Native American Education

Native American education is a complex and unique topic, intricately interwoven with the social, political, and historical contexts that also make Native American tribes in the United States unique ethnically and politically. Formal schools are a relatively new way to educate Native American people. Precolonized Native American nations had, over thousands of years, developed successful means of educating members of their societies—transmitting tribal world-views, philosophies, histories, knowledge, language, values, and life skills. Education, as defined by contemporary European American culture, was brought to indigenous nations during the process of European colonization. Historically, from a Native American standpoint, schools worked against the interests of the tribal community, with a focus on eliminating distinctive cultural and linguistic traditions. It has only been within the past generation that this has changed. Native American education has paralleled and reflected the political and social realities of Native American nations as colonized people who have now reclaimed sovereign status and self-determination. Thus, in many ways, Native American education has come full circle, from being a tool for systematic cultural extermination and assimilation to a means for preserving tribal worldview histories and culture.

Education, Colonialism, and Forced Assimilation

Mission Schools

The formal “education” of Native American people in North America began soon after European contact. Its pace and intensity paralleled the drive to colonize the continent. As early as 1611, formal education began, first, with mission schools opened by French Jesuit missionaries, followed by schools established by Dominicans and the Franciscans. The Spanish Jesuits, who had pioneered the creation of mission schools since 1609, continued their efforts, particularly on the West Coast, well into the 19th century. Often, priests were supported by military troops in removing Native American children from their homes and communities for “schooling,” often for extended periods of time. Later, British Protestants followed much the same course as the Catholics; during the colonial era, conversion of Native Americans to Christianity, Eurocentric civilization, and learning were seen as inseparable and imperative to the goal of supplanting indigenous culture and furthering colonial settlement.

Immediately after the Revolutionary War, the newly formed U.S. government began appropriating funds [Page 945]for the education of American Indians. A high premium was initially placed on the arts of diplomacy and subversion for attaining U.S. objectives, thus creating the need for assimilated Indians educated in European American language and culture. In 1819, Congress established the Civilization Fund, for the purpose of “education of the frontier tribes.” This was followed by acceptance of a proposal that future treaties with American Indian nations incorporate provisions for “education.” For the delivery of these programs, the federal government relied heavily on missionaries. During the reservation era, it became mandatory for children age 6 through 16 to attend the mission day schools that were overseen by government Indian agents. After the creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), there was a transfer from religious control to civil control of Native American education.

Manual Labor Schools

In the early 19th century, Native American educational programs continued to expand and after 1825 included a new model that involved manual labor. The first of these schools was the Choctaw Academy, established by the Methodists in 1834. The Methodist Society soon opened a similar facility in Leaven-worth, Kansas, in 1839. This “academy” imposed a rigid military-style work regimen, generating the revenues necessary to support itself and profit from the students' manual labor. This was considered to be so successful by both the church and the government that the Methodists were authorized to open more facilities. The notion of forced labor as a part of Native American education took hold as a means to “develop native character,” and, by 1868, there were 109 manual labor schools, with enrollments of 4,600 students.

Carlisle Indian School physical education class. Male Native American students are shown in a physical education class at Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (early 1900s). The goal of the Carlisle School and its founder, U.S. Army officer Richard Henry Pratt, was total assimilation of Native Americans into White culture. The boarding school system, of which Carlisle was just one example, remained in some capacity until the 1950s and 1960s and had a far-reaching negative impact on Native American societies by separating children from their families and culture for extended periods.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-120987.

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