotta drink that to clean

Mr. Taylor talks about not being allowed to speak his language at residential school.

Audio Chapters

Chapter 1

DL: Were you raised with the Dakota language as a child?

AT: Oh yes.

DL: Was that permitted when you got to the residential school?

AT: No.

DL: You couldn’t speak Dakota.

AT: We were just talking about that the other day. Any time the nuns or the priests seen a couple standing together, they assumed that they’re talking Dakota, or whatever. And then they have a glass of soapy water, you gotta gargle and then you gotta drink that to clean. That’s what they tell us, to clean the devil out of us.

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Albert Taylor. "You gotta gargle and then you gotta drink that to clean." https://www3.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/contributors/albert-taylor/1478
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Oral History- Interview | Narrator Albert Taylor Interviewer Deborah Locke in Dakota Tipi First Nation Manitoba, Canada | Friday, January 20, 2012
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Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. You gotta gargle and then you gotta drink that to clean. June 13, 2025.