My Great-Grandmother, Sophia Huff, is in this photo. Can you find her? Here’s another enhanced photo of her to show you, the reader, where she is standing?
Sophia was a student at the Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School from July, 1891 until September, 1892. She was forced to attend this school because her mother refused to assimilate Euro-white and only speak English! Even though Carlisle was named industrial in it’s title, it really was an experiment by the United States government to assimilate Native American Indians into the white culture. Sophia and her sister Lily were transported by train many miles away from their home of Oneida, Wisconsin. As Sophia is posing in this photo, her sister, Lily was sent out to work for a white family in the countryside, never attending Carlisle again. The year Sophia was at the school, there was a lot of students that had taken ill due to overcrowding, overworked kids and unsanitary conditions. Sophia was a survivor, as were the other children posing in this picture! I really do not know how many children were ill, just know there were many! The children were monitored constantly and were ruled by whistles and bells, schedules and marching! I would venture to say, many, if not all of these children were punished for displaying any of their Indian Culture. Sophia was punished a lot for speaking her Oneida language. If you were born Oneida, taught Oneida language and spoke Oneida language for 14 years, you too would’ve been caught speaking a language that is a part of you. Sophia even was forced to chew on lye soap! Lye soap! That soap is a very caustic chemical that can cause serious damage, even death if ingested! It burned her throat. But, my great grandmother was a courageous Oneida woman. She survived, otherwise, I wouldn’t be here telling you her story!
Sky Woman Lives in Me 