I had been entered in the Reservation school but a few days when a strange white man appeared there. He asked me through an interpreter if I would like to ride in a steam car. I had never seen one, and six of the other children seemed enthusiastic about it and they were going to try, so I decided to join them, too. The next morning at sunrise we were piled into a wagon and driven to the nearest railroad station, thirty miles away. We did get the promised ride. We rode three days and three nights until we reached Hampton, Va.
My parents found it out, but too late."
Diary: Recently I have been through a lot. I was convinced to ride in a car, which I rode in for three days, leading me to Virginia. I feel lost. All I wanted to do was ride in the car, I did not realize I would be taken away from my family and all the plans they had for me. These white men have a way of capturing us Indians into things we have not agreed to do. My mother told me about the things that these men do, but I was too young to listen or understand. The past three years have been like torture to me. I have not been able to see the ones I love, or experience things through my culture.
- Angel DeCora
Reflection: Though Native American’s were in America first, and also helped the early English settlers, I feel that Native Americans are not appreciated nearly as much as they should. This autobiography by Angel DeCora shows the way that some Native American children were taken advantage of. I feel the way in which this man went about taking Angel out of her hometown, was unethical and selfish, as he used the curiosity of the child as a captive tool to make her and others move. I also feel that it was wrong in taking Angel and other children away from their parents, at such young ages. This autobiography also brings up some of the obstacles that Native Americans had to overcome because of English settlers. I feel that it is very nice and that Angel did get the opportunity to succeed in the career that she chose, but I also think she could have succeed easier without the English men. Many of the reasons that Angle was forced to move and a change school was because of the white men, which in turn postponed her from achieving her dream.Likewise, if a man was to commit a crime like this the child would more than likely not be gone for near as long. The man would also be put in jail for a long period of time.
