In "Boarding School Seasons'' author Brenda Child recounts the experiences of Native American children in boarding schools during the mid-nineteenth century. The boarding schools were established by Richard Henry Pratt, a former army officer, aiming to "Americanize'' and exert control over the indigenous students. Over time, these schools came under government management or religious organizations, all with the goal of assimilating Indigenous children into Euro-American culture. There was no consideration for the children or their families, and the schools sought to strip the students of their cultural identity in order to achieve their goal of "Americanization." The book delves into the experiences faced by students across different institutions. …show more content…
“Former boarding school students remember being dealt with harshly for infractions of this rule. Beatings, swats from rulers, having one’s mouth washed with soap or lye,or being locked in the school jail were not uncommon punishments.” This kind of abuse occurred in all boarding schools and nothing was done about it. Many students spoke their native tongue in private and prayed in it. However, for many that wasn’t enough, they’re still unable to speak it out due to the intense abuse and assimilation. One student at Flaundrea Board School says he had forgotten most of his language because he was away from home for six years, and he’s one of many. Indigenous people are also known for their traditional clothing. Instead of wearing traditional clothing, students were given uniforms that followed the Euro-American standards. Boys typically wore military-style outfits, such as stiff-collared shirts, trousers, and belts. Girls typically wore plain dresses with stockings and sturdy shoes. The uniforms were extremely dull compared to Indigenous clothing. They were made of rough materials, and used for practicality rather than comfort or
The schools provided environments for students that made them feel alone and helpless, by completely taking away the students culture, traditions, and native language. The students went into the school with little to no English skills and yet, were expected to speak English and were beaten for speaking anything but English. An article written by BBC stated, “The schools, which operated from the late 19th Century, were designed to assimilate the children into European-Canadian society by removing their language, religion, and culture. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native language.” (BBC News). This was an extremely unhealthy environment for the students because they were always scared and couldn’t really express themselves having no prior knowledge of the English language. In an interview with artist and former Residential School student Freddy Taylor stated, “When he couldn’t recite the Lord’s Prayer, he was beaten; when he couldn’t spell an English word, he was beaten; when he spoke in his native tongue of Ojibwa, he was beaten” (Eagle). These children were stripped of their identity and were beaten when they tried to recover what was left of it. Even when the children tried to adapt to the European-Canadian culture, if they would make a mistake when learning the English language, they
In the film Unseen Tears, Native American families express the impact they still feel from their elders being forced into the Southern Ontario’s Mohawk Institute and the New York’s Thomas Indian School. Survivors of the boarding schools speak of their traumatic experiences of being removed from their families, being abused, and experiencing constant attack on their language and culture.
This particular document highlights Richard Pratt’s ideas and attitudes towards Native Americans. Essentially Pratt believed that keeping Natives on reservations is not doing them any good when it comes to assimilating them into American culture, and the only way to properly do so is to fully submerge them. Due to the fact that Native Americans are only “theoretically” learning about American culture on their reservations and not “feel[ing] the touch of it day after day” they were not becoming “true Americans” and living up to their true
Ohiyesa’s father, Jacob “Many Lightnings” Eastman was instrumental in his assimilation into the white man’s culture, beginning with his education. Unlike many other Native American children in boarding schools, Charles learned to read and write in his native language. This progressive program of learning was often criticized because of the fear felt among American settlers after the Great Sioux Uprising. The settlers, as well as the government agencies, sought only acculturation of the Indians into the w...
This program is part of the PBS series American Experience. In this episode, a critical eye is cast on the early efforts by Congress to "civilize" Native Americans. This homogenization process required the removal of Native American children from their homes and placing them in special Indian schools. Forced to stay for years at a time without returning home, children were required to eschew their own language and culture and learn instead the ways of the white man. Archival photographs and clips, newspaper accounts, journals, personal recollections, and commentary by historians relate the particulars of this era in American History and its ultimate demise. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
Our spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding school is an 80 minute documentary that details the mental and physical abuse that the Native Americans endured during the Indian Boarding school experience from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century. In the beginning going to school for Indian children meant listening to stories told by tribal elders, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and storytellers. These tales past down from generation to generation were metaphors for the life experience and their relationships to plants and animals. Native children from birth were also taught that their appearance is a representation of pure thoughts and spiritual status of an individual.
the residential school era as a “sad chapter in our history, that need not have occurred”
This school was significant because it changed the way they lived for the rest of their lives. The boarding school’s mission was to help Native Americans adjust to American culture by influencing upon their children white lifestyles, or what was close to it. However, this did not seem to help Native Americans. Many of the children weren’t welcomed back home because some of them could no longer remember the life they used to lead and were therefore thought of as a shame to all Native Americans and their heritage. Many came back not knowing how to speak their native tongue, or even not knowing their tribes’ rituals. In some ways, the Americans did accomplish what they set out to do, they did change many Native Americans, but there were cases in which they didn’t. Some students disobeyed the rules and continued to speak their native tongue and practice rituals in secret in school. This was resistance inside the school, and resistance also happened outside of the school. However, if children were caught disobeying the rules they were punished. Some parents were angry that they weren’t allowed to see their kids when they wanted, so few would resist allowing their children to go back after breaks. Others would run away with their children and families, though this was a tough choice to
Aboriginal people in Canada are the native peoples in North America within the boundaries of present-day Canada. In the 1880’s there was a start of residential schools which took Aboriginal kids from their family to schools to learn the Roman Catholics way of culture and not their own. In residential schools Aboriginal languages were forbidden in most operations of the school, Aboriginal ways were abolished and the Euro-Canadian manner was held out as superior. Aboriginal’s residential schools are careless, there were mental and physical abuse, Aboriginals losing their culture and the after effects of residential schools.
In the late 1800s, the United States proposed an educational experiment that the government hoped would change the traditions and customs of Native Americans. Special schools were created all over the United States with the intention of "civilizing" Native youth. This paper will explore the history and conditions of Native American boarding schools and why they were ultimately unsuccessful.
At these boarding schools, Native American children were able to leave their Indian reservations to attend schools that were often run by wealthy white males. These individuals often did not create these schools with the purest of intentions for they often believed that land occupied by Native American Tribes should be taken from them and put to use; it is this belief that brought about the purpose of the boarding schools which was to attempt to bring the Native American community into mainstream society (Bloom, 1996). These boarding schools are described to have been similar to a military institution or a private religious school. The students were to wear uniforms and obey strict rules that included not speaking one’s native tongue but rather only speaking English. Punishments for not obeying such rules often included doing laborious chores or being physically reprimanded (Bloom, 1996). Even with hars...
The Canadian and American governments designed a residential school system to assimilate Indigenous children into Western society by stripping them of their language, cultural practices as well as their traditions. By breaking these children’s ties to their families and communities, as well as forcing them to assimilate into Western society; residential schools were a root cause of many social problems, which even persist within Aboriginal communities today.
In most American families parents are overjoyed as a result of the happiness and success of their teenage children. Across America teenager are enjoying their “rite of passage”, such as friends, after school activities, sports, vacations with their families and their first car. At the same time, little is known of the extreme poverty and despondency existing within the reservations of the Native American communities. Many Native American families are still struggling with the pain and anguish their ancestors suffered during the ethnic cleansing and forced relocation of the 1800’s such as the Trail of Tears.
The Native American Reservation system was a complete failure. This paper focuses on the topics of relocation, Native American boarding schools, current conditions on today’s reservations, and what effects these have had on the Native American way of life.
Native American children were physically and sexually abused at a school they were forced to attend after being stripped from their homes in America’s attempt to eliminate Native peoples culture. Many children were caught running away, and many children never understood what home really meant. Poet Louise Erdich is part Native American and wrote the poem “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” to uncover the issues of self-identity and home by letting a student who suffered in these schools speak. The poem follows Native American kids that were forced to attend Indian boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. By using imagery, allusion, and symbolism in “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”, Louise Erdrich displays how repulsive Indian