Two Worlds: Ypsilanti's Role in the Indian Assimilation Era

Around the turn of the century, a Nez Perce teenager was taken from out West to Penn- sylvania.

He ended up in Ypsilanti as a Normal College business student.

At the same time, a Caucasian woman took her Normal College teaching degree in the other direction. She taught on a reservation school next to a mesa upon which lived the Hopi. Her essay reveals more about her attitudes towards the Hopi than about the Hopi themselves. It's not easy to read.

Today's Ann Arbor Chronicle story deals with the role Ypsilanti played in this tumultous era of Native American assiilation.

There Is No Better Lung Developer!

The electioneering is over. No more yard signs, pamphlets, arguments, junk mail, people with clipboards successfully fended off by a locked gate and two ferocious dogs who actually want nothing more than a tummy scratch. And some meatball drippin's from the cookie sheet. Man, they loved that. And those were some good meatballs. Very juicy; turns out it only takes 45 minutes at 350 degrees, not an hour.

My POINT is, it's time for Ypsilantians to pull together. We've got a new mayor, well, a used mayor I guess, and some incredible people doing amazing things like Amanda Edmonds at Growing Hope and Andy Ypsilanti building the Water Street Trail. There's a lot of challenges, but a lot to cheer about. A little old-style boosterism raises your neighbors' spirits. And a rising tide lifts all boats! Except sunken ones.

Here's what you can do. It's historically accurate and fun, a rare combination. Just memorize these authentic old EMU cheers. In the privacy of your own room work them over until you feel that you have them perfect. Then--Yell. The next time you're taking the #4 bus past EMU, just bust one out. Add some synchronized movements. You will attract the attention of your busmates, and that, my friend, is what we call a conversational opportunity. You can teach THEM the chant. Heck, yell it with enough energy and you'll get the whole bus doing it! Even the too-cool-for-school teen slouching in the corner over his iPod. You've got to reach them when they're young.

Here's Dusty Diary's favorite, but feel free to choose any of the 3 cheers laid out in this article (click to enlarge). And next time you hear this cheer wafting in the Ypsilanti breeze, take a look around for ol' DD. I could use some lunch.

"Hip-Zoo! Rah-Zoo! Quis, Qui! Quis, Quo!
M.S.N.C.! Tri-ump! Fe-o!
Peninsular! Michigan! Wolverine!
Alla-garoo! garah! gareen!
Normal College! The White! The Green!
Peninsular! Michigan! Wolverine!"

--October 1903 Normal News