Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
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Chilocco Indian School was an
agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
school for Native Americans on reserved land in north-central
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
from 1884 to 1980. It was approximately 20 miles north of
Ponca City, Oklahoma Ponca City ( iow, Chína Uhánⁿdhe) is a city in Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 25,387 at the time of the 2010 census- and a population of 24,424 in the 2020 ...
and seven miles north of
Newkirk, Oklahoma Newkirk is a city and county seat of Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,172 at the 2020 census. History Newkirk is on land known as the Cherokee Outlet (popularly called the "Cherokee Strip"), which belonged to the Chero ...
, near the
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
border. The name "Chilocco" is apparently derived from the Creek ''tci lako'', which literally meant "big deer" but typically referred to a horse. In 1912 the
Oklahoma Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.
heard a case over an election dispute involving whisky and whether the Chilocco reservation was part of Kay County and Oklahoma or "Indian Territory". The
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruled that school land was not an Indian Reservation, that the school was an off-reservation entity, and that the word reservation had various meanings and the area was not reserved as Indian territory.


Background

The U.S. Congress in 1882 authorized the creation of five non- reservation
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
s. Chilocco was one of the five which also included
Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisle ...
in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
Haskell Indian Nations University Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for American Indian children, the school has developed into a university operated by t ...
in Kansas,
Chemawa Indian School Chemawa Indian School is a Native American boarding school in Salem, Oregon, United States. Named after the Chemawa band of the Kalapuya people of the Willamette Valley, it opened on February 25, 1880 as an elementary school. Grades were adde ...
in
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, and
Fort Simcoe Fort Simcoe was a United States Army fort erected in south-central Washington Territory to house troops sent to keep watch over local Indian tribes. The site and remaining buildings are preserved as Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, located eight ...
in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Major James M. Haworth, first Superintendent of Indian Schools, selected a site for the school along Chilocco Creek. The
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
land was set aside for the school by an 1884 executive order signed by 21st President of the United States
Chester Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th U.S. vice president, vice president un ...
. Chilocco was located in the
Cherokee Outlet The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a 60-mile-wide (97 km) parcel of land south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border between 96 and 100°W. The Cherokee Outlet wa ...
or Cherokee Strip and the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
provided 8,640 acres (35 km2) of land to help Chilocco fulfill its mandate for agricultural education.


Objective and curriculum

Chilocco provided academic and
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...
to American Indian students from all tribes in the United States. The objective of the school was to integrate and assimilate American Indians into the mainstream of American life. Until the 1930s, the school relied on a highly structured and strict military regime. Students "remember twenty-two bugle calls a day, Government-issue uniforms, scanty meals, inadequate health care, and a paucity of individual attention." The school was "home and haven to some, reformatory and prison to others." Instruction focused mostly on vocational training rather than academic subjects and students were required to perform manual and domestic labor known as "actual work." Lomawaima, K. Tsianina
"Chilocco Indian Agricultural School,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed August 11, 2016.
Not only was education primarily vocational, it was often rudimentary in comparison to the education of white contemporaries. Native girls were being trained "not to labor in their homes but as employees of white women or the boarding schools that trained them. The Chilocco school aimed to teach Native girls subservience, and did not have a true stake in their education." Students were required to attend Christian religious services once a week." A 1928 report critical of the Indian boarding schools led to reforms in the 1930s. "Boys and girls could sit together in the dining rooms, more attention was invested in academic work, and drudgery work devoted to school upkeep was cut back." The curriculum at the school focused on agricultural trades, including horseshoeing and blacksmithing, but also included building trades, printing, shoe repair, tailoring, leather work, and in later years plumbing, electrical work, welding, auto mechanics, food services and office education.


History

The school opened in 1884 with 150 students from the
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
,
Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
, Wichita,
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
, and
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
tribes. In 1894 the first graduating class consisted of 15 students. As the school expanded, additional structures were added in 1893, 1899, 1903, 1909, 1923, 1931 and 1932. In the 1960s, several of the older buildings were demolished to make room for a new dormitory and machine shop. The school's facilities at one time included more than 100 buildings, including a dining hall and hospital. Buildings were constructed from distinctive locally quarried yellow limestone. Students worked on the "rockpile" breaking large boulders into construction material."Chilocco Indian School REVISITED" http://www.abandonedok.com/chilocco-indian-school-revisited/, accessed 20 Sept 2011 Enrollment declined during the 1920s and the elementary school was closed, but with the onset of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
in 1929 enrollment increased because of growing poverty among Indians. As one graduate said, "It wasn't a matter of enjoying hilocco it meant we were educated, clothed, fed, and had a roof over our head." In 1949 a special program for Navajo youth began. Enrollment at Chilocco peaked at about 1,300 in the 1950s. Thereafter, enrollment declined as many Indians had access to public schools and a boarding school was no longer essential to their education. In the 1970s, activists from American
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
organizations criticized abuses and, in 1972, the National Indian Youth Council staged a sit-in at the school. By the late 1970s only about 100 students still lived at the school.


After closure

The Chilocco School closed on June 3, 1980 when the U.S. Congress ceased funding. In the school's 1980 yearbook, Superintendent C. C. Tillman wrote, "Chilocco is another in a long list of broken promises." During its history nearly 18,000 students from 126 Indian tribes attended Chilocco. Chilocco granted high school diplomas to 5,542 students. Graduates included 688
Cherokees The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
, 573
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
, 545
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
, and 452 Creek divided between 2,741 females and 2,801 males. After closure, the school's land was granted to five local tribes as the Chilocco Development Authority; the
Kaw Nation The Kaw Nation (or Kanza or Kansa) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas. It comes from the central Midwestern United States. It has also been called the "People of the South wind",
(.10 mineral interest), the Otoe-Missouria Tribe (.10 mineral interest), the
Pawnee Nation The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. Today they are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Th ...
(.10 mineral interest), the Ponca Nation (.10 mineral interest), and the
Tonkawa Tribe The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...
(.10 mineral interest). The
Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...
holds a .50 mineral interest. Between 1989 and 2001, the property was leased to
Narconon Narconon International (commonly known as Narconon) is a Scientology organization which promotes the theories of founder L. Ron Hubbard regarding substance abuse treatment and addiction. Its parent company is the Association for Better Li ...
, which operated a substance abuse rehabilitation center at the site. In 2000, the Council of Confederate Chilocco Tribes was created by the Chilocco Treaty between the United States and the
Kaw Nation The Kaw Nation (or Kanza or Kansa) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas. It comes from the central Midwestern United States. It has also been called the "People of the South wind",
, Otoe-Missouria Tribe,
Pawnee Nation The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. Today they are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Th ...
, Ponca Nation, and the
Tonkawa Tribe The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...
. The treaty gave these nations joint authority to oversee and manage the former campus. In 2006, Chilocco Indian Agricultural School was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2011, Chilocco was closed to the public and used as a training and practice facility for federal law enforcement personnel. In October 2016, the Cherokees announced that they were leasing to
PNE Wind PNE AG (formerly Plambeck Neue Energie AG) is a German company based in Cuxhaven. It is developing wind farms on land and at sea (offshore). The business model of PNE AG includes planning, building, financing, operating and selling of wind farms ...
more than 4,000 acres of Chilocco land for a wind energy project. Other portions were to continue to be leased as ranchland. In November 2017, the
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
published a statement in ''The Newkirk Herald'' warning the residents it was conducting tests at Chilocco Indian School. The statement advised "in January/February and again in June/July 2018, particles will be released onto buildings of the Chilocco campus. It is to determine how well biological agents will penetrate into single and multi-family homes." The department stated these chemicals are nontoxic and nonhazardous, but many in the community of
Newkirk, Oklahoma Newkirk is a city and county seat of Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,172 at the 2020 census. History Newkirk is on land known as the Cherokee Outlet (popularly called the "Cherokee Strip"), which belonged to the Chero ...
expressed skepticism. The Department of Homeland Security report on the test confirms the chemicals used were nontoxic. Permission to use Chilocco as the site of their test was granted by the Council of Confederate Chiloco Tribes. In 2021, after the discovery of hundreds of graves at Canadian residential schools the Chilocco Alumni Association called for ground penetrating radar equipment to survey outside of the cemetery for unmarked graves.


Notable alumni

*
Ernest Childers Ernest Childers (February 1, 1918 – March 17, 2005) was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his valorous actions in World War II. Biography Childers was bor ...
,
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
recipient, World War II, Creek *
Woody Crumbo Woodrow Wilson Crumbo (January 21, 1912—April 4, 1989) ( Potawatomi) was an artist, Native American flute player, and dancer who lived and worked mostly in the West of the United States. A transcript of his daughter's interview shows that Mr. ...
, artist,
Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
* William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz, football player and coach,
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
*
Durbin Feeling Durbin Feeling ( chr, ᏫᎵ ᏚᎥᎢᏅ, translit=Wili Duvinv; April 2, 1946August 19, 2020) was a Cherokee Nation linguist who wrote the primary Cherokee–English Bilingual dictionary, dictionary in 1975. He is considered the greatest modern ...
, Cherokee linguist, Cherokee *
Charles George Charles George (August 23, 1932November 30, 1952) was a United States Army, U.S. Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat on November 30, 1952, during the Korean War. He was fatally wounded when he threw himself on ...
, Medal of Honor recipient, Korean War, Cherokee * Marlene Riding In-Mameah, silversmith,
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
* Jack C. Montgomery, Medal of Honor recipient, World War II, Cherokee *Bertha Shipley, first Navajo graduate of Chilocco, 1915 *
Wes Studi Wesley Studi ( chr, ᏪᏌ ᏍᏚᏗ; born December 17, 1947) is a Native American (Cherokee Nation) actor and film producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and awards throughout his career, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans ...
, actor, Cherokee *
Johnny Tiger Jr. Johnny Moore Tiger Jr. (Muscogee Creek-Seminole), (February 13, 1940 – August 5, 2015) was a Native American artist from Oklahoma.Lester, 557 Background Johnny Moore Tiger Jr. was born on February 13, 1940 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His parents ...
, artist * Moses J. Yellow Horse, baseball pitcher,
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...


See also


References


External links


Oklahoma Historical Society: Chilocco Indian Agricultural School



Abandoned Oklahoma - Chilocco Indian School REVISTEDChilocco Indian Agricultural School Collection at Oklahoma State University
{{Authority control * PM Kisan Samman Nidh

Buildings and structures in Kay County, Oklahoma Colonial Revival architecture in Oklahoma Defunct schools in Oklahoma Educational institutions established in 1884 Educational institutions disestablished in 1980 School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Native American boarding schools Agricultural schools Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Kay County, Oklahoma 1884 establishments in Indian Territory