Indian Boarding Schools

In the Nineteenth Century, Native Americans were subjected to suppression and marginalization because they were the minority group in the country. Therefore, they posed a threat and were forced to reservations to ensure the United States government monitored them. Despite their oppression, some Native Americans continued to embrace their culture as opposed to that of the foreigners. To adapt to European culture and ways of life, Native American youths were obliged to attend boarding schools. The government exhibited this kind of Eurocentric behaviour because they wanted the assimilation of the Euro-American standards by the American Indians. Additionally, the Europeans looked down on the American Indians and considered them uncivilized. Therefore, the government aimed to eliminate the American Indian culture by replacing their beliefs with European beliefs.

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The United States government established American Indian boarding schools to civilize the indigenous people (Townsend, 2018). Consequently, the Federal Indian policy bill was passed to force all American Indian youths to be taken from their families and enrol in those government-run boarding schools. Through the Act, it was believed that they would be integrated into the American culture and eliminate their cultural beliefs. Additionally, the Euro-Americans supposed that the American Indians would be brainwashed easily because they would not be influenced by their older generations who valued their way of life. It is vital to remember that those boarding schools were established far from the reservations to cut all communication that could take place between the American Indian youths and their families. The Indian Americans were also prohibited from speaking their native language within the boarding schools; this was to season them to be part of the American society.

It is ironic how the United States government paid church organizations to run those boarding schools, given that church organizations should reflect morality. Still, in this case, they supported the American Indians’ suppression, which does not align with their religious faith (Stout, 2012). Missionary schools were strict regarding their students’ practice of Christianity. This implied that the American Indians were forced to practice and assimilate into Christianity despite their limited knowledge. For instance, they were forced to read the Bible and learn and memorize the Lord’s Prayer daily. The United States government believed education was an excellent strategy to eliminate the Native Americans’ traditions and culture and civilize them in the long run. This period was characterized by an industrial boom in the West, which needed a lot of work for people. Therefore, by being educated, the Native Americans would be part of the working class to build the country’s economy. This is important because to assimilate the Euro-Americans’ standards, the Native Indians had to feel as though they were part and parcel of the greater community. The latter was also mandated to put on military uniforms and honour the flag of the United States. By doing this, they would be patriotic to the country. They only did this because they were forced to and due to the institutional violence against their way of life. Their minority status prevented them from retaliating. Therefore, the American Indians were living in fear and had no choice but to assimilate into the American culture because the policies and laws of the land suppressed them.

Sitting Bull was one of the Indian American leaders who took it upon himself to motivate his people to contest the American government (Loss, 2006). Sitting Bull is a legend in the history of Native America because the US government massacred hundreds of thousands of people who practised the Ghost Dance Movement, which was a resistance dance against the government’s actions to take over their lands, which were rich in minerals. Therefore, according to the Euro-Americans, the American Indians threatened the country’s stability. Given their rich minerals, the government needed to use the lands to grow the country’s economy. Due to this motive, the government forced the American Indians into migration. Sitting Bull believed that the American Indians should resist this action and not be afraid because the deity would protect them from the bullets of the United States soldiers; however, this was never the case. Just like the majority of Native Americans, Sitting Bull wished for the American Indians to not only be free but also to live in peace. This never came to pass as the United States government empowered them.

The government used dynamic measures to lessen the number of American Indians. The quote, “If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place,” by Sitting Bull was to demonstrate a sense of oppression and sorrow experienced by the American Indians as they were referred to as savages by the Euro-Americans (Loss, 2006). This not only dehumanized the former but also showed a form of superiority complex among the latter. Prejudice was built against the Native Americans by White Americans to elucidate their primitive ways of life. Therefore, forceful measures were used by the White Americans to make sure that Indian Americans assimilated their ways. For instance, the latter was obliged to be patriotic to the United States and to convert to Christianity. One White man known as Pratt quoted that the objective is to “kill the Indian, and not the man.” This principle shows that the ultimate objective of White Americans is to change Indian Americans by crushing their beliefs and culture. Therefore, this compelling statement by Sitting Bull reproaches the White Americans for changing his people to eliminate their culture and adopt the culture of the Euro-Americans.

On the other hand, Henry Ward Beecher was an abolitionist of American descent who believed in slave emancipation and did not support the Indian Americans’ mistreatment (Townsend, 2018). He believed that every human being has the right to enjoy his freedom. Hence his quote, “The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to us are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an ox but the ox becomes a lion.” According to Beecher, Euro-Americans came to a foreign land and subjected the American Indians to violence to take their land and authority. Moreover, the White Americans wanted all the power making them build prejudice against the Native Americans by terming them primitive and savages. However, according to Beecher, Native Americans can’t mirror the ways of the White Americans because the lions are the American Indians; the Ox is the imposed ways of American culture like Christianity and education.

In conclusion, the Europeans suppressed the Native Americans via the American Indians’ massacre, putting them in reserves and forcing them to acquire education to adapt to the Euro-Americans’ ways and alienate their beliefs and traditions. Many Europeans termed the Native Americans as primitive and savages, which exemplified the Indian Americans’ mistreatment. The Indian American youths were forced out of their families into boarding schools, and this was vital for White Americans because of their desire to replace the culture of the Native Americans with the culture of the Euro-Americans. The government of the United States also used the organizations of churches to run boarding schools, which taught the doctrines of Christianity. This implied that the Native Indians were forbidden from speaking their language or practising their culture, which was a seasoning process to ensure the assimilation of their culture by the White Americans. The Sitting Bull is regarded as a prominent figure in the history of Native America due to his work of encouraging the fight against the American government by Native Americans due to their oppressive rule. He resisted changing his culture and livelihood because he considered that as his identity. On the other hand, Beecher was an abolitionist unhappy with how the United States Government treated the Native Americans. Like Sitting Bull, he believed an individual’s identity could not be erased or changed.

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References

Loss, N. A. N. C. Y. (2006). Native Americans. Criminal Justice, Criminological, 126.

Stout, M. (2012). Native American boarding schools. ABC-CLIO.

Townsend, K. (2018). First Americans: A History of Native Peoples, Combined Volume: A History of Native Peoples, PowerPoints. Routledge.

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Question

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES

Instructions

Indian Boarding Schools

Boarding School Essay (BS Essay): While utilizing the two quotes below, describe and evaluate the Indian Boarding Schools system and relate them to the information found in chapter 11 (p. 365-381) of First Americans. (Reading for Module 6 in addition to any additional reading, lecture and film material provided by the instructor.)

The following quotes are from Henry Ward Beecher and Sitting Bull. Conduct simple internet research to learn about these men.

“The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to us are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an ox but the ox becomes a lion.”

Henry Ward Beecher

“If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary, that eagles should be crows.”

Sitting Bull (Teton Sioux)

Then read the following quotes carefully and relate each quote to the mission and activities of the Indian boarding schools. In your answer, discuss how Henry Ward Beecher and Sitting Bull’s beliefs and life experiences might have prompted them to issue these quotes.