Five Little Indians

The principle that drove the creation of the residential school system was assimilation. It was once believed that removing Indian children from their traditional context and indoctrinating them with the ways of the larger culture would make it easier for them to blend into society as adults.

Good’s novel illustrates the reality of children released from the system. During their time in school, they learn no useful skills, and their education is barely rudimentary. Instead, they are generally exploited as a source of free labor to keep the institution running when they aren’t being emotionally or sexually abused by the staff.

Lucy’s confusion is evident during her initial journey to Vancouver after being set free at the age of 16. Her experience is analogous to releasing a tame animal into the wild and expecting it to survive independently. The instructors at the schools ingrained docility and obedience into their pupils. These traits are useless to an innocent in an urban environment: “Wide awake now, Lucy pressed her face against the window, astounded by the lights, the endless flow of traffic, stores and malls and gas stations, things entirely new to her. Her life in the outside world ended abruptly when she was five years old” (38).