Indian Boarding Schools Case Study

1. What were the goals of the Indian boarding schools? Indian boarding schools were the brain child of Captain Richard Henry Pratt. After his experiment on immersing Plains Indian prisoners of war in the white culture, he believed the best way to “solve” the “Indian problem” was to brainwash the children. By isolating and “deprograming” the Native American children, the American government could break up the tribal mentality of the next generation. They were punished for any use of their native customs, language, and dressed, and taught the “American civilized” ways to approach life, and the white man’s religion. Spending years in these school many of the children forgot their family identity, culture, and beliefs. Looking down upon their “wild” family, some willingly left them behind to fit into the white dominated world. Others chose to not teach their children their Native identities to spare them the torture as the next generation was force to attend the schools. Some managed to hold on to their cultures. Not only did this force assimilation to the white culture but it also gave the government hostages to use against troublesome tribes. The children could be used to keep them under control.

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How did the students try to maintain their cultures in the face of acculturation policies? Many of the children found ways around the restrictions against the use of their culture. For example, students at Haskell used sign language to bypass the rule against any other language except English. Others carved toys to comfort younger children. Luther Standing Bear did not allow himself to forget the traditions that his family taught him. He held onto them and used the education that the white man gave him against them. Others found refuge in the arts like Angel De