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The lessons that they told almost made you ashamed to be Indian

The lessons that they told almost made you ashamed to be Indian

Mr. White talks about school and learning history from the white perspective.

Things to think about:

How is history taught today?

Audio Chapters

Chapter 1

DL: What did you learn about Dakota history while you were growing up and who told you about it?

BW: I didn’t really learn much about Dakota history when I was growing up because back then when we were in school it almost made you ashamed. The lessons that they told almost made you ashamed to be Indian because you were viewed as the savage. You were the one that attacked the white people. This kind of put a damper on being Indian, really. It kind of made you think. You didn’t really want to know history sometimes– because it seemed like it was all bad.

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Byron White. "The lessons that they told almost made you ashamed to be Indian." https://www3.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/contributors/byron-white/1142
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Oral History- Interview | Narrator Byron White Interviewer Deborah Locke made in Lake Elmo, MN | Thursday, April 21, 2011
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Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. The lessons that they told almost made you ashamed to be Indian. June 03, 2025.