Olivia Good Rider- She was Just Trying to Share her Chips
I will talk about the girl’s playroom where I saw a lot of things happen. My niece Betsy had a bag of chips. The supervisor and Mrs. Smith were standing there. We were standing beside them, we were just little girls and looking up at them, and they were very tall. My niece wanted to share some her chips with them and she said “mah” [“here” in Blackfoot]. The supervisor didn’t even wait, and she just slapped her. My dear niece, the chips were just knocked down from her hand. I couldn’t even help her or comfort her as she was crying, because we used to get into trouble if we tried to help each other. So I just had to stand there, it really hurt me… and really for no reason, She was just trying to share her chips with the supervisor. She got slapped and started crying. I couldn’t even comfort her or help her, I couldn’t.
There were many incidents in the playground and the girl’s playroom that I witnessed. These older [girls], I don’t know what they did , but they got punished right in front of all of us in the playroom. I couldn’t understand all they said in English, I was just young. We were just being taught English. She, the supervisor, pulled her pants down and strapped her. We couldn’t even cover our faces because we didn’t want to see that. We just had to stand with our arms down and just look. The supervisor said some things that I can’t remember, but I had already mentioned that I didn’t understand English. I didn’t know what the priest was saying… Those were the few things I saw in the girl’s playroom.
– Olivia Good Rider
Notes:
Oral interview with Olivia Good Rider. Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Angeline Ayoungman. Old Sun Community College, March 11, 2022.
