Haskell Indian Nations University

Academics and Athletics

The original enrollment of 22 students quickly rose to 300 students in 1885; the school now averages about 1,000 students per year. In addition to English and mathematics, early trades taught at Haskell for boys were tailoring, wagon making, shoe making, and blacksmithing; for girls, classes were taught in sewing, cooking, and homemaking. Early students grew their own vegetables on the school farm and were expected to participate in a variety of industrial chores. Today, students study a variety of topics ranging from business and American Indian studies to communication, education, math and sciences, physical education, and social work.

In 1894, the school expanded its curriculum beyond elementary levels to secondary, or high school, and a “normal school,” or teacher's college, was added because of the high demand for teachers on Native lands. In 1927, Haskell was accredited by the state of Kansas and the school began offering postsecondary courses at the same time. By 1935, the school had evolved to a postsecondary vocational school curriculum, and in 1965 the school graduated its final high school class.

In addition to academics, early Haskell students often excelled in athletics and its football teams from the early 1900s are legendary, especially the play of stars John Levi (1921–24), Mayes McClain (1925–27), and Louis “Little Rabbit” Weller (1929–31), consistently beating teams such as Brown University, Michigan State, Nebraska, Texas, and Oklahoma. The school's emphasis was returned to academics in the 1930s and athletics at the school were decreased. Today, Haskell is the home of the American Indian Athletics Hall of Fame, and students play football, women's softball, men's and women's cross-country, track and field, basketball, women's volleyball, and men's golf.

Despite its academic and athletic success, like the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and others, Haskell was initially a boarding school that, as historian David Wallace Adams said, was established “for the sole purpose of severing a child's cultural and psychological connection to his native heritage … a method of saving Indians by destroying them.” Many American Indian children were sent to boarding schools against their wishes to eradicate old loyalties and instill them with a Eurocentric view. Children were not allowed to speak their native languages nor practice their religious beliefs; instead, they wore military-style uniforms with the goal of assimilating the Indian youth into the white-dominated society.

Continuing Development

Haskell became Haskell Junior College in 1970 when it began offering a junior college curriculum. The National Board for Haskell recommended the current name in 1992 to reflect its vision of Haskell as a center for Indian education, research, and cultural preservation. The name change was approved in 1993.

...