Indian Boarding Schools

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Boarding schools are scary enough for children who speak the same language. Imagine a village, soldiers come in and take the children age five and older away in a wagon. These Children are taken to a school far away from home, family and culture. Separated by age and sex then stripped of their clothes, bathed and then forced to stand still as their hair is cut. Crying, some silently as they are given a uniform, at this point they are terrified of what is happening. They are told they have a new Christian name and it is the only name they were permitted to use. This is how most Indian children were introduced to boarding schools. The plan was to use the schools to assimilate the children into their culture. This idea began in the United States …show more content…

The passage of the Indian Civilization Act by the United States in 1819, opened the door for Christian missionaries to teach the indigenous population agricultural techniques and the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Although the missionaries did not like the spiritual or cultural beliefs of the population, they believed that in learning civilized ways of living the Indian population would see that Christian ways were the proper course of life. The Indian Civilization Act assisted the missionaries with establishing missions close to indigenous communities. At the time assimilation was not a top priority, the missionaries were interested in taming the savage side of Indians. As a result, the government began assisting the Indian tribes with funds for education in 1820. Due to government’s involvement in the education of Indians, the creation of federally funded boarding schools was developed in the late nineteenth century. All boarding schools were created with the same goal in mind, to “kill the Indian to save the man”. On the other hand, Mexico’s method of handling …show more content…

The United States was the first to create Industrial boarding schools as most of them were called. The Carlisle Industrial Indian School was the first to open in 1879. Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, known for his love of military life came up with the idea to create an Indian Boarding School in Pennsylvania. His goal was to “Kill the Indian, save the man.” By the arduous work of the students the first two years the Carlisle school was open it was completely self-sufficient. It was Pratts belief that by separating the Indian children from their life on the reservation the assimilation process would be easier as they learned to live in a white community. The Carlisle Indian School was the template for most of the other boarding schools throughout the United States and even throughout

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