When We Were Taken

On a bright fall morning, Joseph Standing Bear is stolen by federal agents from his family. Under orders from the government, he and other kids from the Turtle Mountain Reservation are put on a train and sent hundreds of miles west to the Chemawa Indian Boarding School. Here Joseph is expected to forget his family, his language, his entire life, all to teach him the ways of white society instead.

Joseph struggles to learn English and navigate tough classes, cruel teachers, and harsh punishments. With new friends, Joseph realizes that while there is a lot that can be taken from him, the best way he can fight back is to survive.

In big and small acts of defiance, Joseph and his friends resist the lessons being forced on them. They help one another, share stories of home, and find moments of light in the darkness. Sometimes, in the quietest whispers, they even dare dream of running away. But how can a boy hold onto who he is in the face of those determined to erase him?

Inspired by family history, Denise K. Lajimodiere weaves an extraordinary story of survival and hope during one of the most painful and long-buried chapters of American history.