Wardecker's Narrative Analysis

Another method of approaching Wardecker’s claim that the good skating ice was prized by the Indian students is to recognize the conflict as passive. He affirms that “we were allowed to skate on here until the Indians come out, and then they’d make us get off, and we’d come over here and skate- (on the rubber ice).” Though Wardecker did not seem particularly offended by this conflict, his narrative is very much the opposite of Martin and Wright’s stories. Wright does reference the rubber ice, however he neglects to mention that the students forced him to use this ice. It is imperative to note that Martin and Wright’s situations were distinct from Wardecker’s. Martin was invited to skate by the students and Wright went primarily to watch. This

These men grew up when the Indian School was in operation and recall the impressions received from the Indian students, as well as the overall success of the school. Both narratives illustrate the interactions between the locals and Native Americans when the latter ventured into town on the weekends to shop at the local businesses. These interactions highlight the fraction of students that were welcomed by storeowners on the basis that they had money to spend. Flickinger illustrates that most of the shop owners preferred the male athletes as patrons on the basis that they had extra income to spend. This represents an example of favoritism from store owners in regards to the students. Flickinger elaborates that female students were not as welcome, as they rarely had money to purchase items. Martin reiterates that point by mentioning that he believed the athletes had exclusive privileges due to their success at the school. It becomes apparent that the Carlisle community took pride in the athletes of the school, as both the previously mentioned men mention the success of Jim Thorpe, however in reading the transcripts of these two men more closely, they both acknowledge that the student athletes required chaperones on their ventures into town. This was due to the statement that locals would entice Indian students to get drunk and cause trouble, resulting in a brief internment in the Carlisle jail. This raises a troubling question, why would the community take such pride in the athlete’s accomplishments, yet such joy in instigating their intoxication and