Boarding Schools

Definition

Boarding schools refer to educational institutions where students live on campus, often away from their families, and receive both academic instruction and residential care. These schools were a key component of the U.S. government's efforts to assimilate and acculturate Native American children into mainstream American society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Boarding schools were established by the U.S. government and various religious organizations with the goal of assimilating Native American children into mainstream American culture, often by forcibly removing them from their families and communities.
2. The first off-reservation boarding school, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was founded in 1879 by Captain Richard H. Pratt, who believed that the 'only good Indian is a dead Indian' and that Native American children could be 'civilized' through strict discipline and the suppression of their cultural identities.
3. Boarding schools typically required students to abandon their native languages, religions, and cultural practices, and instead adopt European-American customs, dress, and Christianity.
4. The living conditions in many boarding schools were often poor, with inadequate food, overcrowding, and high rates of disease, abuse, and even death among the students.
5. The boarding school system had a devastating impact on Native American communities, leading to the disruption of traditional family structures, the loss of cultural knowledge and language, and long-lasting trauma that has been passed down through generations.

Review Questions

• Describe the primary goals and objectives of the U.S. government in establishing boarding schools for Native American children.
  • The primary goals of the U.S. government in establishing boarding schools for Native American children were to assimilate them into mainstream American culture and suppress their indigenous identities. The government believed that by forcibly removing Native children from their families and communities and subjecting them to strict discipline, Christian education, and the suppression of their cultural practices, they could be 'civilized' and integrated into the dominant white society. This was part of a broader policy of cultural genocide and the destruction of Native American ways of life.
• Analyze the impact of the boarding school system on Native American communities and the long-term consequences of this policy.
  • The boarding school system had a devastating impact on Native American communities, leading to the disruption of traditional family structures, the loss of cultural knowledge and language, and long-lasting trauma that has been passed down through generations. By forcibly removing children from their families and communities and subjecting them to abuse, neglect, and the suppression of their cultural identities, the boarding schools contributed to the erosion of Native American cultures and the breakdown of traditional social and economic structures. This has had profound and lasting consequences for Native American communities, including high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and mental health issues, as well as the ongoing struggle to revitalize and preserve their cultural heritage.
• Evaluate the role of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and its founder, Richard H. Pratt, in shaping the boarding school system and its impact on Native American children and communities.
  • The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, founded in 1879 by Captain Richard H. Pratt, was a pivotal institution in the development and implementation of the U.S. government's boarding school policy. Pratt's infamous belief that the 'only good Indian is a dead Indian' and his conviction that Native American children could be 'civilized' through strict discipline and the suppression of their cultural identities set the tone for the broader boarding school system. The Carlisle school served as a model for other off-reservation boarding schools, and its practices of forced assimilation, including the suppression of native languages and customs, the imposition of European-American dress and Christian values, and the disruption of traditional family structures, had a devastating impact on generations of Native American children and their communities. The legacy of the Carlisle school and the boarding school system as a whole continues to be felt in the ongoing struggles of Native American communities to heal from the trauma and loss of cultural identity inflicted by these policies.

Related terms

Assimilation: The process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group, often through the loss of one's original cultural identity.

Acculturation: The process of learning and adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group, while still maintaining one's original cultural identity.

Allotment Act: A U.S. federal law passed in 1887 that divided Native American reservation land into individual allotments, with the goal of encouraging Native Americans to adopt a more agricultural, private property-based lifestyle.