Indian Boarding Schools

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Indian Boarding Schools
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Terms to Know

• Dehumanization
• Self-Determination
• Active Agency
• Assimilation vs Acculturation

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Life at an Indian Boarding School
A School's Daily Schedule from 1912
Cushman Indian School, Tacoma, Wash.February 1,
1912Monday 545 A.M.-- Reveille. 555 to 610 --
Setting Up Exercise Drill. 612 -- Air
Beds. 612 to 645 -- Recreation. 645 -- First
Call for Breakfast. 655 -- Assembly. Roll
Call. 700 -- Breakfast. 730 to 735 -- Care of
teeth. 735 to 740 -- Make beds. 740 to 755 --
Police Quarters. 755 -- Industrial Call. 800 --
Industrial work begins. School detail at liberty.
The use of this period is at pupils' discretion.
The more studious at books those inclined to
athletics make use of this time for practice.
Some pupils practice music lessons, etc. 850 --
First School Call. Roll Call and Inspection. 900
-- School. 1130 -- Recall. Pupils at
liberty. 1155 -- Assembly and Roll Call. 1200
-- Dinner. 1230 -- Recreation. 1250 Source
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continued
-- School and Industrial Call. Inspection. 100
P.M -- Industrial work and School. 330 -- School
dismissed. School detail at liberty. Time spent
in same general manner as morning detail utilizes
period from 800 to 850. 430 -- Industrial
recall. Drill and Gymnasium classes. 515 --
First Call. 525 -- Assembly. Roll Call. 530 --
Supper. 600 -- Care of teeth. 610 --
Recreation. 715 -- First Call. 725 -- Roll
Call. Inspection. 730 -- Lecture. This period
varies in length. Men prominent in education or
civic affairs address the pupils. 815 -- Call to
Quarters. Older pupils prepare lessons
intermediate children play. 845 -- Tattoo.
Pupils retire. 855 -- Check. 900 -- Taps.
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Location of Indian Boarding Schools

• Tomah, WI
• Keshena, WI
• Carlisle, PA
• Fort Lewis, CO
• Tulalip Reservation, WA
• Salem, OR

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Why did the Indian needed to be assimilated?

• " A wild Indian requires a thousand acres to roam
  over, while an intelligent man will find a
  comfortable support for his family on a very
  small tract...Barbarism is costly, wasteful and
  extravagant. Intelligence promotes thrift and
  increases prosperity." (Adams, p.20)
• Manifest Destiny
• Culture was foreign to most white Americans
• Lived what some white Christians thought was a
  pagan life

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Assimilation through Education

• Kill the Indian, save the man. Lt. Richard
  Henry Pratt
• Indian children could not practice their culture
• Speaking their native tongue was forbidden
• Taught them a trade
• Required them to live with proper white
  families
• Regimented and structured life

Tom Torlino (Navajo) as he appeared upon arrival
to the Carlisle Indian School, October 21, 1882.

Tom Torlino (Navajo) three years later
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What is the difference between Immigrants coming
to America assimilating and the Indian experience?