The Indian School System
As if trails of tears and reservations weren't enough, Native American families had one more burden to bear. Children were taken from their parents' custody and sent to boarding schools, far from home. There, they would be forced to give up Native dress and ways, even being forbidden to speak their own languages or be called by their given names. While the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania is the foremost example of forced assimilation of Native children, it wasn't the only school of its type. Even in schools runs by missionary societies closer to home abuse and psychological trauma were rampant, as were diseases. Many children went away to school and died there. Others came back unable to re-assimilate into tribal society and unable to live in White society, either.
Schooling and missionizing among the Native populations of North America is as old as exploration itself. French Jesuits, Spanish Franciscans, English Puritans and German Moravians among others all attempted to found schools for Native children. In the eastern United States, some of these efforts were highly successful. Yale University had an Indian School, and the Foreign Mission School in Connecticut offered young Native men a university education. These were the lucky few. By the time American settlement had spread west, the idea that Natives could succeed in a college environment was long past. The main aim of Native schooling was to assimilate and Christianize the younger generations of tribes, at the expense of their own family's wishes or cultural heritage.
Enter Richard Henry Pratt, an army officer in charge of Apache, Comanche and other Native prisoners at Fort Marion, Florida, following the Civil War. Rather than let the prisoners remain idle, Pratt decided that the younger men should be educated. He mandated that they cut their hair, wear White clothing, learn English and attend school. The Natives who seemed more amenable to assimilation were sent to Hampton Institute, now a Historically Black College. Pratt was so encouraged by his efforts that in 1879, he took a former army barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and opened the Carlisle Industrial School. His mission, expressed in his own words was to "kill the Indian and save the man." Carlisle provided industrial training for boys and domestic skills training for girls. Like many other schools, it had a band and sports program. The children who came there did get an education, but at a cost.
Though families were required to give permission for their children to attend, the 25 Indian Schools which were set up along the Carlisle model had quotas for students to remain open, meaning that most children were forced to go and families coerced into sending them. Once at the school, boys and girls had their hair cut, something which went against their deepest held traditions and beliefs. Their Native clothing was taken away and replaced with uniforms and they would forbidden to speak their Native languages. To enforce this, students of various tribes were clustered together so that they wouldn't have anyone around them to speak to. Unable to contact their families or receive home visits, some children gave in to despair. Diseases were rampant but some children became ill of unexplained ailments, most likely pure homesickness and isolation. The school rules were enforced with beatings from straps, belts or other implements. In addition to studies, students had to clean the floors and do other menial work around the school, again with punishment.
By the opening decades of the 20th century, tribes were beginning to speak out against the forced education of their children and the treatment they received at these schools. In 1926, the US Interior Department commissioned a report from the Brookings Institute, which recommended a top-down, bottom-up change in how Native children were educated. It recommended that the Euro-centric course of study be eliminated, that younger children be educated in community schools closer to home, and that Native children be taught to succeed in both White and Native society. The findings of the report were ignored and children were compelled to attend schools through the 1970's. In 1973, Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance act, which mandated decentralization of the Indian schools and funding for community schools. Since that time, boarding schools for Native children have declined, though some still exist.
For many families however, the pain of separation and forced assimilation still remains.
Schooling and missionizing among the Native populations of North America is as old as exploration itself. French Jesuits, Spanish Franciscans, English Puritans and German Moravians among others all attempted to found schools for Native children. In the eastern United States, some of these efforts were highly successful. Yale University had an Indian School, and the Foreign Mission School in Connecticut offered young Native men a university education. These were the lucky few. By the time American settlement had spread west, the idea that Natives could succeed in a college environment was long past. The main aim of Native schooling was to assimilate and Christianize the younger generations of tribes, at the expense of their own family's wishes or cultural heritage.
Enter Richard Henry Pratt, an army officer in charge of Apache, Comanche and other Native prisoners at Fort Marion, Florida, following the Civil War. Rather than let the prisoners remain idle, Pratt decided that the younger men should be educated. He mandated that they cut their hair, wear White clothing, learn English and attend school. The Natives who seemed more amenable to assimilation were sent to Hampton Institute, now a Historically Black College. Pratt was so encouraged by his efforts that in 1879, he took a former army barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and opened the Carlisle Industrial School. His mission, expressed in his own words was to "kill the Indian and save the man." Carlisle provided industrial training for boys and domestic skills training for girls. Like many other schools, it had a band and sports program. The children who came there did get an education, but at a cost.
Though families were required to give permission for their children to attend, the 25 Indian Schools which were set up along the Carlisle model had quotas for students to remain open, meaning that most children were forced to go and families coerced into sending them. Once at the school, boys and girls had their hair cut, something which went against their deepest held traditions and beliefs. Their Native clothing was taken away and replaced with uniforms and they would forbidden to speak their Native languages. To enforce this, students of various tribes were clustered together so that they wouldn't have anyone around them to speak to. Unable to contact their families or receive home visits, some children gave in to despair. Diseases were rampant but some children became ill of unexplained ailments, most likely pure homesickness and isolation. The school rules were enforced with beatings from straps, belts or other implements. In addition to studies, students had to clean the floors and do other menial work around the school, again with punishment.
By the opening decades of the 20th century, tribes were beginning to speak out against the forced education of their children and the treatment they received at these schools. In 1926, the US Interior Department commissioned a report from the Brookings Institute, which recommended a top-down, bottom-up change in how Native children were educated. It recommended that the Euro-centric course of study be eliminated, that younger children be educated in community schools closer to home, and that Native children be taught to succeed in both White and Native society. The findings of the report were ignored and children were compelled to attend schools through the 1970's. In 1973, Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance act, which mandated decentralization of the Indian schools and funding for community schools. Since that time, boarding schools for Native children have declined, though some still exist.
For many families however, the pain of separation and forced assimilation still remains.
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