 These
were upper and lower class men of The Chilocco Indian School just after
the turn of the century. The difference in education and polish can be
seen between the younger boys in the first row and the young men standing
in the back row.
Instructors such as this man came from fine
families. They were well educated and they were good people. There was a
supreme dedication to their work of educating the Native Americans.
The teachers who worked here were as
homesick as their students and there were strong ties between the children
and their instructors. The people working with the children made them
their entire focal point. The result was, of course, that students who
graduated from the school had fine educations. Today, many parts of
society hold positions filled with Chilocco students. There are
psychiatrists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and trades of beauticians.
There are dry cleaners, printers, and nurses. Chilocco graduates are
owners of businesses such as sheet metal, day care, rest homes,
seamstresses, dress designers and many others.
The boy standing second from the right
looks like Edward Richard Pensoneau, brother to Velma Louise Pensoneau
Jones and son of Elizabeth Little Cook, Pensoneau, Hernandez. This
photograph was saved by Elizabeth, which says it could have been her son.
The picture resembles David Pensoneau, son of Edward. |
