Customer Reviews

The Middle Five: Indian Schoolboys of the Omaha Tribe

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This is a really simple, short read, but it offers such great insight into the lives of five young Native Americans at a mission school. The stories are sweet, but the meanings are profound. Francis La Flesche offers the reader an opportunity to step into their lives and to see how they live and learn in both cultures. I had to read it for a history class, but I enjoyed every part of it. The story does end abruptly, with an ending story unlike the other stories, but it is still worth reading and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Native American life!

I had to read this book for a Native American Studies course. It was an interesting short read, but I feel that the description that La Flesche gives of boarding schools is too lenient. Perhaps he just had a rather nice experience, but having looked at many other accounts of the conditions of Native American boarding schools, this book does not give the reader a clear view at what those students went through.