The American Indian boarding school movement in the 19th century was an evangelical attempt to save the Indian from himself. Subconsciously recognizing the inherent stagnation in the prevailing sentiment to get rid of the "Indian problem" entirely, a group of somewhat well-intentioned folks catalyzed a revolution of conscience more in line with their preached religious values. These "Friends of the Indian" were those who took the stance of assimilation over extermination.

The intentions of these reformers was to save the man in the Indian by extracting that which was "human" about him, while stripping away practices which they viewed as "savage". Missionary schools had been established on the kids' own reservations, but they were seen to be ineffective in being so close to their families who still practiced existence in such traditional manners (i.e. language, rituals, clothing). It was soon theorized that conditions would yield more lucrative results if the children could be removed completely from their cultural influences in order to be fully immersed in the "civilized" and "superior ways" of the Whites.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that this is a two-way street. The Indians were met with a stimulus, and they responded accordingly. Similar to their white reformers, assimilation sounded better than extermination to them as well. In being given the opportunity to take their part of the responsibility, the Indians of this time are also, simultaneously, able to take back the power in the memory of otherwise morose circumstances. Taking the best option possible can be seen more positively as utilizing Submission as a strategy rather than a helpless reaction to an imposed force. For the most part, everyone is just looking for things to be better- whatever that means to them at the time.

Depending on which outlook you take from a hypothetical Native of these times, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was either an interesting compromise away from complete genocide or an absolute abomination to humanity and the democratic principles upon which our country was supposedly founded.

The purpose of this pathfinder is to identify helpful topics to take into consideration for the following questions: From what sorts of collective mindset(s) would an Indian boarding school reformer have drawn? What might the intention have been, on both sides, to develop vessels of assimilation-based education? Why were these boarding schools thought to be the best option? What goals did they attempt to meet? In what ways did the Carlisle Indian Industrial School come into creation, and did it do so in a way to meet these goals successfully?

Primary Sources

Carlisle Indian Industrial School via the researching of Barbara Landis

-- Barbara Landis is a fascinating creature who seems to have just fallen down the emotional rabbit hole of uncovering all sorts of things about the Carlisle School. She is quite the revolutionary in her own sphere of influence. Her excerpts from letters and the school newspaper coupled with the original drawings from Fort Marion prison are such a gem to have in such an easily-accessible virtual location. The newspaper excerpts provided a great illustration of the entirely different impact Pratt's curriculum had on unsuspecting adolescents as opposed to that of those who had already been adjusted and resigned to the fact that they had irreversibly become prisoners of war.

Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

-- Looking at the actual text of government legislation from such a seemingly far-removed worldview is a very enlightening experience. Either one of two things seem to happen: it becomes painfully clear what the not-so-hidden sociopolitical motives were, or assumptions come in rapid-fire through the biased lens of simultaneous research of its predecessors and future effects. It was so helpful that, at one point, a University of Washington History professor decided that one of the most important things to transcribe for his website was the original text of the Dawes Severalty Act.

Interview with my Full-Blooded Iroquois Grandmother

-- This was such a great opportunity to connect with this incredible woman. She grew up on a Mohawk reservation in New York through the 1950's. When she was young, she was sent to the Haskell Institute in Kansas to be indoctrinated in Western culture. While the specific experiential details couldn't be helpful due to the necessary time period of this paper, her take on the historical Native American psyche surrounding the perpetuated cultural genocide was instrumental in my perception of these events of the mid- to late-19th century.

Secondary Sources

[Books]

War Dance at Fort Marion: Plains Indian War Prisoners

-- This book was a very captivating read. What was best about it in comparison to a lot of other sources I ran across was that it fairly successfully maintains an emotional neutrality which one usually desires from a historical account of events, but is a bit infrequent with easily-accessible accounts of Native American woes.

Evangelical Reform in Early Nineteenth Century America

-- Another great source of perspective, but from the side of the evangelical reformers and suppositions as to what their goal was in the context of the changing spiritual landscape of the time. It was interesting moving into a place in myself of empathy for the reality-shattering circumstances they experienced in their minds and fragile beliefs- further shedding light on a preconceived notion I had had about the movement being a sort of survival-driven series of political moves to prove that their beliefs were still valid and full of utility. I proceeded to read a lot of the book from which this is a chapter excerpt, Building a Healthy Culture: Strategies for an American Renaissance, edited by Don E. Eberly, only to find it fascinating and applicable to current projects in my extra-curricular life, though this chapter was the one most specifically applicable to this report. The book consists of various essays from folks of different times about the importance of building culture from all different perspectives.

[Assorted Online Publications]

Richard Henry Pratt Biography

-- A good, concise synopsis that outlined well- for my purposes- the impact of the military on Pratt's ventures in Indian education.

Christianity: A Matter of Choice Article

-- Margaret Whitehead provides a helpful thesis for my extrapolation of another perspective on the Indian predicament. The article also encouraged me to look in a different way to uncover potential Christian reformer motives.

"Oration Containing a Declaration of Mental Independence"

-- I would never have thought to look up Robert Owen had it not been for my stumbling upon the source listed above. I had never heard of the Declaration of Mental Independence before, and it certainly painted an entirely different picture than what I had been reading and assuming to be the popular mindset of the time. This led my paper in yet a new direction within a better understanding of the impacts of venturing settlers moving out into completely new circumstances and what that would naturally do to religious belief framework- and, perhaps more so, how there might really be a sort of necessity to completely reassess and drop what they had previously understood completely in search of something more meaningful. It painted the picture of a collective existential crisis for Whites and Natives alike.

Indian Prisoner Studies at Fort Marion: The Founding of Carlisle Was Dreamed in St. Augustine

-- This ended up being a much more fortunate find than I had originally thought it would be. I had much appreciation, again, for its concise nature and also its emotional neutrality. The Regional Review is a publication of the U.S. National Park Service, so it is written in a very direct and well-researched format. It provided me with key concepts from a larger targeted time period than all my other sources.

The Boarding School Healing Project

-- A really beautiful organization aimed to bring healing through awareness and honoring of former students from assimilation boarding schools all over the world. The article from which I pulled information dealt with a rundown of a dozen distinct regions. Reading through boarding schools in regions not concerning my paper provided me with more interesting insight into some common psychological threads which seem to run through the motives of many, if not all, reformers who in their time desired an outcome of full assimilation of folks whose traditional ways were seen to be unable to integrate into the larger "civilized" perspective of the way things should work.