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Essay On Indian Boarding School

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“....I believe in immersing the Indian in our civilization and when we get them under, holding them there until they are thoroughly soaked.”, said Richard Henry Pratt. Richard Pratt founded the United States’ first indian boarding school. Carlisle Indian Industrial School was established in the year of 1879 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Indian Boarding Schools were created to decimate traditional indian culture, and replace it with white, american culture. There were a plethora of indian boarding schools established in the United States. For instance, Concho Indian Boarding School in Concho,Oklahoma , Sante Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or or Stewart Indian School in Carson City, Nevada. These schools spanned all over the United States. In these schools, Native American children, taken from their homes and families, were taught mathematics and english, as well as trivial subjects such as farming and sewing. These schools served as a way to eliminate the culture of Native Americans. …show more content…

“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”, said Richard Henry Pratt. This belief is redolent of the treatment of Native Americans within indian schools. Indian Schools used gentrification as their method of eliminating Native American culture. “ ...long braids worn by indian boys were cut off ...the children were given new ‘white names’...traditional native foods abandoned...forbidden to speak their native languages…”, all aspects that indicated any native american culture were abandoned. The purpose of indian schools, to force Native Americans to conform to “american” customs, was fulfilled through these actions. Children were forced to abandon their own religion, and attend sunday school . However, the Religious Freedom Act of 1934 restricted schools from forcing religion onto the schools, albeit many schools continued to do

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