While boarding schools were not the desired alternative, proponents argued that the boarding school provided food and shelter for children and protection from instability. Our History. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
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Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. At this juncture, it was felt that reservation schools were not sufficiently removed from the influences of tribal life. In the eyes of assimilationists, off-reservation boarding schools would be the best hope of changing Indian children into members of the white society.
For Col. Richard Henry Pratt, the goal was complete assimilation. In , he established the most well known of the off-reservation boarding schools, the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As Headmaster of the school for 25 years, he was the single most impacting figure in Indian education during his time.
He hoped Indian youths would not return to the reservations but rather become part of the white community. Carlisle was the only off-reservation boarding school built in the East; all others were built in the West. Carlisle and other off-reservation boarding schools instituted their assault on Native cultural identity by first doing away with all outward signs of tribal life that the children brought with them.
The long braids worn by Indian boys were cut off. The children were made to wear standard uniforms. Traditional Native foods were abandoned, forcing students to acquire the food rites of white society, including the use of knives, forks, spoons, napkins and tablecloths. In addition, students were forbidden to speak their Native languages, even to each other. The Carlisle school rewarded those who refrained from speaking their own language; most other boarding schools relied on punishment to achieve this aim.
At the better boarding schools, students could attain a reasonable degree of English literacy in a relatively short period. At other schools, the method of teaching — an object card such as CAT shown to students, then written, pronounced and traced — failed to produce a comprehension of those words that had no equivalent in their Native tongue. The Indian boarding schools taught history with a definite white bias.
On Memorial Day, some students at off-reservation schools were made to decorate the graves of soldiers sent to kill their fathers. Half of each school day was spent on industrial training.
Girls learned to cook, clean, sew, care for poultry and do laundry for the entire institution. Boys learned industrial skills such as blacksmithing, shoemaking or performed manual labor such as farming. Since the schools were required to be as self-sufficient as possible, students did the majority of the work. By , economic practicality became the goal and school curriculum slanted even further toward industrial training while academics languished. So boys learned how to milk cows, grow vegetables, repair tools, etc.
The boarding schools had what came to be called the "half and half" system where students spent half of the day in the classroom and half at a work assignment or "detail" on the school grounds. The academic curriculum included courses in U. Music and drama were offered at most schools.
Young women spent either the morning or the afternoon doing laundry, sewing, cooking, cleaning and other household tasks.
Older girls might study nursing or office work. The young men acquired skills in carpentry, blacksmithing, animal husbandry, baking and shop. They chopped firewood to keep the steam boilers operating. The work performed by students was essential to the operation of the institution. The meat, vegetables and milk served in the dining room came from livestock and gardens kept by the students.
The girls made and repaired uniforms, sheets, and curtains and helped to prepare the meals. A standardized curriculum for Indian schools emphasized vocational training. Estelle Reel, who served as Superintendent of Indian Education from to , was a strong advocate of this curriculum which gave primary importance to learning manual skills.
No amount of book learning, she felt, could result in economic independence for Indian people. Others would claim that by limiting education to manual training the educators were condemning Indian people to permanent inequality.
A former student at the Fort Spokane boarding school described typical work done by the boys:. Mandatory education for Indian children became law in and thereafter agents on the reservations received instructions on how to enforce the federal regulation. If parents refused to send their children to school the authorities could withhold annuities or rations or send them to jail.
Some parents were uncomfortable having their children sent far away from home. The educators had quotas to fill, however, and considerable pressure was exerted on Indian families to send their youngsters to boarding schools beginning when the child was six years old.
Fear and loneliness caused by this early separation from family is a common experience shared by all former students. Once their children were enrolled in a distant school, parents lost control over decisions that affected them.
For example, requests for holiday leave could be denied by the superintendent for almost any reason. For some students, the desire for freedom and the pull of their family combined with strong discontent caused them to run away.
At Chemawa, for example, there were 46 "desertions" recorded in , followed by 70 in Punishment of runaways was usually harsh, as the offenders became examples held up before their fellow students:. Illness was another serious problem at the boarding schools. Crowded conditions and only the basic medical care no doubt contributed to the spread of diseases such as measles, influenza and tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis was especially feared and at the Tulalip Indian School the dormitories were kept cold by leaving the windows open at night. Several students were sent to sanitariums in Idaho or Nevada. In a letter issued to superintendents in , the Indian Office advised disinfecting all textbooks at the end of each school year to reduce the chance of spreading disease.
Hospital reports for Tulalip indicate that boys spent a total of days in the hospital during one month and girls days. Death was not an unknown occurrence either. At Chemawa, a cemetery contains headstones of students who died at the school, and these represent only the ones whose bodies were not returned home for burial.
Not all experiences at the boarding schools were negative for all students. In hindsight, former students acknowledge benefits they gained from their education, and there were happy moments for some. Sports, games and friendships are examples of experiences remembered in a positive light. As the years went by and most students persevered, strong friendships developed.
Occasionally a friendship might end up in marriage, although this certainly was not encouraged by the school. Young people from one culture group met boys and girls from other areas. Reflecting on her years spent in boarding schools, one elder stated:. Another former student recognized the practical advantages offered by the schools but perceived deeper implications:.
By the s the Bureau of Indian Affairs had changed its opinion about boarding schools, responding to complaints that the schools were too expensive and that they encouraged dependency more than self-sufficiency. By , the majority of Indian children nationwide attended public schools. A report on Indian education issued in revealed glaring deficiencies in the boarding schools, including poor diet, overcrowding, below-standard medical service, excessive labor by the students and substandard teaching.
The s witnessed many changes in federal Indian policy, among which was a shift in educational philosophy. Classroom lessons could now reflect the diversity of Indian cultures. States assumed more control over Indian education as more children enrolled in public schools.
Most of the boarding schools were closed by this time, Tulalip in and Cushman in , leaving Chemawa as the sole government boarding school remaining in the Pacific Northwest. Harper's Weekly , v. Adams, David Wallace. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, Bonney, W. As My Sun Now Sets.
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