S1, E15 - Jones Academy, Choctaw Nation Boarding School: Patrick Moore, Pawnee

In this episode, my sister and I traveled to beautiful eastern Oklahoma to visit a friend of mine, Patrick Moore, Superintendent of the Choctaw Nation’s boarding school, Jones Academy in Hartshorne, Oklahoma. Jones Academy is located at the base of the beautiful Pocahontas Mountains, surrounded by rolling hills and trees as far as the eye can see – a perfect place for this boarding school. This establishment serves Native American students from around the country who wish to continue learning about their culture, language and traditions while being surrounded by other Native kids (and the pleasing hills of eastern Oklahoma). One of the reasons I wanted to introduce you listeners to Patrick and to hear about Jones Academy is to shed light on the fact that there are some excellent Native boarding schools in existence today. Considering the horrid treatment and cultural genocide of thousands of American Indian children over the years finally coming to light and flooding the news, I think it’s also important that we educate ourselves on the other side of the story too. Although we mourn the atrocities that occurred and we certainly will never forget the injustices, I hope we will also recognize that boarding schools like Jones Academy are a far cry from the schools of yesteryear, and are crucial establishments and an incredible experience for our Native children. It’s a place they can go to be surrounded by kids from dozens of different tribes and to continue their education around their own culture. There is much more to this other side of the story, so I hope you’ll take a listen! Check out Jones Academy at https://www.jonesacademy.org/. Yakoke! Season 1, Episode 15: “Jones Academy, Choctaw Nation Boarding School: Patrick Moore, (Pawnee) Discusses the Other Side of the Story” Native ChocTalk Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nativechoctalkpodcast Podcast Episodes: https://nativechoctalk.com/podcasts/