The Middle Five: Indian Boys at School
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Book Overview
The Middle Five, first published in 1900, is an account of Francis La Flesche's life as a student in a Presbyterian mission school in northeastern Nebraska about the time of the Civil War. It is a simple, affecting tale of young Indian boys midway between two cultures, reluctant to abandon the ways of their fathers, and puzzled and uncomfortable in their new roles of "make-believe white men." The ambition of the Indian parents for their children, the struggle of the teachers to acquaint their charges with a new world of learning, and especially the problems met by both parents and teachers in controlling and directing schoolboy exuberance contribute to the authen-ticity of this portrait of the "Universal Boy," to whom La Flesche dedicated his book. Regarded by anthropologists as a classic of Native American literature, it is one of those rare books that are valued by the specialist as authentic sources of information about Indian culture and yet can be recommended wholeheartedly to the general reader, especially to young people in high school and the upper grades, as a useful corrective to the often distorted picture of Indian life seen in movies, comics, and television.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0803279019
ISBN13:9780803279018
Release Date:September 1978
Publisher:University of Nebraska Press
Length:156 Pages
Weight:0.49 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 5.4" x 7.5"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
A Great, Sweet Story
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
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!
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