To Save The Man by John Sayles

Book Blurb

In September of 1890, the academic year begins at the Carlisle School, a military-style boarding school for Indians in Pennsylvania, founded and run by Captain Richard Henry Pratt. Pratt considers himself a champion of Native Americans. His motto, “To save the man, we must kill the Indian,” is severely enforced in both classroom and dormitory: Speak only English, forget your own language and customs, learn to be white.

As the young students navigate surviving the school, they begin to hear rumors of a “ghost dance” amongst the tribes of the west—a ceremonial dance aimed at restoring the Native People to power, and running the invaders off their land. As the hope and promise of the ghost dance sweeps across the Great Plains, cynical newspapers seize upon the story to whip up panic among local whites. The US government responds by deploying troops onto lands that had been granted to the Indians. It is an act that seems certain to end in slaughter.

As news of these developments reaches Carlisle, each student, no matter what their tribe, must make a choice: to follow the white man’s path, or be true to their own way of life…

My Review

To Save The Man was a real eye opener for me and it shocked me in parts. Genocide is not a phrase that we use lightly in society but there is no other way to describe the events that happen in this book. The Pennsylvania School for Indians was set up by Captain Richard Henry Pratt, in the belief that he was helping the Native American Communities by teaching their children how to speak english, wear english/american clothes and learn a trade. However what is really happeneing is the erasing of their heritage, culture, language and ultimately their identity; they even changed their names. The title itself is a motto adopted by Captain Pratt that refers to his belief that to save these children, they must kill the Indian in them.

The main characters are the young boys and girls who are the new recruits in this military style school. We follow them for four months in which their identity is slowly depleted as they are transformed into the more acceptable, and ‘civilised’ citizens of America. Antoine is sent by his father to the school as that is the only way his family can keep their land. He is lucky in that he can speak English and has some education. At the other end if the scale is Asa, also known as trouble, who doesn’t understand English and really struggles at the school and just wants to run away. There are a lot if characters in this book and all have a story to tell of how they came to be at the school, and their lives before. Through these characters the horrors of colonialism are laid bare; the superiority of the white men, the attitudes of those in charage and their belief that they are doing good work.

The historical aspect if this book is amazing, John Sayles must have done a lot of research into this period. As well as life at the school he draws attention to a new Messiah in the reservations, offering slavation to the Indians, telling them how prayer and dance could resurrect the dead and bring down the white people who had stolen their land and destroyed their tribes. Also dealt with is the massacre that was a result of this. My only criticism is that reading this book felta bit disjointed at times, the narrative being more like scenes from a screenplay. John Syles brings the reader into the lives of these characters, his descriptive prose draws you into their lives, their thoughts and feelings and hopes for the future.

To Save The Man is an amazing piece of historical fiction. The historical detail shines through and I loved learning more and seeing how the different characters dealt with the hardships that were thrown their way. From a modern perspective it is a disgraceful and horrific period in American history, it was shocking to read how these young children were treated, the essence of themselves eradicated, their name, heritage and language taken from them. This is a compelling read and one I won’t forget.

I’d like to thank Melville House for my copy of this book in return for my honest review.