Richard Henry Pratt in Wandering Stars: The Architect of Forced Assimilation

Overview

Richard Henry Pratt is a historical figure reimagined in Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars. He appears as the jailer of seventy-one Indian prisoners at Fort Marion in 1875 and later the superintendent and founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Orange portrays Pratt as a brooding, stern man who genuinely believes that “civilizing” Native children through forced assimilation is the only viable path—yet the novel shows the devastating consequences of his program. His character embodies the central conflict of the book: the tension between stated good intentions and the traumatic legacy of cultural erasure.

Plot Role

Pratt’s first appearance occurs in the Prologue, where he oversees the imprisonment of Plains Indian warriors and one woman at Fort Marion. He orders their hair cut, gives them military uniforms, and provides ledger books for drawing—an act that inadvertently leads to the pioneering of ledger art (Howling Wolf’s bird’s-eye view). Pratt later uses this experience as a “blueprint” for Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which opens in 1879. From there, his influence haunts subsequent generations: Jude Star, the “wandering star” prisoner who learns English through the Bible under Pratt’s regime; Charles Star, Jude’s son, who endures the school’s trauma; and the contemporary narrator of the later chapters who inherits the cycle of addiction and disconnection. Pratt reappears in his own chapters (“An Honest Lunatic,” “San Francisco,” “No Better Plan”) as a retired, bitter man wrestling with his legacy.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Pratt’s overriding motivation is his conviction that Native people must be “immersed” in white civilization to survive. He states in the epigraph: “I believe in immersing the Indians in our civilization, and when we get them under holding them there until they are thoroughly soaked.” This belief drives every action. At Fort Marion, he provides education and military discipline while simultaneously stripping prisoners of their cultural identity. At Carlisle, he enforces haircuts, new names, uniforms, and punishment for speaking Native languages.

Pratt’s traits emerge through his actions:

Sternness and self-righteousness: Jude Star observes that Pratt “always had his shoulders hunched and his eyes aimed down,” and that he “seemed to take himself a bit too seriously.” Yet Jude initially likes him because “his will seemed good.”
Bitterness and resentment: In retirement, Pratt suffers from headaches and loathes birds because President Roosevelt once mocked his funding request by sending a birdwatching pamphlet. He burns with anger over Roosevelt’s 1905 inaugural parade, which used Carlisle students as a “show.” Orange shows Pratt privately admitting that he and Roosevelt both exploited Native people for spectacle.
Self-deception: Pratt repeatedly insists “there was no better plan,” even as he lies dying in a military hospital. He refuses to accept blame for the deaths and suffering his school caused, telling himself he did all he could.
Contradictory vulnerability: After smallpox nearly killed him, his father told the undertaker his son would not die. Pratt later adopts the phrase “deep in the struggle” for himself, applying a phrase originally about Indians to his own life.
Moment of rare self-awareness: In retirement, he comes across a birth announcement for his great-grandson, another Richard Henry Pratt, and is inspired to travel to California to meet Charles Star and see the baby. This decision hints at a desire for connection or legacy.

Chronological Arc

1875 – Fort Marion: Pratt becomes jailer of the Indian prisoners. He gives them uniforms, ledger books, and military training. He shoots Gray Beard during an escape attempt under orders.
1879 – Founding of Carlisle: Using Fort Marion as a blueprint, Pratt opens Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Children are forcibly taken from families; resisters like Hopi parents are imprisoned on Alcatraz. Pratt’s policies—haircut, uniforms, English-only, physical punishment—become routine.
Retirement – Early 1900s: Forced into retirement about twenty years before his death, Pratt sits on his porch, stewing over Roosevelt’s slights. He hates birds, keeps a filing cabinet of “dead letter mail” from Indians he cannot answer, and writes angry letters to himself.
Later Retirement – Receives Charles Star’s letter: Charles, son of former prisoner Jude Star, asks for an interview for a book. Pratt initially files the letter away but later changes his mind after receiving a birth announcement for his namesake great-grandson.
Trip to San Francisco: Pratt travels by train, feeling the bumps of age. He reflects on ordering Gray Beard’s shooting and questions his obedience to orders. He arrives in San Francisco, meets his son Mason and the baby, and collapses into bed.
Visit to Charles Star’s shack: Pratt finds Charles dead on the floor with blood and cash. He leaves quickly, feeling cursed, coughing blood.
Death in military hospital: Facing a white wall, Pratt repeats “there was no better plan” and dies. His tombstone at Arlington is inscribed: “Erected in loving memory by his students and other Indians.”

Relationships

With Jude Star (prisoner): Pratt takes Jude aside to teach him bread-making. Jude learns English through the Bible under Pratt’s regime. After Pratt injects him with a drug, Jude has a vision of the Sand Creek Massacre—a moment that reveals the violence embedded in the system.
With Charles Star (former student): Charles’s letter to Pratt seeks an interview for a book about his father. Pratt initially dismisses it but later travels to meet him. The meeting never happens because Charles dies.
With Mason (son): Mason stands beside Pratt at his deathbed. Pratt has a tense relationship with him but ultimately seeks comfort. Mason’s success contrasts with Pratt’s bitterness.
With Theodore Roosevelt: Pratt resents Roosevelt for mocking his funding request and for using Carlisle students in a parade as a “show.” He sees Roosevelt as a rival who exploited Indians even more publicly.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision	Consequence
Ordering Gray Beard shot	Determines Pratt’s lifelong guilt; he later wonders if he should have let the chief escape.
Giving prisoners ledger books	Accidentally sparks ledger art, which becomes a form of resistance and cultural preservation.
Founding Carlisle with the “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” philosophy	Creates generations of trauma; high death rates; forcible separation of children from families.
Injecting Jude Star with a drug	Triggers Jude’s vision of the Sand Creek Massacre, deepening his trauma but also connecting him to memory.
Traveling to San Francisco to meet Charles Star	Ends in finding Charles dead; Pratt leaves feeling cursed and sick.
Insisting “there was no better plan” until death	Demonstrates his refusal to accept moral responsibility; the irony of his tombstone’s inscription underscores the unresolved legacy.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Assimilation and Cultural Erasure: Pratt is the primary agent of this theme. His school forces Native children to “become Carlisle Indians,” a new tribe belonging to no tribe. The haircut, new names, and uniform are symbols of erasure.
Intergenerational Trauma: Pratt’s policies directly cause the trauma that passes from Jude Star to Charles Star to the contemporary narrator. The survivor’s guilt, addiction, and identity struggles in later chapters trace back to Carlisle.
Memory and Storytelling: Pratt tries to control history by filing away letters he cannot answer into “dead letter mail.” Yet Charles Star’s letter and the unfinished book project represent Indigenous memory that refuses to be silenced. The tombstone inscribed by former students shows that Native people reclaim the narrative after Pratt’s death.
Identity and Belonging: Pratt’s system creates uprooted individuals who belong to no tribe. Charles Star struggles with knowing he is “half white” and feels trapped between worlds.
Addiction and Recovery: While not Pratt’s direct action, the legacy of trauma contributes to alcohol and drug use among characters like Jude and Charles. Pratt’s own bitterness can be seen as an addiction to self-justification.

Five Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Pratt inject Jude Star with a drug?
Pratt injects Jude as part of an attempt to force him to speak or remember. The drug triggers a vision of the Sand Creek Massacre, revealing that Pratt’s methods are a form of psychological warfare.

2. What is the significance of Pratt’s hatred of birds?
Pratt hates birds because President Roosevelt once responded to his funding plea by sending a birdwatching pamphlet instead of money. The hatred symbolizes Pratt’s resentment of being dismissed and his realization that he and Roosevelt both used Indians for spectacle.

3. Why does Pratt keep a “dead letter mail” filing cabinet?
Pratt cannot bring himself to answer letters from Indians—especially unhappy ones—because doing so would force him to confront the failure of his vision. The cabinet represents his willful self-deception and avoidance of accountability.

4. What does Pratt see when he finds Charles Star dead?
He sees Charles’s body on the floor, blood pooling around a typewriter page with Pratt’s own name, and cash spilling from a bag. The scene implicates Pratt in the violence of Charles’s life and death.

5. What irony does the tombstone inscription carry?
The tombstone reads “Erected in loving memory by his students and other Indians.” The irony is that the very people Pratt tried to destroy honor him, while he died insisting he had no better plan—his own words contradict the respect he receives.