Indian/Native American Boarding Schools
Native Americans were marginalized and suppressed by the US government in the 19th century. Given that the Native Americans were the minority in the country and acted as a threat to the state, they were forced into reservations where they could be easily monitored by the US government (Adams 67). Though the Native Americans were oppressed in their livelihood, some chose to continue embracing their culture and not that of the foreigner. In the late 19th century, the Native American youth were forced into boarding schools where they had to adapt to the European way of life (Hirschfelder 28). This form of Eurocentric behavior exhibited by the running government indicate that they wanted the American Indians to assimilate to the euro-American standards. In addition, the American Indians were looked down upon by the Europeans who regarded the indigenous as uncivilized. Thus, the aim of the government was to eradicate the American Indian way of life by replacing their cultural beliefs with those of the Europeans. This paper will discuss how and why the US government advocated for Native American boarding schools.
Americans Indian boarding schools were established by the US government with the aim of civilizing the indigenous people (Tout 39). As a result, the US congress passed a bill known as the Federal Indian policy that enforced all American Indian youth to be forcibly removed from their families and put in a boarding school that was run by the government (Adams 73). Through this Act, the greater community believed that the American Indian youth would integrate in the American way of life and alienate their cultural beliefs. In addition, the Euro-Americans believed that boarding schools would enable American Indians to be brainwashed and that they would not have an influence from the older generation who treasured their traditional beliefs. It is crucial to note that these boarding schools had been established away from the reservations to cut any form of communication between the American Indian youth and their families (Adams 78). The boarding schools also ensured that the American Indians did not speak their native language as part of seasoning them to become part of the greater American society. This shows that the boarding schools were enacted to forcefully put American Indians through school so that they can be part of the greater and dominant society.
It is a paradox that the US government paid the church organizations to run boarding schools where American Indian had been enrolled out of their own consent (Tout 92). Given that a church organization should reflect moral ethics, the church organizations at that time supported the suppression of the American Indians which is in contrast with their religious faith. It is significant to note that the federal government encouraged church organizations to run the boarding schools because any form of religious or traditional practices was not condoned. Thus, the American Indians who had been enrolled in these schools had to adapt and integrate to their new surrounding in order to escape any harsh punishments (Kidwell 759). Missionary schools were strict in terms of its student practicing Christianity. This means that the American Indians had to assimilate and practice Christianity despite knowing little about the religion. For example, the Native Americans were forced to memorize the Lord’s Prayer and read the Bible as part of their daily routine
The US government believed that education would wash away the culture and traditions of Native Americans and make them civilized in the long run. During this era, there was an industrial boom in the Western nations that required people to work (Stout 34). Thus, education ensured that the Native Americans would join the working class to build the county’s economy. This is relevant because the Native Indians had to feel as part of the greater community in order to assimilate to the Euro-American standards. In addition, the Native Americans were forced to wear military uniform, march, and honor the American flag (Hirschfelder 87). Through this, they would become patriotic towards the country. The American Indians had to go through this horrific procedure because they did not have a choice in that there was an institutional violence that was against their culture. Being a minority meant that they could not retaliate. This is because of hundreds of thousands Native Americans were massacred by the US government (Hirschfelder 82). Thus, American Indians lived in fear and had to assimilate with the Americans because laws and policies were used to suppress them.
Sitting Bull was an Indian American leader who motivated his people to fight the US government. The Sitting Bull is legendary to the Native American history because many people were massacred by the US government because of practicing the Ghost Dance Movement (Adams 113). The Ghost Dance Movement was a dance of resistance in that the US government wanted to take over their sacred lands because they were rich in minerals. Thus, the American Indian people were seen as a threat to the country’s stability and given the rich minerals in the lands, the US government to use the minerals to grow the country’s economy. The US government had motives and had to force the American Indians to migrate from their holy lands. The sitting bull believed that the American Indians should resist because the deity will protect them from the US soldiers who had bullets (Hirschfelder 98). This was not the case. Like many Native Americans, Sitting Bull wanted the American Indians to enjoy their freedom and live in peace. However, the US government overpowered them. It is clear that the US government used forceful measures to abate the American Indians.
Sitting Bull writes, “If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place.” This quote was written to show a sense of sorrow and oppression that the American Indians had gone through in that the Euro-Americans referred them as savages. This dehumanizes the American Indians and show a form of superior complex among the Europeans who had settled in America. The white Americans had built prejudice against the Native Americans to illustrate their primitive ways (Trafzer 124). Thus, the white Americans used dynamic measures to ensure that the American Indian assimilate to the white Americans ways. For example, the American Indians were forced to convert into Christianity and be patriotic to the country that had massacred the indigenous people. According to a white man named Pratt, he adopted a maxim goal to “kill the Indian, and not the man (Trafzer 134).” This premise shows that the white Americans wanted to change the Indian Americans by annihilating their culture and beliefs. Thus, the Sitting Bull makes a compelling statement that rebukes the white Americans for trying to change his people to alienate their culture and embrace that of the Euro-Americans.
Henry Ward Beecher was an American abolitionist who believed in not only the emancipation of all slaves but also was against the mistreatment of the Indian Americans (Kidwell 757). Beecher believed that people should enjoy their freedom and that no one deserved to be subjugated. Thus he believed that “The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to us are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an ox but the ox becomes a lion.” Beecher believed that the Euro-Americans had come to a foreign land, where they used violent measures against the Americans Indians with the aim of taking authority and land. In addition, the white Americans wanted to power and due to their ethnocentric ways, they built prejudice against the Native Americans by calling their savages and primitive. In addition, the Euro-Americans imposed their culture on American Indians so as to assimilate and be like them (Kidwell 758). However, Beecher claims that Native Americans cannot mirror white American ways because the American Indians are the lions and the Ox is the imposed American ways such as education and Christianity.
In conclusion, Native Americans have been suppressed by the Europeans through the mass killings of the Americans Indians, put them in reserves, and forced them to be educated in order to assimilate the Euro-American ways. It is clear that the US government established boarding schools for the Native Americans so that they can alienate their traditions and beliefs. According to most Europeans, the Native Americans were savages and primitive. These Eurocentric notions exemplified the mistreatment of the Indian Americans. The Indian Americans youth were forcibly taken from their families and forced to stay in school. This was crucial for white Americans because they wanted to replace the Native American culture with that of the Euro-American culture. The US government also used church organizations to run boarding schools that taught the Native Americans Christian doctrines. This meant that the Native Indians could not practice their culture nor speak their language. This was part of the seasoning process that would ensure Native Americans would assimilate to the American way of life. The Sitting Bull is also a significant figure in the American history because he encouraged the Native Americans to fight against the US government because of their oppressive rule. He did not want to change his livelihood and culture because that was his identity. Beecher on other hand was a Christian figure and abolitionist who disliked how the US government treated Native Americans. Like Sitting Bull, he believed that one’s identity could not be changed or erased.
Works Cited
Adams, David Wallace. Education for extinction: American Indians and the boarding school experience, 1875-1928. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 1995. Print.
Hirschfelder, Arlene B.. Native Americans. New York: Dorling Kindersley Pub., 2000. Print.
Kidwell, C. S.. "To Remain An Indian: Lessons In Democracy From A Century Of Native American Education; Learning To Write "Indian": The Boarding-School Experience And American Indian Literature; Boarding School Blues: Revisiting American Indian Educational Experiences." Ethnohistory 54.4 (2007): 757-759. Print.
Stout, Mary. Native American boarding schools. Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2012. Print.
Trafzer, Clifford E., Jean A. Keller, and Lorene Sisquoc. Boarding school blues: revisiting American Indian educational experiences. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. Print.
