The History of the Indian Boarding Schools

 

The Indian Education Act of 1891 gave authority to government officials to control the location, activities and treatment of all Indian children and mandated the collection and transportation of tribal children to Indian boarding schools. Total control of the Indian children’s education was viewed as the most feasible option to achieve assimilation and the adaptation of a perceived “civilized” lifestyle for Native Americans. The governmental officials believed the children’s separation from their families would reduce their families’ influence. Some Indian people managed to survive with little to no repercussions after attending these insti-tutions, however, for the majority of Indian people, the boarding school initiative made more of a negative impact than all other efforts to destroy the Indian people which included massacres, starvation, disease, loss of land, and Christianity.

The outcome of the boarding school legislation was a vulnerable population laced with disease, death, poverty, and other social ills, such as rates of domestic violence, alcoholism, child abuse and neglect higher than any other sectors of the population. Ongoing cultural oppression, health disparities and a lack of access to services and eco-nomic opportunity coupled with chronic poverty, have depleted hope for many tribal families. The cumulative effects of chronic stress and unresolved historical trauma have led to an increased risk for developing psychological and behavioral disorders. The negative impact of the enforced boarding school legislation has resonated with many Native American families today. 

“The way they went about it was horrific. They would just go to a town and round up the children… They would chop the Indian hair off, and in the Indian culture, hair is sacred. To make sure children wouldn’t escape, they would tell them their parents died. We’re a very spiritual people. When the children tried to do death rites, they were prohibited to pray or speak their language and they were punished for it. Many of the children were discombobulated, and horribly damaged” (Brody, 2019, para. 68).

            “The truth about the US Indian boarding school policy has largely been written out of the history books. There were more than 350 government-funded, and often church-run, Indian Boarding Schools across the US in the 19th and 20th centuries. Indian children were forcibly abducted by government agents, sent to schools hundreds of miles away, and beaten, starved, or otherwise abused when they spoke their native languages. Between 1869 and the 1960s, it’s likely that 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… Many children never returned home and their fates have yet to be accounted for by the U.S. government” (The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, N.D., para. 3).

            When boarding schools were first established families, forced to rely on the U.S. government for sus-tenance, faced the threat of losing their much needed rations, annuities and other goods if they did not let the government take their children and place them in these cold and harsh institutions. A compulsory attendance law was passed by Congress in 1891. As a result of the poor economy, many parents felt they had no choice but to send their children to the institutions because they could not provide for them (Child, 2000). Some of the children were provided better care when they attended the boarding schools because of the problems their parents faced such as alcoholism. Other reasons why they attended the boarding schools included racism which was endemic towards Native Americans at the public schools or they had cousins, siblings and other people they knew who attended the schools.

The concept of the boarding school initiative began in 1875 when Richard Henry Pratt was given responsibility of 72 Indian men charged with murder and rapine (the act of seizing property by force) at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. During their stay, these prisoners served as laborers to offset the cost of running the prison. They performed cleaning and maintenance duties. Pratt rehabilitated these men. The prisoners were introduced to reading and arith-metic in a classroom setting and worked part time at odd jobs at St. Augustine. The Indian men adopted the appearance and characteristics of the American population. These same Indian men were later placed in jobs without guards. Following Pratt’s efforts to rehabilitate the Indian men, the Carlisle Indian Boarding School was established by Pratt in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with support of the federal government in 1879. The boarding schools were fashioned after the same rehabilitative principles as the prison pro-gram, which included the school attendants serving as laborers to offset costs (Child, 2000). 

 

“A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has been an enormous factor in promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indians there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”
— General Richard Henry Pratt 

Native American children from various tribes and a multitude of locations from around the country were kid-napped from reservations where they were sequestered with their families by the U.S. government. The school employees transported the children to the school where they succumbed to abuse and stripped of any semblance of their culture and self-respect, completely traumatized. Their hair was chopped off (their long hair represented their connection to Mother Earth, growth of their spirit, extrasensory perception and connection to all things.). The school employees scrubbed them with kerosene and they were forbidden to use their native language, only the English language. They had to wear foreign clothing. In the effort to reform nondominant cultures, they inflicted irreversible damage (Irving, 2014). By 1917, the final year of operation of the Carlisle Boarding School, there were 58 tribes represented in the student body (Child, 2000).

The Indian children were given meaningless English names at the schools. In the Native American tribal way of life, one was not permitted to own anything that was provided to them by the Creator. The land, food and other necessities were bestowed to them to use and must be honored. The only thing that could be owned was their given names. Only one person in a village had a specific name, and this name was derived by spiritual means such as visions, dreams and naming ceremonies. Names provided their identity throughout their lifetime. When English names were given to the children as a part of the assimilation process, this led to identity confusion (Reyner and Eder, 2004). 

“Conversion to Christianity was also deemed essential to the cause. Indian boarding schools were expected to develop a curriculum of religious instruction, placing emphasis on the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and Psalms. Implanting ideas of sin and a sense of guilt were part of Sunday schools. Christianity governed gender relations at the schools and most schools invested their energy in keeping the sexes apart, in some cases endangering the lives of the students by locking girls in their dormitories at night — meaning they could not get out, even in the case of fire...” (American Indian Relief Council, N.D., para. 14).

The religious instruction added to the confusion and degradation of many Indian children. Oftentimes, they were abused in various ways by the same people who were providing religious instruction. Children who demonstrated resistance to the teaching practices and the regimented authority were subjected to humiliation and harsh punish-ments. They suffered whippings and unusual torture such as standing on their tiptoes with arms outstretched while their hands were hit with wooden boards and rulers. The treatment of boys was typically more severe than that of girls. Ruthless punishment occurred when children tried to run away, although this did not deter many from attempting to do so.

It may be difficult to imagine the shock these children experienced when they were yanked from their homes and families, stripped of their cultural identity, while forced to attend a foreign environment filled with fear and hostility. A strange form of religion was forced upon them while told they were savages. However, the dominant population continued to see a solid purpose for the establish-ment of these institutions. The Carlisle School led to the establishment of many similar boarding school institutions in various locations around the country with intentions of civilizing the Native American children to prepare them to fit into American society as servants and laborers. The trans-formation included vast changes in family structure, economics (how they earned a living), how they expressed emotion, and so much more (Irving, 2014). Their loss of identity formed mixed messages about their heritage and about themselves, resulting in contempt for those in power as well as their parents and elders.  

Boarding schools were run like military camps. Indian children were stringently taught how to follow orders. The children had to fall into formation, march in a straight line, and oftentimes wore military clothing and shoes. During the weekdays, the children attended school educational sessions. They were taught English, math, history, and geography usually by American teachers. Geography was an eye-opening experience when they learned about the world and stars. When asked to draw pictures of the earth, they drew pictures of dwellings, animals and vegetation (Adams, 1995).  Some of the teachers tried to be kind and helpful, but many were cruel and harsh.

On average, only a few hours a day was spent in the classroom, and the other portion of the day was spent undertaking assigned tasks. The children received minimal care and education. Learning how to accomplish various tasks were thought to help prepare them for adulthood in the white man’s world, because the only viable future was a white future. Girls were prepared to work as servants or to become homemakers. Boys were trained in the areas of gar-dening, repair and maintenance of homes and farms, the running of farms, printing presses, and the building of houses and furniture.

The children who attended the boarding schools suffered from various types of abuse which included sexual abuse. One woman reported she spent years in therapy until she finally grasped the fact, she had been a victim. The shame and guilt she experienced as a result of the sexual abuse she was forced to endure at the hands of a priest at a missionary boarding school caused her chronic emotional stress into adulthood.

According to one report, nuns at the Holy Childhood Boarding School in Harbor Springs, Michigan would main-tain relationships with young boys and these young boys would become confidants for these women. Mentally healthy women in their 30s or 40s do not fall in love with boys who are 10, 11 or 12 years of age.  Pedophiles work in a way that does not permit children to refuse. It is cunning, measured, and done under the pretext of fondness. These children were used as sexual outlets. Once the sexually deviant person tired of the current victim, they dumped them and preyed on other unsuspecting children. Victims often felt abandoned. Children could not escape from their per-petrators. They had no one to turn to and they were held captive because these institutions became their prison (Stanton, 2008).

Another report involved nuns at the same boarding school who began their seduction by kissing the younger boys good night. One of the abusive nuns was in her 20s, rather plain and chubby. The favored boys would get kissed on the lips and she would tickle them.  One of the people who attended the school stated that a few years went by for him until the kisses started getting longer and longer, and then he was taken to her bedroom. The boys were not expected to perform sexual acts until they were approximately 12 years of age.

One day, another nun at another institution pulled a boy off the playground and forced him to perform sexual acts, he and a pedophile nun were caught in a compromising position by other nuns, yet the perpetrator did not receive any retribution (Podles, 2008).  The children were habitually exposed to “institutionalized pedophilia” and “sexual terror-ism.” The pedophiles included, but were not limited to, priests, nuns, teaching staff, and Protestant clergy.

 When children first arrived at the school, they felt lonely and isolated and as a result many suffered from home-sickness. Most children who attended these institutions were separated from their family before they were develop-mentally mature. The boarding schools were often one hour or further from the children’s homes. The expense of travel was more than most Indian families could afford, which deterred them from visiting their children. In 1924, the Native American per capita annual income was approximately $81 (Churchhill, 2004).

Prior to the 1920s, boarding school officials would have to seek preapproval from the local reservation superintendent or an Indian agent before permission could be granted for children to go home, even for severe hardship, such as deaths in the family and sick relatives.  Indian parents learned to get around these sanctions by stating their children were needed to assist with farming. Since farming was a part of the assimilation process, it served as a more worthy excuse. When John Collier filled the position as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1933, these policies took a turn for the better.  Students were permitted to go home for the summer months and usually for family hardships.

Indian children developed alliances with each other and looked after one another while attending these institutions. Many of the children had never met Indian people from other tribes. Long-lasting friendships were often formed, some lasting their lifetimes. They made fun of the teachers and gave them names the students felt best suited their personalities. On occasion, they snuck out at night together and did things they knew were forbidden activities, such as breaking into buildings on and off school property. Sports, choirs, bands, and dances were other ways long lasting friendships were developed and ways in which the children maintained their sanity. Sharing the common experience of attending boarding schools was another way in which life long bonds were established.

When a child was sent to bed without a meal, the other children would often sneak them food. The children experienced what could be referred to as slow, agonizing starvation. School officials were allotted very limited fund-ing, which served as a strong indication of the lack of impor-tance concerning Indian children.

Because many Indian children from various tribal nations attended the boarding schools together, they shared a rich cultural exchange referred to as pan-Indianness. They developed an understanding of other Indian cultures while helping each of their acquired acquaintances with the harshness of the boarding school experience. Ojibwe students, for example, met Indian children from various tribes such as the Lakotas, Oneidas and Poncas from various locations around the U.S. The Indian children became more alike, they learned a portion of other Indian languages along with the enforced English language. Students who left the boarding schools after graduation married people from other tribes and summer gatherings on reservations became intertribal events. New political alliances were created and the schools became a part of a joint history (Child, 2000). 

“The Carlisle school developed a “placing out system,” placing Indian students in the mainstream community for summer or a year at a time where they could learn skills other than farming. While monitored carefully at Carlisle, other outing programs were often exploitive. At the Phoenix Indian School, girls became the major source of domestic labor for white families, boys were placed in seasonal harvest or other jobs unwanted by white or immigrant laborers and the students were unsupervised, learning very little from their outing experiences” (American Indian Relief Council, N.D., para. 11). Other boarding schools followed suit and many Indian children became laborers for white people who lived near the schools. 

During the 1920s, the Meriam report revealed the lack of fresh food and milk for boarding school residents in the United States. This report involved an investigation concerning failed U.S. Indian policies in various areas such as education. The average per capita food allowance was 11 cents per day. As a result, students suffered from mal-nutrition because of the shortage of food. The Meriam report contained a suggestion that 35 cents per day for each student would meet the children’s needs. This would ensure proper nutrition and adequate food supply. During the time of the Meriam report, the children’s diet mostly consisted of meat and starch. Vegetables and fruit were rarely served. They did not receive milk on a daily basis. The school staff promised the children would receive adequate clothing but oftentimes they sent letters home requesting jackets, hats, shoes and other attire.

The Meriam report was especially hard on BIA run boarding schools and referred to them as inferior to public schools and did not prepare the students for life either on the reservation or among white society. All boarding schools were overcrowded, and there was poor hygiene, inadequate nutrition, and the forced labor was difficult for the students, who were usually under fed.

Poor delivery of health care services to the reservations was also noted in the report. Trachoma, tuberculosis, and other serious maladies ran rampant. Out-side of smallpox vaccinations, other preventative medical procedures was non-existent (Page, 2000).

Good Housekeeping series in 1929, author of the series, Vera L. Connolly, wrote about the past and present injustices concerning Indian people. She defined one of the worse circumstances involved children who were removed from their families and reared in over-crowded, disease ridden boarding schools, places where the government officials overworked and starved the students. Average enrollment in the Indian boarding schools exceeded capacity by approximately 40 percent (Child, 2000).

The recommendations put forth by those who conducted the Meriam study were often ignored. On another note, during the time the Meriam team was observing some of the boarding schools, they made notice of the extreme levels of quietness. Episodes of intermingling and comfortable conversations were non-existent (Churchhill, 2004).

Disease ran rampant in the boarding schools with tuberculosis being one of the most serious. Measles, mumps, influenza, and trachoma, a disease that inflicted the eyes, were other common health maladies. Often, the parents were not informed about their children’s illnesses. Children with these diseases and healthy students were kept together at the schools. Due to the lack of medical services and poor diets, the children often died as a result of contracting diseases. Sometimes the children’s loneliness and homesickness be-came too much for them and they became physically ill. Parents were often not informed when their children were sick. Tribal nations carried out special ceremonies for some-one who passed on. These traditional practices were not honored at the boarding schools.

Neglect was another form of oppression in which a person has been deprived of love, care, nurturance, support, or other pertinent assistance, as well as basic material needs such as food and shelter. They often experienced failure to thrive. As a result, many Indian people associated these institutions with death and despair. 

The boarding school experience did prepare children to communicate with the English-speaking population. A high percentage of the attendees had a difficult time returning to their home of origin. Their difficulty of fitting in with their families was partially due to the biased instruction they received at the school, as well as the lack of bonding with their families because of their long absences. Much of the native language was lost, along with many of the traditional customs. A multitude of boarding school attendees did not return to the tribal communities.

 A vast number of Indian children were released from the boarding schools when they were old enough to attend high school. After spending years of following the stringent rules at the schools, they struggled to fit in with their families and the outside world. They were not taught how to think for themselves.

Teenagers have been known to have difficulty making smart choices. During the late teens, the brain begins to develop its prefrontal cortex and inferior cortex, the areas that supervise judgment and self-control. This process is not completed until the mid-twenties. As a result, teenagers and young adults have been subject to making bad judgments, lack inhibitory control, and experience a likelihood of developing addictive behaviors. These susceptibilities can be lessened if they had received caring support (Wnuk, 2018). 

Many of the teenagers who left these institutions were not welcomed by their families. The years of separation and the vast differences these attendees had with their families caused them to feel alienated and the needed support and guidance was nonexistent. A large number of Native American people continue to live with regrets that resulted from making poor choices when they were teenagers and young adults because of their boarding school experience. Many Indian people married individuals who mirrored the caregivers at these institutions and ended up in loveless relationships and/or divorce. Again, the negative impact of these harsh environments resonated throughout tribal communities (Child, 2000).

            The boarding schools served as a harsh reminder of white supremacy and how the Native Americans were view-ed by the Americans. These institutions proved to be one of the most harmful bureaucratic actions taken against the indigenous. The Indian children were trained to be repli-cas of the white race and they received minimal care and education while attending the schools. They suffered from malnutrition, neglect, severe physical, emotional, sexual abuse and cultural abuse. As a result, Native Americans have continued to suffer from higher rates of alcoholism, domestic violence, various diseases, suicide, poverty and many other societal ills than the rest of the population. Memories of the boarding school experience for many of the residents remained prominent in their lives and has carried complex emotions. The U.S. government had never apolo-gized for the hardships entrenched by the boarding school legislation and the legacy of genocide that resulted from the boarding school institutions still exists.