The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was a Federal institution designed to "civilize" young people from Native American tribes. The idea behind such institutions was that education was the best way of forcing Native Americans to assimilate into mainstream white society. Schools, therefore, were more than just disseminators of knowledge; they performed a vital role in keeping Native American children away from their Indigenous culture and towards that of the white man.

As Luther Standing Bear discovers, this involves effectively stripping Native American children of their cultural identity. On arrival at Carlisle, Luther is forced to change into Western clothes, which he finds uncomfortable and awkward. In particular, he finds trousers positively unsanitary. Not only that, they make it hard for him to breathe. His leather boots cause actual suffering.

Then Luther has to watch out for all kinds of diseases brought to America by the white man and from which Native Americans have no natural defenses—diseases such as the flu, which can be fatal to the Indigenous people.

Luther particularly resists having his name changed. He has to give up his traditional Indian name and choose from a list of Western names written on a blackboard. As one name is just as good as another, he chooses "Luther." However, he does so with a heavy heart. Luther realizes this process doesn't just rob the Indian of a rich heritage, but it also robs America of Indian culture. A language is a part of a people's history. If languages are suppressed, as Indian languages are at the Carlisle school, then they become dead languages, unused, embalmed, and reposing in a book.