Assimilation of Native Americans Into Society Essay

â€Å"How different would be the sensation of a philosophic mind to reflect that instead of exterminating a part of the human race by our modes of population that we had persevered through all difficulties and at last had imparted our Knowledge of cultivating and the arts, to the Aboriginals of the Country by which the source of future life and happiness had been preserved and extended. But it has been conceived to be impracticable to civilize the Indians of North America – This opinion is probably more convenient than just. † (Henry Knox to George Washington 1970’s) Since the founding of The United States of America, the complication of dealing with the indigenous Native Americans has been prevalent. The opening quotation emphasizes the idea that our fathers grappled over what to do with the Indians since the founding of our country. Post colonial era Native Americans were discriminated against in a battle defined by â€Å"the white man versus the red man†. As American settlers and institutions expanded westward, the Indians were pushed aside not only by containing them in reservations but were often disregarded as Americans from the â€Å"civilized† and educated white American. These prejudices even came from far up the totem pole in Washington. The politics in the 19th century American Government regarding the indigenous people were defined by an era of the â€Å"Americanization of the Native American people†. This analytical research paper will address the issue of Native American assimilation and display how the efforts made by the American Government failed to shed a positive light on the indigenous people. It will also explore the founding of specific schools for Indian children, namely the Carlisle Indian Industrial School for Native Americans. The school was intended to integrate Indian children into western society by educating them and transforming their cultural beliefs. Although founder Richard Henry Pratt had good intentions for the school, it ended up doing more destruction to the Indians than success assimilating them into American society. Before the assimilation of Indians can be fully understood, the history of the segregation of the red man must be established. â€Å"Before the Civil War it had been possible to imagine that Indians and whites could remain permanently separate from on another† The national census of this time was that the minority ethnic groups did not belong in the same category as the â€Å"Americans†, and that they should remain a separate existence. The general idea was that separation was the easier and â€Å"safe† way to deal with the ethnic differences rather than entering into a group conflict. Native Americans were easier to separate into cultural groupings, because they were the ones who chose to do so. Blacks, Irish, and Native Americans alike, Hoxie asserts, â€Å"In this compartmentalized society, minority groups welcomed the opportunity to be socially isolated and culturally autonomous. † As the whites expanded westward eventually towards California and Oregon, the separation between the two ethnic groups would no longer be possible. The natives, who once claimed the North American continent as their own, were different from the generality of Americans. They were known as the â€Å"others†. Eventually, with the help of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Indians were pushed back to the west and there was a line known as the â€Å"Indian frontier†. This land came with a promise that the white man would not desire this land for generations. But as the nation expanded, the indigenous people were forced onto smaller and smaller reservations, which restricted them economically. They were mostly restricted from food and other resources. Brenda J. Child emphasizes this in her book Boarding School Seasons as she makes claims that the Ojibwe once made a lucrative profit farming rice, but â€Å"were left with a fair amount of swampland after their allotments had been made†¦Few Nett Lakers were able to maintain adequate gardens, but traditional subsistence activities, tourism, and off reservation labor maintained the band. † As the struggle to maintain their niche increased, Indians would either have to conform to society, or they would be crushed by it. The early relationship between Indians and whites was defined more like a war than the whites trying to work the Indians into society. Indian territories were often viewed as their own sovereign states rather than occupied American territory. Treaties were often agreed upon in order to separate the red man from the white. â€Å"Humanitarians believed that separation would reduce the level of violence on the frontier and provide Indians with enough time to become civilized† However, the civilization of Indians into American society would not happen on its own once the ethnic groups were separated. Political action groups such as the Friends of the Indian were formed. These groups as well as government officials started to change their beliefs into those that the American Indians should be assimilated. Paul Prucha mentions in the introduction of his book that â€Å"government officials and well meaning humanitarians and missionaries had had a hand in the operation and had sought the welfare of the Indians in their attempts to civilize and Christianize them, bringing them into conformity with the patterns of life that marked the white existence. † The goal of these advocates was not only to destroy the Indian and save the American; but more importantly they sought the ideal that assimilated Native Americans would be proof that America was an â€Å"open† society and that by gratifying the wishes of society they could acquire social equality. Henry L. Dawes was one of the outstanding figures leading the Indian policy reform in the 19th century. Dawes served in the United Government; throughout his career he was a congressman, senator, and eventually chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He was an advocate for the allotment of land to the Indians, and the assimilation of the indigenous people into the non-Indian mainstream. He proposed the Dawes Act of 1887, which encouraged Indians to farm by â€Å"allotting† the head of house 160 acres of land. The land was private property, and small portions of it could be shared with members of the family. Dawes held strong opinions for the assimilation of Indians into white man’s society, as he proclaimed in a speech to an Indian reform group in 1884, â€Å"it were worth while to consider whether we could not make something out of him, and for the first time in the whole history of our dealings with the Indians, within a few years, we have attempted to make something out of him. † In this speech he argues that the methods of â€Å"waging war† against the Indian has been failing, and was taking the lives of both the Indian and the white man. Instead he proposes that they be assimilated, and that the Native Americans can be useful in society. He later touches on educating the Native American children, stating, â€Å"Take him as you do other children, and bring him up as you do other children. † Education then becomes a major factor in the assimilating the Native American people. The Idea that targeting the younger generation of the Indian population and shaping them into the mold of an educated white man became prevalent in assimilation techniques. â€Å"Education of the Indians was the ultimate reform† An increase of immigrants from Europe reflected a growing public support for education. Thus, if the children of the Indian were educated, they would catch on in American society and pave the way for future generations. Richard Henry Pratt was an outstanding figure in the Americanization of Native Americans. As a veteran of the Civil War, Pratt fought both alongside and against Indian warriors. He was a proponent of educating the tribal people in order to â€Å"kill the Indian, save the man†. He was well aware of the capabilities of the Indian following his tour of duty with them on the battlefield. When the war was over, Pratt insisted that he took a group of Indian prisoners to Fort Marion in Florida and educate them as well as assimilating them into American culture. He had remarkable success as he educated them in English, Christianity, art, and culture. What brought the success was that he found work for the Indians around the predominately white St. Augustine area. â€Å"He interested white benefactors in his cause and persuaded his army superiors to assign him to the work of Indian education, where he could promote and expand the approach to Indian assimilation that he had begun so dramatically at fort Marion. † Pratt’s motif was straightforward: he wanted complete integration of the Indians into white society, and all of his actions were submitted towards that goal. His next project, The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was by far his most famous and also controversial way of implementing Indians into society. His idea was to transform the abandoned Carlisle Military Barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania into a boarding school for Native Americans. It wasn’t hard to persuade the government to jump on board with his idea, â€Å"Said that the government was about to adopt a new policy with the Indians; that it believed the Indian youth capable of acquiring the same education and industries as our white youth† However, it was relatively difficult to persuade chiefs of various tribes to send their children away with Pratt. In his autobiography, Pratt tells a story about going out west to propose his idea to a chief named spotted tail and after his proposal he receives the response, â€Å"We are not going to give any children to learn such ways† Pratt refutes and claims that if it weren’t for the Indians ignorance and lack of education, the American Government would not be able to take advantage of the tribes if they were educated. The chiefs reconvened and after discussing decided to send their children. In a way, Pratt used slander to get the Indians to give up their children by telling them the kids would come back and contribute. However, Pratt did not want this, as his intentions were to fully integrate the red man into society. The Carlisle Boarding School was founded in 1879. It started with about a hundred Indians and over time expanded to about a thousand. It admitted both boys and girls. Upon arrival, students were required to disrobe from their native clothes and cut their hair. The cloths were shoddy, and Pratt mentions, â€Å"It was the shoddiest of shoddy clothing. † This was the first step towards the transformation to white culture. Although students were provided with an education, daily life was rough for students at Carlisle. Students had to wake early and drill. School schedules were grueling, and the students were often underfed. Sometimes the school seemed like more a labor camp as they were instructed to perform tasks such as â€Å"The authority came, and, directed by the carpenter, the Indian boys dug the holes, set up the post, nailed on the rails and slats, and we soon had a substantial barrier which remained a satisfactory protection during my superintendency. † The school may have taught Indians mechanical and agricultural skills as well as providing an education, but it definitely was not as successful as Pratt Envisioned. There were many successes in the founding of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, but there were more mishaps. Advocates for boarding schools such as Pratt argued that the separation of Indian children from their families in combination of industrial training would reduce the tribalism in the individual. Brenda J. Child proposes, â€Å"One of the worst ideas about how to best solve the â€Å"Indian problem† mandated the separation of American Indian families. † Homesickness was extremely common in Indian boarding school students, and often led to the students back lashing against authority, or running away from the school. Sickness and death was also a very serious problem at boarding schools. â€Å"Crowded conditions are the perfect medium for the spread of disease. Small pox, chicken pox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and the common cold killed many of these children and crowding helped spread the diseases to the rest. † Students with serious sicknesses were often sent home because if they died at the school, their reputation would be devastated. The problems seemed to outweigh the advantages at boarding schools, and these factors contributed to the eventual dismissal of Richard Henry Pratt from the Superintendent position. Because Native Americans have always been distinctly different from the rest of society, efforts to assimilate Indians completely into society have been abandoned. There have still been assimilation efforts in the twentieth century, but the ideals behind them have changed. The effort to â€Å"kill the Indian, save the man† has been deemed impossible. Indian schools are successful in theory, but there is a reason that they failed and that Pratt’s unrealistic dream did not come true. Some argue that the efforts by reformers such as Dawes and Pratt were successful, but the truth is that many failures come with successes. As George Washington states, â€Å"When one side only of a story is heard and often repeated, the human mind becomes impressed with it insensibly. † Bibliography Primary Sources Pratt, Richard H. Battlefield and classroom: four decades with the American Indian, 1867-1904. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004. Coleman, Michael C. American Indian Children at School, 1850-1930. n. d. Child, Brenda J. Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Text, 1998. Hoxie, Frederick E. A Final Promise: The Campaign To Assimilate The Indians, 1880-1920. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Prucha, Francis P. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. Vol. 2. N. p. : University of Nebraska Text, 1984 Duran, Eduardo, and Bonnie Duran. Native American Postcolonial Psychology. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. Prucha, Francis P. 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Great Confusion in Indian Affairs : Native Americans and Whites in the Progressive Era. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2005. Simonsen, Jane E. Making Home Work : Domesticity and Native American Assimilation in the American West, 1860-1919. Chappel Hill: UNC Press, 2006. authorsden. com . â€Å"WHAT WERE BOARDING SCHOOLS LIKE FOR INDIAN YOUTH?. † Hetzel, Theodore B. â€Å"WE CAN LEARN FROM AMERICAN INDIANS. † Journal of American Indian Education 4, no. 3 (1965) â€Å"The Indian School at Chemawa. † The West Shore 13, no. 1 (1887): 5-12. Davis, Julie. â€Å"American Indian Boarding School Experiences: Recent Studies from Native Perspectives. † OAH Magazine of History Vol. 15, No. 2, 2001, 20-22. Fear-Segal, Jackie. â€Å"Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940 by Brenda J. Child. † Journal of American Studies 34, no. 1 (2000): 160-161. 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