American Indian Boarding Schools Essay

The establishment of the schools for inseparable Ameri canisters is not a new phenomenon as efforts were make at in the 19th century with emphasis being displace on the development of pedagogyal facilities where American Indians children could purport educated through boarding schools. The aim was to flirt them into the mainstream American auberge and to teach them the values of the new American culture. First a great deal(prenominal) test was made in 1879 when Capitan Richard Henry Pratt launch Carlisle Indian Industrial coach in Pennsylvania.However, that experiment was not successful as many believed it was mar by the egregious abuse of the Indian Americans and finally school was closed. However, the efforts were move to be made to formalize preparation for the Native Americans so that they can become effectively a bump of the US baseball club at much larger scale as thoroughly as convey towards the development of the society. The aim of these schools were to r eplace the traditional ways of the American Indians with those sanctioned by the government so that Natives can be melt overmatch into the mainstream American economy.In coordinate to achieve the aim, a federal India form _or_ system of government was adopted which advocated the separation of the Indian children from their families to enroll them into government run boarding schools. The aim was to immerse young people to adapt to the new society and replace their old and traditional way of living with the new and modern-day way of living. This essay will attempt to understand the principle objectives of the US. Indian Policy during 19th and early 20th century as intumesce as discussing the role of reading in fulfilling that aim besides discussing nigh some other issues.Principle Objectives Over the period of time, federal government established many schools including boarding, reservation, mission as well as day schools to bring in the native Indian American children into t he new system of education. It is in like manner important to discuss that many of the schools opened were also a part of the treaties made with the local Indian tribes by the federal government as well as some schools were established by the priests in order to combine the modern day education with the religious as well as cultural education.These schools were funded by the federal government too. The principle objectives nates the establishment of such(prenominal) schools were many folds. As discussed above that the basic declare oneself was to bring in Native American children into the mainstream schools however, the basic principles on which such schools were built included military school regimen, strict adherence to the side language only, and further emphasis on splitting the time of children in such a way that on one hand they nourish their education and in their spare time, they emphasis more on vocational training.A close observation of the above principle objectiv es would suggest that the education for Indian Americans were mainly developed around the military style with more emphasis on the following of rules and regulations besides teaching the children to be more disciplined and organized. (Marr, 2008) Role of education the basic purpose behind such schools were to blend the education with the vocational training and so the emphasis was on the development of both the education as well as learning level of the students.The role the education in such environment therefore would be many fold. gentility was tailored in such a way that it allowed students to learn many new and important skills. The blending of the education with the practical training provided students the necessary skills to learn manual jobs. The curriculum was knowing in such a way that it raised the overall intellect levels of the Indian American students and provided them an opportunity to explore the world in much better and broader way.Education further allowed the government to control potentially convulsive tribes as establishing of schools and teaching their children provided an opportunity to the government to control the tribes and ensure standing(prenominal) peace. It is also important to note that such efforts also criticized too because it was argued that the education of such type forced the native American children to for pay back closely their culture and focus on Anglo way of living thus a virtual death to the native culture. Conditions Conditions narrated in contrasting accounts suggest that the students were displace under strict control and in strict military sense.They were only allowed to meet their parents except brief period which was also being spied on by the schools. Children have to do their own work and the work connect in the school too. Girls were required to support in meal preparations, sewing, provision and other manual jobs whereas boys were required to chop wood and perform other manual jobs to support t hemselves during their stay at schools. Children were often punished, sexually abuse as well as put under extreme conditions such as marching in rain, cold etc. (Vanderpool, 2002)Such conditions dodging that all was not well and the perceived objectives of bringing in the children of Native Americans into the mainstream society of America was marred by some extremities which virtually failed the intentions with which such programs were initiated. Long term effects These experiments were proved a great veto influence on the Native Americans as the methods applied to teach the children were in anyway humane. Such methods may also point out to the position that the intentions with which the programs were initiated were either not honest or there was a tump over effort to kill the Indian and save the man concept.The reported incidents of the wildness and strict environment suggest that we have hurt Indian American rather than helping them to adapt the new society. It may be claime d that the Indian boarding schools may have been the solution for the government to the Indian enigma but for the Indians it was a deliberate attempt to destroy their culture and gross abuse of their children in so called boarding schools which were established to civilize their children. (Bear, 2008)In order to assess the long term impacts of such efforts however we carry to take into account both the sides as there were some positives as well as negative aspects of such efforts. On positive side, it helped children to get themselves educated as well as become aware of different possibilities available to them however on the negative side their culture was destroy and they were largely abused. This probably has become a soar memory of the Indian American Boarding schools efforts by the Federal Government of US. Bibliography Bear, C. (2008).American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many. Retrieved September 11, 2008, from NPR http//www. npr. org/templates/story/story. php? storyId=1 6516865 Marr, C. J. (2008). Assimilation Through Education Indian Boarding Schools in the Pacific Northwest. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from University of Washington http//content. lib. washington. edu/aipnw/marr. hypertext mark-up language Vanderpool, T. (2002, April 02). Lesson No. 1 Shed your Indian identity. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from The Christian cognition Monitor http//www. csmonitor. com/2002/0402/p14s01-lecs. html