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Red or shaded regions show Native American Reservations.
Map 1 Key
1. Chemaya Indian School Salem, Oregon
2. Fort Bidwell Indian School Fort Bidwell, Surprise Valley California
3. Greenville School & Agency Greenville, Plumas County, California
see: https://www.cnumc.org/committee-post/acs-2023-committee-on-native-a...
4. Stewart Indian School : Carson, Nevada :on geni
5. Perris Indian School Perris, California
6. Fort Mojave Indian School Fort Mojave, Arizona
7. Phoenix Indian School Phoenix, Arizona
8. Fort Shaw Industrial Indian Boarding School Fort Shaw, Montana
9. Grand Junction Indian School Grand Junction, Colorado
10. Fort Lewis Indian School Hesperus, Colorado
11. Santa Fe Indian School Santa Fe, New Mexico
12. Albuquerque Indian School Albuquerque, New Mexico
13. Rapid City Indian School Rapid City, South Dakota
14. Pierre Indian School Pierre, South Dakota
15. St. Joseph’s Indian School Chamberlain, South Dakota
16. Flandreau School Flandreau, South Dakota
17. Genoa Indian Industrial School Genoa, Nebraska
18. Haskell Indian Industrial School Lawrence, Kansas
19. Chilocco Indian Agricultural School Chilocco, Oklahoma
20. Morris Indian Boarding School Morris, Minnesota
21. Pipestone Indian School Pipestone, Minnesota
22. Tomah Indian School Tomah, Wisconsin
23. Wittenburg Indian School Wittenberg, Wisconsin
24. Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
25. Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School Carlisle, Pennsylvania
other schools not mentioned in list: Hampton School see https://www.twofrog.com/hampton.html
Indigenous people across North America have had and continue to have their own education systems. For over 15,000 years, American Indian and Alaskan Native nations passed down their cultural traditions and languages from generation to generation without European interference. Parents, grandparents, and tribal elders teach their children how to care for and survive off of their ancestral lands, plants, and animals. They educate and celebrate their young ones through storytelling, ceremonies, prayer, and everyday activities and responsibilities. Children’s’ educational upbringing reflect the social, political, and economic needs of each tribe.
During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the government of the United States began planning how indigenous groups might coexist with the young nation. Even before the Declaration of Independence was signed, the U.S. Continental Congress invested in ‘educating’ and ‘civilizing’ Indians. They wanted indigenous groups to assimilate; that is, forego their tribal existence and accept European American cultural, economic, political, and spiritual values.
By the early 1800s, several American Indian nations incorporated both native languages and the English language into their education systems as a response to assimilation policies. They wanted to communicate with incoming settlers and U.S. government officials in order to maintain tribal sovereignty and protect themselves from exploitation. At the same time, Christian missionary groups and the federal government opened day schools to impart Euro-American values.
In the late 19th century, surviving American Indian nations struggled to maintain their rights to self govern, keep their ancestral lands, and sustain their cultures. They waged wars with the United States and ultimately lost. The United States government forced survivors of the so-called Indian Wars to move to reservations. Many died during these relocations through exhaustion, starvation, and exposure to European diseases.
Even without land or political power, native peoples were able to pass on culture to their children. But by the late 1870s, the War Department and the Department of the Interior developed off-reservation boarding school system. The school administrators’ mission was to remove indigenous children from the families and communities to assimilate them and stop the passing-on of indigenous culture. The boarding schools forced indigenous children to adopt Euro-American culture.
During the 1930s, federal education policy became more accepting of indigenous cultures and languages. In 1934, the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act gave tribes more autonomy on how and where their children were taught.
By the 1960s, American Indian nations became more involved in providing a formal, European-style education for indigenous youth. Tribal representatives served as commissioners of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the 2010s, three off-reservation boarding schools continue to be operated with the mission of reviving indigenous traditions and instilling pride in its students.
In September 2000, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Grover issued an apology to Indian people for the emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual violence committed against children at off-reservation boarding schools. In December 2009, President Obama signed a written apology on behalf of the United States to all Native Peoples for the violence, maltreatment, and neglect caused by U.S. citizens.
Resources:
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-carlisle-indian-industrial-school-....
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_boarding_schools
- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/30/us/native-american-b...
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/American-Indian-boarding-school
- https://boardingschoolhealing.org/
- https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2100...
- Women's National Indian Association
- At its peak the Association supported 98 branch organizations in 28 states and sustained 56 missions on Indian reservations. The first crusade was a five-year mission devoted to gaining political rights for Indians to vote as United States citizens. Soon, chapters in sixteen states participated in the movement.
- Title Their Stories Author Beverly Benner Ogle Editors Kenneth Holbrook, Juanita Ocampo Barnard Publisher Mountain Weaver Press, 2021 ISBN 9798985264203 Length 264 pages