Boarding School Era

What is the Boarding School Era?

For 100 years, dating back to the 1860s, Native American boarding schools existed in the United States, and by historical accounts, the schools were funded by the federal government and meant to sever American Indian culture and “civilize the Indian.¹

“Between 1869 and the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were removed from their homes and families and placed in boarding schools operated by the federal government and the churches. Though we don’t know how many children were taken in total, by 1900 there were 20,000 children in Indian boarding schools, and by 1925 that number had more than tripled. The U.S. Native children that were voluntarily or forcibly removed from their homes, families, and communities during this time were taken to schools far away where they were punished for speaking their native language, banned from acting in any way that might be seen to represent traditional or cultural practices, stripped of traditional clothing, hair and personal belongings and behaviors reflective of their native culture. They suffered physical, sexual, cultural and spiritual abuse and neglect, and experienced treatment that in many cases constituted torture for speaking their Native languages. Many children never returned home and their fates have yet to be accounted for by the U.S. government.”²

Why were boarding schools created?

“Beginning with the Indian Civilization Fund Act of March 3, 1819, and the Peace Policy of 1869, the United States, in concert with and at the urging of several Christian denominations, adopted a boarding school policy expressly intended to implement cultural genocide through the removal and reprogramming of American Indian and Alaska Native children. The stated purpose of this policy was to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”³

The U.S. Boarding School Era emerged from the federal government’s desire to deal with the “Indian problem” by using education as a weapon. At the same time (the end of the 19th century), the U.S. hunted bison to near extinction to eliminate a major source of sustenance for Native people. One U.S. Army leader is said to have ordered his troops to “kill every buffalo you can. Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.”⁴ While this effort sought to eliminate Indian nations by starving Indigenous economies, boarding schools were even more insidious. The intent was to eliminate Indians by removing all traces of Tribal cultures—language, spiritual traditions, family ties, etc. and replacing them with European Christian ideals of civilization, religion, and culture.”⁵

Boarding schools were started by Richard Pratt, an Army officer, who modeled the schools after the education program he developed for Indian prisons.⁶ The Federal government and Catholic Church created boarding schools with the intention of civilizing Indigenous children by ridding them of their language and cultural traditions.

What role did Chrisitan missionaries play at the boarding schools?

“Christian missionaries and other “persons of good moral character” were charged with introducing Native children to “the habits and arts of civilization” while encouraging them to abandon their traditional languages, cultures, and practices. This is what achieving civilization looked like in practice: Students were stripped of all things associated with Native life. Their long hair, a source of pride for many Native peoples, was cut short, usually into identical bowl haircuts. They exchanged traditional clothing for uniforms and embarked on a life influenced by strict military-style regimentation. Students were physically punished for speaking their Native languages. Contact with family and community members was discouraged or forbidden altogether.”⁷

What happened to the children?

Children were forcibly removed from their homes and in most cases taken far away from home. Parents and grandparents had no choice in the matter and many did not have the means to travel great distances to visit their children.

The boarding schools hoped to produce students that were economically self-sufficient by teaching work skills and instilling values and beliefs of possessive individualism, meaning you care about yourself and what you as a person own. This opposed the basic Indian belief of communal ownership, which held that the land was for all people.⁸ The children were made to learn American history and to celebrate those who had harmed their families and communities. Children were taught history that was biased toward white history and the view of the world. Columbus Day was heralded as a banner day in history and a beneficent development in their own race’s fortune, as only after discovery did Indians enter the stream of history. Thanksgiving was a holiday to celebrate “good” Indians having aided the brave Pilgrim Fathers. New Year’s was a reminder of how white people kept track of time and George Washington’s birthday served as a reminder of the Great White Father. On Memorial Day, some students at off-reservation schools were made to decorate the graves of soldiers sent to kill their fathers.⁹

“Survivors have described a culture of pervasive physical and sexual abuse at the schools. Food and medical attention were often scarce; many students died. Their parents sometimes learned of their death only after they had been buried in school cemeteries, some of which were unmarked.”¹⁰

What is the connection between the boarding schools and land ownership?

Boarding schools and “civilizing” the Indigenous children were other ways to take land away. The thinking was that if Indigenous People were integrated into American society then they would not have a need for reservations and whites could take over the land. The policy of assimilation reached a low point with The Dawes Act of 1887. Reservation land was distributed to individual families from the Nation in an attempt to force Indigenous people to farm, and to model the western family land ideal. By 1900 Indigenous Nations had lost 60 million acres of reservation land.

How did Indigenous Nations resist?

Naturally, Indigenous people resisted the schools in various ways. Sometimes entire villages refused to enroll their children in white men’s schools. Indian agents on the reservations normally resorted to withholding rations or sending in agency police to enforce the school policy. In some cases, police were sent onto the reservations to seize children from their parents, whether willing or not. The police would continue to take children until the school was filled, so sometimes orphans were offered up or families would negotiate a family quota.¹¹

What is the continuing impact of the Boarding School Era on Indigenous Nations today?

The impact of the boarding school era shows up in a myriad of ways according to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. They identify impacts to the Indigenous Nations as:¹²

Individual

1. Loss of identity
2. Low self esteem
3. No sense of safety
4. Institutionalized
5. Difficulty forming healthy relationships

Families

1. Loss of parental control
2. Near destruction of the extended family

Indigenous Communities

1. Loss of sense of community
2. Loss of language
3. Loss of tribal traditions and ceremonies

Indigenous Nations

1. Weakened nations structures
2. Depleted numbers for enrollment

The memories shared by boarding school survivors, many times includes horrific pain and shame of trauma that includes physical and sexual abuse and the severe longing for home. This trauma was significant and set the stage for crippling intergenerational trauma that stripped so many children of their ability to be productive adults and successful citizens of their tribes.

What is the connection between boarding schools and the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978?

The Boarding School Era ended in 1978, the same year Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA was designed to stop the removal of children from Indigenous Nations from their families by state child welfare and private adoption agencies. While boarding schools were closing, removal of children was a new legal way to destroy Indigenous families and continue to implement the philosophy of “kill the Indian, save the man”.¹³

What is the Indian Child Welfare Act 1978?

What started out as part of the US government’s actions to “kill the Indian, save the man” through the boarding schools system continues today in the removal and adoption of Native children through the “child protection services” agencies.

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was enacted in 1978 in response to a crisis affecting American Indian and Alaska Native children, families, and tribes. Studies revealed that large numbers of Native children were being separated from their parents, extended families and communities by state child welfare and private adoption agencies. In fact, research found that 25%-35% of all Native children were being removed; of those, 85% were placed outside of their families and communities — even when fit and willing relatives were available.¹⁴