American Indian Children at School, 1850-1930

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Description

From more than a hundred autobiographical accounts written by American Indians recalling their schooling in government and missionary institutions this book recovers a point of view that used to be almost lost.

In a system of pedagogy that used to be alien to their culture these and hundreds of others were wrested as youngsters from their tribal life and regimented to grow to be American citizens. In the process of enlightening them to western codes and values, their memories of ethnic life were intentionally obscured for what used to be to believed to be the greater good of the nation.

Drawing upon these Native American reminiscences reveals how young Indians responded to a system that attempted to eradicate the tribal codes that had nourished them. The Christian curriculum, the military-style discipline, the white body of workers of teachers and administrators, and the work-for-study demands were alien and bewildering to them, especially right through their first days on the institutions.

The former pupils recall myriad types of adaptability, resistance, motivation, and rejection, in addition to the many problems readjusting to changing tribal life upon their return from school. Here the history of the eighty-year epoch of such institutionalized schooling is placed in careful focal point. Recounting this experience from the pupil’s eyeview and comparing it with recent sources by white authors make this book a testament to the critical value of long-term autobiographical memory in the writing of history.

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