Indian Education/Boarding Schools Indian Boarding Schools Were

Indian Education/Boarding Schools Indian boarding schools were designed to assimilate Native American children into the greater American (white) culture. Students at the schools suffered from poor diet, illness and harsh discipline. As a result of these deficiencies, and the high cost of running the boarding schools, they began to disappear from the American landscape in the 1930s. Indian education from the 1880s to the 1920s was designed to assimilate the American Indian population into the greater American society.

This was accomplished by placing Native American Indian children into institutions where the traditional ways of Indian society were replaced by government-sanctioned behaviors and beliefs. Native American children were removed from their families, and enrolled in government-run boarding schools. Boarding schools first became vogue prior to the American Civil War. During this time, idealistic reformers put forth the idea that Indians could become "civilized" with the proper education and treatment. Prior to this time, most white Americans had seen the American Indian population with great fear.

Captain Richard Henry Pratt was one of the leading proponents of this movement, believing that he could "kill the Indian and save the man." (Marr). Pratt established one of the first Indian boarding schools, the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Indian education came to encompass boarding schools that existed both on and off the reservations, and day schools. Chemawa Indian school, located in Salem, was the largest off-reservation school, with an enrolment of 903 students, from 90 tribes in 1920. Federal boarding schools all followed several rules.

They were governed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which oversaw the activities of superintendents throughout America. This ensured a great homogeneity between the boarding schools, extending from architecture to a strict adherence to an English-only policy. The schools were run in a military style, emphasized farming, and focused equally on academics and vocational training. As can be expected, the desire for freedom and homesickness for their family caused many students to run away. In 1922 in Chemawa alone, 70 students deserted the school. Often, punishment was extremely harsh.

Helma Ward, Mekah, in an interview with Carolyn Marr, stated, "Two of our girls ran away...but they got caught.

They tied their legs up, tied their hands behind their backs, put them in the middle of the hallway so that if they fell, fell asleep or something, the matron would hear them and she'd get out there and whip them and make them stand up again." Joyce Burr, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa/Oglala Sioux who lived at Wahpeton Indian school from 1952 to 1959 also reports beatings for offences ranging from climbing trees, to not making her bed quickly (Kelley).

In addition to harsh punishments, children at the schools had to deal with the threat of illness. Contributing factors to this were crowded conditions and insufficient medical care. As a result diseases like tuberculosis, influenza and measles were rampant. Deaths at the schools were common, with 189 headstones in a Chemawa cemetery, representing only those students whose bodies were not returned home for burial. Perhaps surprisingly, there were many positive experiences noted by former students.

These include warm memories of friendships and sports, and the chance to meet children from other cultural groups. By the 1920s there were extensive complaints that the Indian boarding schools were too expensive. As a result, most Indian children attended public schools in 1923. By the 1930's federal Indian.