My Story with the LDS Indian Placement Program

[@NavajoSunBeauty]

The placement program was the best experience in my parents life. My dad was in Brigham City and my mom was in Logan. They met at a LDS dance in Brigham. They married and bought a home in Sandy. I am the eldest of six children. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a firm foundation in my family and extended family 💗 My mother's brother and sisters were on the placement program. So were a few of my cousins. All of them had a very wonderful experience and are close to their foster families ❤

[@markhubbell1998]

Thank you Shan L for your comment! You are extremely blessed to have great parents and they appeared to make the most of their placement experience!

[@NavajoSunBeauty]

@@markhubbell1998 Yes, my parents are a great example. My grandmother, Rose DuBoise was a dedicated member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 💗 She welcomed, listened and fed all missionaries who visited on her piece of the reservation. She and her children went to their small branch via horse & wagon ❤

[@kari7403]

@@NavajoSunBeauty Glad that your parents had such a wonderful experience with it. I know there is a lot of negativity aimed at the program, and a law suit or 10 from people who went through the program, or parents who never saw their kids again after. So it's just nice to see some speak up and say it wasn't all bad. We tried to help.

[@rubybolton5858]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. As a deeply religious mormon, I knew several "Lamanite" children in my own childhood. I remember one boy named David in particular, who was smiling and mischievous and about two years older than me. I thought he hing the moon.The host families I knew were kind, loving people. it broke my heart to read the negative reports on the program in the press. it was meant as a kindness and an act of love from our people to yours. I am so glad to feel it was received that way by some of the children involved as well. No one meant to harm the Native American culture, and even less the children involved.

[@markhubbell1998]

Thank you for the comment!

[@Afc91artistNC]

I'm amazed I went on the program at 11. It was because of my Cheyenne Grandparents. We need to be educated/earn a living as adults. Also, I culturally ap p ro pro a t ed as much as possible/to my advantage. The humor required to live off the Rez was totally helpful. Your testimony is such a blessing, THANKS.

[@dianashafer7]

Thank you for sharing this video. We had an Indian brother that came for two years. His goal was to be the first in his family to graduate from high school. I heard he did that. I am hoping he is happy.

[@jamesbaldwin7676]

It was 1970 something and we had a 9 year old Indian boy come to live with us. His Father (I was told) was a reservation drunk and beat his wife and children. His young son, and our house-guest, was a wild Indian if ever there was one... He refused to sleep in a bed, but would roll-up on the floor with a blanket. Sometimes he would wake-up at night and sneak down stairs to steal food from the kitchen,. Of course he had been told he could eat whatever he wanted, but it didn't matter. One night Mom caught him and instead of scolding him, she helped him fill his sack and sent him back to his bed-roll. One day I made the mistake of showing him my Boy Scout pocketknife. A few days later I noticed it was missing from my drawer. Then Mom got a call from the principal of the grammer school where my Indian brother was attending. It seems there had been an off-campus fight and someone had pulled a knife! He was lucky not to be expelled and it may have had something to do with his explanation.. "Those white boys started calling me little redskin and hooting like Indians on TV. I didn't like that." I'll never know what happened to him after the placement program got cancelled, but I'll always remember him.

[@nathannoble9741]

I'm not Mormon but i had wondered about a few friends back in the 70s who left the homeland under the placement program. One returned to finish high school on the reservation but returned with an attitude. Fortunately that individual made necessary adjustments for their sake. I appreciate your insight, based on your experiences.

[@markhubbell1998]

Thank you and you're welcome!

[@thealternativecontrarian9936]

1984 my family was asked to house a 12 year old from South Dakota. It was a good experience. We never heard from him after he went home though and we did not know how to reach him.

[@мельник754]

Thank you for sharing!

[@lindaolson8009]

I really appreciated your video. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@taylorm6830]

I love hearing about your experience! Thank you for being so open and so willing to share the different aspects of the program. I was wondering if you stayed with the same family every school year until you graduated? You mentioned some of the cultural challenges of adjusting to life in Utah. Did you ever feel like you had to sacrifice your Native traditions or Native Identity in order to fit into the norms of Utah society that comes with being a member of the church?

[@markhubbell1998]

Thank you! Yes I stayed with the same family. The thing that helped maintain my Native cultural knowledge was returning home every summer, although it was still affected.

[@taylorm6830]

@@markhubbell1998 Thank you for your response! I am minoring in American Indian Studies at BYU and I am writing a term paper on the Placement Program. I am hoping to focus on how Indigenous people can maintain their Native Identity and have a place in the LDS faith following their graduation or early departure from the program. I was wondering if I could use your response to the following question in my paper? Do you feel that it has been difficult to find your place in the church following your graduation from the placement program?

[@lyscottrell380]

I always thought of laminates as so cool. Thank you for sharing your story.

[@chado468]

Thanks for sharing your story!

[@noahriding5780]

I have tried several times to talk to and help native americans. Its never worked out well. Its very frustrating because the enmity between americans and natives gets triggered very easily. And sometimes the adversary would come in and ruin what would have become a friendship. I think this also is compounded by the fact that natives and also some mormons don't see that the identity of being an american and a mormon are different. Its actually harmed mormon culture to think that country identity comes before cultural identity. Every time I talked to a dine person, the adversary always did something to interfere. (I wonder if other tribes are less likely to have problems with communicating with them?) I had an impression that in the future, the Lord could call missionaries from Asia to help native americans at some point, in order to help stop the enmity being triggered that exists between natives and americans. I believe this will help greatly. Recently I've found that many native american stories have scriptural roots. This has been very interesting to find out. I think more of these will be discovered and that by doing so it may help people feel they can still honor their native traditions and not have it conflict with what they learn of the gospel. I've also learned that some tribes (I don't know if all do), have many things in them that hint at a former gospel identity in them, such as the Nephites would have had.) Thanks for the video.

[@yolandatahy9579]

I completely understand. My second family eventually accepted me as me and I attended high school without the program.

[@matta8931]

I remember being on the Placement program. I remember boys and girls were separated when we got there, and taken to the locker rooms. We were forced to strip and gang shower, while the church men watched, it was my first gang shower. Some of the older boys, were pretty much full grown. One young boy didn't want gang shower and the mormon men forcibly striped him while he was screaming and threw him into the shower with all the rest of us. Then we had oral check up and some old fat mormon women made a remark and said "You never know what type of garbage these people eat". I was told in some other places the boys got their heads shaved. Yeah, that really happened.

[@TheMormonSorceress]

I hope they learn not to do that to those children again.

[@MDS53162]

Hi Mark. This is a long shot but I had a very close friend who was in the Indian placement program in 1974-76ish timeframe in Payson Utah. He went on a mission and the last time I saw him was shortly after his return home. Since then he vanished and I've never been able to find him. His name was Edison White. If you know him please let me know. Thank you

[@shaleenacampbell-case4589]

Aho! Heyshabuh for the share

[@markhubbell1998]

You're welcome!

[@beauhudson8656]

Mark Hubbell,,, You youtube sensation. ;)

[@markhubbell1998]

Haha, hey Beau! Thanks my man. Love reflecting on our time together in NM!

[@ArslanOtcular]

Martinez Ronald Walker Donald Perez Melissa

[@raffabear9092]

Consider reading the new testament of the Bible. Good luck

[@Tk.utelab]

We read the Bible. King James is part of are stander work.

[@jonahbarnes5841]

On average, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints have a better understanding of the Bible than any other Christian religion, per Pew Research Survey 2010