Chapter Three, Civilize Them with a Stick; Chapter Four, Drinking and Fighting Summary and Analysis

Children are never left alone in Sioux families; they are always with someone. White people come and take the child away from those who love the child. Mary is taken to the mission school at St. Francis, which is run by Catholic nuns. The school was built at the turn of the century and has not improved since. The boarding schools are proclaimed as alternatives to extermination. The truth is that the schools provide whites with cheap labor. After ten years in school, neither the whites nor the Indians want the children.

Mary's grandmother, mother and older sister also attended St. Francis. At one point or another all four women tried to run away. Mary does not like the...