Introduction
The book education for extinction is an educational book trying to make us comprehend how the last “Indian war” was fought against the Native American children. This is war that happened in the classrooms of the boarding schools that were made by the government in order to take the Indian children away from their families and allow them to fully concentrate on their education without any interference from their families. This was done mainly with the main aim of promoting white “civilization” while gradually doing away with the childhood memories of “savagism” to a point where they can get extinct (p25). The book is about the day-to-day experiences of the Indian youths that were living in a “total institution” that were made to aid them into transformation both psychologically and culturally so as to be able to achieve white “civilization”(p58).
Motives of the U.S. Government’s Native American Boarding School program
During the late 19th century American Indians were not able to fully enjoy the rights and freedoms of U.S. citizenship since according to the law at that time they were regarded as minors who were not able to make simple decisions on their own. The government started a mission to take away Indian children and send them to far away government boarding schools where they were able to pursue education with minimal interference (p8). The U.S. government had a number of reasons to introduce such schools and send Indian children to them key among them was” Education for Extinction” as they believed only education was necessary to help in the extinction of the Indian culture as they believed the it was best if the Indians were taught the ways and habits of civilized people to enable them abandon their old uncivilized cultures (p23). Their main aim was to teach these children new civilized culture and get rid of any Indian Native culture that the child might have internalized or expressed through their younger days of socialization.
“Civilizing” the Indians
When the young Native Americans joined these schools the first agenda was to strip off any Indian or Native culture that they might have absorbed in their early years through their interactions in the families they were born into. The point of view of these policymakers was to find a way of getting rid of any signs of the child’s identification with their cultural life and instill a civilized culture into the mindset of the children. The other part of civilizing the children was getting rid of their cultural outfits and clothing them into school uniforms which they were to wear at all times and abandon their old outfits for good. The schools had certain rules such as boy’s hair which was meant to be cut short while that of girls was to be cut to a bob (p211).
The children also had their names changed to more European-sounding names to completely get rid of the native culture and civilize them. Another attempt by the government to get rid of this native culture was banning these children from engaging in any religious traditions and rituals and making it mandatory for all to attend Christian church services on Sunday and participate in celebrations of Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter holidays. These centers changed from learning institutions to institutions used to “kill the Indian, save the man” (240).
The main aim of government introducing these boarding schools was to introduce the European “civilized” culture and get rid of the Native Indian “Savagism.” The government might have chosen these approaches to address these issues because they felt the only way they were going to be able to make extinct the Indian culture was to hurt it from the grassroots that is through the children therefore making sure that the coming generations would not be much of a problem if their parents were civilized. The government thought that by using such underhand tactics then they would achieve their agenda of sending all Native Indian children to boarding schools (p28). This policy proved tragic after some time when they found out they could not achieve this feat through the approach they used and had to abandon the policy all together in later years.
Reaction of the Native Americans to the Programs
There was much resistance from the natives especially since they knew their culture was at threat most of them hid their children and refused to let them go to these schools. Adams in his book claims that through the process of assimilation by the government many students, parents and communities encountered sufferings both personal and cultural trauma that looked like another form of genocide against young children (p27). With the hard times hitting the parents were unable to continue supporting their families and so they willingly allowed their children to join these schools since they thought the schools would offer them adequate clothing, shelter and food(p16,18-19). Some of the natives also viewed education as a very important process that could transform the lives of their children since they would gain skills that they can use in future to gain employment and therefore a means of living. The children also strived to join these schools to gain the experience their peers were having and as a way of running away from the racism that was rampant in public schools (p63-64).
Ultimate Fate of the Boarding Schools Program
After some time the children who joined these schools started experiencing several hardships. The distance between them and their families also made it difficult for them to concentrate on their studies. The alien and hostile environment they were exposed to also lead to sicknesses and depression among them and some student even committed suicide since they could not take it anymore (p75). After graduation these students were not able to fully fit back into their previous families since most of them had completely forgotten their cultures and some were not even able to speak their native languages and this made life even more difficult to them after school (p283, p285).
During the early 20th century several policies were formed that led to the closure of several schools with the students of these schools being sent back to Public schools. Several schools closed down since they were deemed ineffective in assimilating the American Indians as it only encouraged dependency to the government instead of making people grow to become independent (p301). The schools did not get any support from the government to aid in accomplishing the goals they were put up to fulfill and they faded up with time. In the end the damage was already done with several alumni of these schools unable to lead meaningful lives since they were unable to settle down fully into the community or gain any meaningful employment to enable them live a decent life (p308). Although this practice eventually stopped completely the lives of all the young native Indians that were affected could not be reversed. The many that were affected by the experiences they went through in these schools lived the rest of their lives with those tragic memories and the few who lost their lives was a major blow to not only their families but the nation as whole.
Works Cited
Adams, David W. Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875- 1928. Lawrence, Kan: University Press of Kansas, 1995. Print.
