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American Indian boarding schools, also known more recently as American Indian residential schools, were established in the United States from the mid 17th to the early 20th centuries with a primary objective of "civilizing" or assimilating Native American children and youth into
Euro-American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...
culture. In the process, these schools denigrated Native American culture and made children give up their languages and religion. At the same time the schools provided a basic Western education. These
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 were first established by Christian
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
of various denominations. The missionaries were often approved by the federal government to start both missions and schools on reservations, especially in the lightly populated areas of the West. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries especially, the government paid religious orders to provide basic education to Native American children on reservations, and later established its own schools on reservations. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Al ...
(BIA) also founded additional off-reservation boarding schools based on the assimilation model. These sometimes drew children from a variety of tribes. In addition, religious orders established off-reservation schools. Children were typically immersed in European-American culture. Schools forced removal of indigenous cultural signifiers: cutting the children's hair, having them wear American-style uniforms, forbidding them from speaking their
indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not nece ...
, and replacing their tribal names with English-language names (saints names under some religious orders) for use at the schools, as part of assimilation and to "Christianize" them. The schools were usually harsh, especially for younger children who had been forcibly separated from their families and forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures. Children sometimes died in the school system due to infectious disease. Investigations of the later twentieth century revealed cases of sexual, manual, physical and mental abuse, occurring mostly in church-run schools. Summarizing recent scholarship from Native perspectives, Dr. Julie Davis said: Since those years, tribal nations have carried out political activism and gained legislation and federal policy that gives them the power to decide how to use federal education funds, how they educate their children, and the authority to establish their own community-based schools. Tribes have also founded numerous
tribal colleges and universities In the United States, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a category of higher education, minority-serving institutions defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Each qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Un ...
on reservations. Tribal control over their schools has been supported by federal legislation and changing practices by the BIA. By 2007, most of the boarding schools had been closed down, and the number of Native American children in boarding schools had declined to 9,500. Although there are hundreds of deceased Indigenous children yet to be found, investigations are increasing across the United States.


History of education of Native Americans by Europeans

In the late eighteenth century, reformers starting with President
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
and
Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806), a Founding Father of the United States, was a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, serving as chief of artillery in most of Washington's campaigns. Following the ...
, in efforts to " civilize" or otherwise assimilate Native Americans, adopted the practice of assimilating Native American children in current American culture. At the time the society was dominated by agriculture, with many yeomen subsistence farmers, and rural society made up of some small towns and few large cities. The
Civilization Fund Act The Civilization Fund Act was an Act passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819. The Act encouraged activities of benevolent societies in providing education for Native Americans and authorized an annuity to stimulate the "civilizat ...
of 1819 promoted this policy by providing funding to societies (mostly religious missionaries) who worked on Native American education, often at schools established in or near Native American communities. The reformers believed this policy would help the Indians survive increasing contact with European-American settlers who were moving west into their territories. Moses Tom sent his children to an Indian boarding school.


Early mission schools

In 1634, Fr. Andrew White of the English Province of the
Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
established a mission in what is now
Southern Maryland Southern Maryland is a geographical, cultural and historic region in Maryland composed of the state's southernmost counties on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. According to the state of Maryland, the region includes all of Calvert, Ch ...
. He said the purpose of the mission, as an interpreter told the chief of a Native American tribe there, was "to extend civilization and instruction to his ignorant race, and show them the way to heaven." The mission's annual records report that by 1640, they had founded a community they named St. Mary's. Native Americans were sending their children there to be educated, including the daughter of Tayac, the Pascatoe chief. She was likely an exception because of her father's status, as girls were generally not educated with boys in English Catholic schools of the period. Other students discussed in the records were male. The same records report that in 1677,
In the mid-1600s,
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
had an "Indian College" on its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, supported by the Anglican Society for Propagation of the Gospel. Its few Native American students came from New England. In this period higher education was very limited for all classes, and most 'colleges' taught at a level more similar to today's high schools. In 1665,
Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (estimated 1644 – 1666) was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University. Life Cheeshahteaumuck, the son of a Nobnocket (West Chop) sachem, was born into the Wampanoag tribe on Martha's Vineyard and h ...
, "from the
Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...
...did graduate from Harvard, the first Indian to do so in the colonial period". In the early colonial years, other Indian schools were created by local New England communities, as with the Indian school in
Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...
, in 1769. This gradually developed as
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
, which has retained some programs for Native Americans. Other schools were also created in the East, such as in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,3 ...
by Moravian missionaries. Religious
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
from various denominations developed the first schools as part of their missions near indigenous settlements, believing they could extend education and Christianity to Native Americans. East of the Appalachian Mountains, most Indians had been forced off their traditional lands before the American Revolutionary War. They had few reservations. In the early nineteenth century, the new republic continued to deal with questions about how Native American peoples would live. The
Foreign Mission School The Foreign Mission School was an educational institution which operated between 1817 and 1826 in Cornwall, Connecticut. It was established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The ABCFM was focused on sending missionaries ...
, a Protestant-backed institution that opened in
Cornwall, Connecticut Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census. History The town of Cornwall, Connecticut, is named after the county of Cornwall, England. The town was incorporated in 1740, ne ...
in 1816, was set up for male students from a variety of non-Christian peoples, mostly abroad. Indigenous Hawaiians, Muslim and Hindu students from India and Southeast Asia were among the nearly 100 total who attended during its decade of operation. Also enrolled were Native American students from the Cherokee and
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 ...
tribes (among the
Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cre ...
of the American Southeast), as well as
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
(a mid-Atlantic tribe) and
Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...
students. It was intended to train young people as missionaries, interpreters, translators, etc. who could help guide their peoples.


Nationhood, Indian Wars, and western settlement

Through the 19th century, the encroachment of European Americans on Indian lands continued. From the 1830s, tribes from both the Southeast and the Great Lakes areas were pushed west of the Mississippi, forced off their lands to
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign i ...
. As part of the treaties signed for land cessions, the United States was supposed to provide education to the tribes on their reservations. Some religious orders and organizations established missions in Kansas and what later became Oklahoma to work on these new reservations. Some of the Southeast tribes established their own schools, as the Choctaw did for both girls and boys. After the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
and decades of
Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
in the West, more tribes were forced onto reservations after ceding vast amounts of land to the US. With the goal of assimilation, believed necessary so that tribal Indians could survive to become part of American society, the government increased its efforts to provide education opportunities. Some of this was related to the
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...
movement, which believed the only way for the tribal peoples to make their way was to become assimilated, as American society was rapidly changing and urbanizing. Following the
Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
, missionaries founded additional schools in the West with boarding facilities. Given the vast areas and isolated populations, they could support only a limited number of schools. Some children necessarily had to attend schools that were distant from their communities. Initially under President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
, only one religious organization or order was permitted on any single reservation. The various denominations lobbied the government to be permitted to set up missions, even in competition with each other.


Assimilation-era day schools

Day schools were also created to implement federal mandates.https://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/fallon-indian-day-school ''Fallon Indian Day School'' retrieved 8/5/21https://collections.si.edu/search/gallery.htm?og=native-americans&p=native-american-boarding-and-day-schools ''Native American Boarding and Day Schools'' Smithsonian institution retrieved 8/5/21https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/bia-guide/schools ''BIA schools'' National Archiveshttps://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/075.html#75.19.87 ''Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs IA' National; Archives Compared to boarding schools, day schools were a less expensive option that usually received less parental pushback. One example is the Fallon Indian Day School opened on the Stillwater Indian Reservation in 1908. Even after the process of closing boarding schools started, day schools remained open.


Carlisle Indian Industrial School

After the Indian Wars, Lieutenant
Richard Henry Pratt Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt (December 6, 1840 – March 15, 1924) was an American military officer who founded and was longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is associat ...
was assigned to supervise Native prisoners of war at
Fort Marion The Castillo de San Marcos ( Spanish for "St. Mark's Castle") is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish ...
which was located in St. Augustine, Florida. The United States Army sent seventy-two warriors 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 ...
,
Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th a ...
, Comanche and
Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...
nations, to exile in
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
, Florida. They were used as hostages to encourage their peoples in the West to remain peaceful. Pratt began to work with them on education in
European-American culture The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The Un ...
, essentially a kind of immersion. While he required changes: the men had to cut their hair and wear common uniforms rather than their traditional clothes, he also granted them increased autonomy and the ability to govern themselves within the prison. Pleased by his success, he was said to have supported the motto, "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." Pratt said in a speech in 1892: Pratt provided for some of the younger men to pursue more education at the
Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association aft ...
, a historically black college founded in 1868 for the education of
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
by biracial representatives of the
American Missionary Association United States Colored Troops, The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was Abolitionism, abolition ...
soon after the Civil War. Following Pratt's sponsored students, Hampton in 1875 developed a program for Native American students. Pratt continued the assimilation model in developing the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Pratt felt that within one generation Native children could be integrated into Euro-American culture. With this perspective he proposed an expensive experiment to the federal government. Pratt wanted the government to fund a school that would require Native children to move away from their homes to attend a school far away. The Carlisle Indian school, which became the template for over 300 schools across the United States, opened in 1879. Carlisle Barracks an abandoned Pennsylvanian military base was used for the school. It became the first school that was not on a reservation. The Carlisle curriculum was heavy based on the culture and society of rural America. The classes included vocational training for boys and domestic science for girls. Students worked to carry out chores that helped sustain the farm and food production for the self-supporting school. They were also able to produce goods to sell at the market. Carlisle students produced a newspaper, had a well-regarded chorus and orchestra, and developed sports programs. In the summer students often lived with local farm families and townspeople, reinforcing their assimilation, and providing labor at low cost to the families..


Federally supported boarding schools

Carlisle and its curriculum became the model for the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Al ...
. By 1902 it authorized 25 federally funded off-reservation schools in 15 states and territories, with a total enrollment of over 6,000 students. Federal legislation required Native American children to be educated according to Anglo-American standards. Parents had to authorize their children's attendance at boarding schools and, if they refused, officials could use coercion to gain a quota of students from any given reservation. Boarding schools were also established on reservations, where they were often operated by religious missions or institutes, which were generally independent of the local diocese, in the case of Catholic orders. Because of the distances, often Native American children were separated from their families and tribes when they attended such schools on other reservations. At the peak of the federal program, the BIA supported 350 boarding schools. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when students arrived at boarding schools, their lives altered dramatically. They were given short haircuts (a source of shame for boys of many tribes, who considered long hair part of their maturing identity), required to wear uniforms, and to take English names for use at the school. Sometimes the names were based on their own; other times they were assigned at random. The children were not allowed to speak their own languages, even between each other. They were required to attend church services and were often baptized as Christians. As was typical of the time, discipline was stiff in many schools. It often included assignment of extra chores for punishment, solitary confinement and corporal punishment, including beatings by teachers using sticks, rulers and belts.cit
Jennifer Jones, Dee Ann Bosworth, Amy Lonetree, "American Indian Boarding Schools: An Exploration of Global Ethnic & Cultural Cleansing"
Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, 2011, accessed 25 January 2014
Anna Moore said, regarding the
Phoenix Indian School The Phoenix Indian School, or Phoenix Indian High School in its later years, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated school in Encanto Village, in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. It served lower grades also from 1891 to 1935, and then served as a ...
:


Abuse in the boarding schools

The children who were admitted into boarding schools experienced several forms of abuse. They were given white names, forced to speak English, and were not allowed to practice their culture. They took classes on how to conduct manual labor such as farming and housekeeping. When they were not in class, they were expected to maintain the upkeep of the schools. Unclean and overpopulated living conditions led to the spread of disease and many students did not receive enough food. Bounties were offered for students who tried to run away and many students committed suicide. Students who died were sometimes placed in coffins and buried in the school cemetery by their own classmates. Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and admitted to these boarding schools. Their cultural traditions were discarded when they were taught about American ideas of refinement and civilization. This forced assimilation increased substance abuse and suicides among these students as they suffered mental illnesses such as depression and PTSD. These illnesses also increased the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The sexual abuse of indigenous children in boarding schools was perpetrated by the administrators of these programs. Teachers, nuns, and priests performed these acts upon their students. Children were touched and molested to be used as pleasure by these mentors who were supposed to educate them. Several mentors considered these students as objects and sexually abused them by forming rotations to switch in and out whenever they were done sexually tormenting the next student. These adults also used sexual abuse as a form of embarrassment towards each other. In tracing the path of violence, several students experienced an assault that, "can only be described as unconscionable, it was a violation not only of a child's body but an assault on their spirit". This act created a majority among the children who were victims in silence. This recurred in boarding schools across the nation in different scenarios. These include boys being sexually assaulted on their 13th birthdays to girls being forcibly taken at night by the priest to be used as objects. As claimed by Dr. Jon Reyhner, he described methods of discipline by mentioning that: "The boys were laid on an empty barrel and whipped with a long leather strap". Methods such as these have left physical injuries and made the institutions dangerous for these children as they lived in fear of violence. Many children did not recover from their wounds caused by abuse from as they were often left untreated.


Legality and policy

In 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the Indian commissioners to engage ministers as teachers to work with Indians. This movement increased after the war of 1812. In 1819 Congress appropriated $10,000 to hire teachers and maintain schools. These resources were allocated to the missionary church schools because the government had no other mechanism to educate the Indian population. In 1887, to provide funding for more boarding schools, Congress passed the Compulsory Indian Education Act In 1891, a compulsory attendance law enabled federal officers to forcibly take Native American children from their homes and reservations. The American government believed they were rescuing these children from a world of poverty and depression and teaching them "life skills". Tabatha Toney Booth of the
University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...
wrote in her paper, ''Cheaper Than Bullets'', Between 1778 and 1871, the federal government signed 389 treaties with American Indian tribes. Most of these treaties contained provisions that the federal government would provide education and other services in exchange for land. The last of these treaties, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, established the Great Sioux Reservation. One particular article in the Fort Laramie Treaty illustrates the attention the federal government paid to the "civilizing" nature of education: "Article 7. In order to insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty the necessity of education is admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said agricultural reservations, and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years to attend school" Use of the English language in the education of American Indian children was first mentioned in the report of the Indian Peace Commission, a body appointed by an act of Congress in 1867. The report stated that the difference of languages was a major problem and advocated elimination of Indian languages and replacement of them with English. This report created a controversy in Indian education because the missionaries who had been responsible for educating Native youth used a bilingual instructional policy. In 1870, President Grant criticized this beginning a new policy with eradication of Native languages as a major goal In 1871, the United States government prohibited further treaties with Indian nations and also passed the Appropriations Act for Indian Education requiring the establishment of day schools on reservations. In 1873, the Board of Indian Commissions argued in a Report to Congress that days schools were ineffective at teach Indian children English because they spent 20 hours per day at home speaking their native language. The Senate and House Indian Affairs committees joined in the criticism of day schools a year later arguing that they operated too much to perpetuate "the Indian as special-status individual rather than preparing for him independent citizenship" "The boarding school movement began after the Civil War, when reformers turned their attention to the plight of Indian people and advocated for proper education and treatment so that Indians could become like other citizens. One of the first efforts to accomplish this goal was the establishment of the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, founded in 1879." The leader of the school, General Pratt also employed the "outing system" which placed Indians in non-Indian homes during the summers and for three years following high school to learn non-Indian culture (ibid). Government subsidies were made to participating families. Pratt believed that this was both educating American Indians and making them Americans. In 1900, 1,880 Carlisle students participated in this system, each with his or her own bank account. In the late 1800's, the federal government pursued a policy of total assimilation of the American Indian into mainstream American society. "In 1918, Carlisle boarding school was closed because Pratt's method of assimilating American Indian students through off-reservation boarding schools was perceived as outdated." That same year Congress passed new Indian education legislation, the Act of May 25, 1918. It generally forbade expenditures for separate education of children less than 1/4 Indian whose parents are citizens of the United States when they live in an area where adequate free public schools are provided.


Meriam Report of 1928

In 1926, the
Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
(DOI) commissioned the
Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ...
to conduct a survey of the overall conditions of American Indians and to assess federal programs and policies. The Meriam Report, officially titled ''The Problem of Indian Administration'', was submitted February 21, 1928, to Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work. Related to education of Native American children, it recommended that the government: * Abolish ''The Uniform Course of Study'', which taught only European-American cultural values; * Educate younger children at community schools near home, and have older children attend non-reservation schools for higher grade work; * Have the Indian Service (now
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Al ...
) provide American Indians the education and skills they need to adapt both in their own communities and United States society.


The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

" The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ended the allotment period of history, confirmed the rights to Indian self-government, and made Indians eligible to hold Bureau of Indian Affairs posts, which encouraged Indians to attend vocational schools and colleges." During this period there was an effort to encourage the development of community day schools; however, public school attendance for Indian children was also encouraged. In the same year, the Johnson- O'Malley Act (JOM) was passed, which provided for the reimbursement of states for the cost of educating Indian students in public schools. This federal-state contract provided that a specified sum be paid by the federal government and held the state responsible for the education and welfare of Indians within its boundaries. Funds made available from the O'Malley act were designated to assist in reducing the enrollment of Indian boarding schools, placing them in public schools instead.


The termination period

In 1953, Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 108, which set a new direction in federal policy toward Indians. The major spokesperson for the resolution Senator Arthur Watkins (Utah), stated: "As rapidly as possible, we should end the status of Indians as wards of the government and grant them all the rights and prerogatives pertaining to American citizenship" The federal government implemented another new policy, aimed at relocating Indian people to urban cities and away from the reservations, terminating the tribes as separate entities. There were sixty-one tribes terminated during that period.


1968 onward

In 1968 president
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
ended this practice and the termination period. He also directed the Secretary of the Interior to establish Indian School boards for federal Indian schools to be comprised by members of the communities. Major legislation aimed at improving Indian education occurred in the 1970's. "In 1972 Congress passed the Indian Education Act, which established a comprehensive approach to meeting the unique needs of American Indians and Alaska Native students. This act recognizes that American Indians have unique educational and culturally related academic needs and distinct language and cultural needs. The most far-reaching legislation to be signed during the 70's, however, was the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (Public Law 93-638) authorized the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, ...
, which guaranteed tribes the opportunity to determine their own futures and the education of their children through funds allocated to and administrated by individual tribes."


Disease and death

Given the lack of public sanitation and the often crowded conditions at boarding schools in the early 20th-century, students were at risk for infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...
,
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
and
trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium ''Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea of ...
. None of these diseases was yet treatable by antibiotics or controlled by vaccines, and epidemics swept schools as they did cities. The overcrowding of the schools contributed to the rapid spread of disease within the schools. "An often-underpaid staff provided irregular medical care. And not least, apathetic boarding school officials frequently failed to heed their own directions calling for the segregation of children in poor health from the rest of the student body". Tuberculosis was especially deadly among students. Many children died while in custody at Indian schools. Often students were prevented from communicating with their families, and parents were not notified when their children fell ill; the schools also failed sometimes to notify them when a child died. "Many of the Indian deaths during the great
influenza pandemic An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region (either multiple continents or worldwide) and infects a large proportion of the population. There have been six major influenza epidemics in the las ...
of 1918–19, which hit the Native American population hard, took place in boarding schools." The 1928
Meriam Report The Meriam Report (1928) (official title: ''The Problem of Indian Administration'') was commissioned by the Institute for Government Research (IGR, better known later as the Brookings Institution) and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The IGR ap ...
noted that infectious disease was often widespread at the schools due to malnutrition, overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, and students weakened by overwork. The report said that death rates for Native American students were six and a half times higher than for other ethnic groups. A report regarding the
Phoenix Indian School The Phoenix Indian School, or Phoenix Indian High School in its later years, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated school in Encanto Village, in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. It served lower grades also from 1891 to 1935, and then served as a ...
said, "In December of 1899, measles broke out at the Phoenix Indian School, reaching epidemic proportions by January. In its wake, 325 cases of measles, 60 cases of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
, and 9 deaths were recorded in a 10-day period.""


Implications of assimilation

From 1810 to 1917 the U.S. federal government subsidized mission and boarding schools. "By 1885, 106 ndian Schoolshad been established, many of them on abandoned military installations". Using military personnel and Indian prisoners, boarding schools were seen as a means for the government to achieve assimilation of Native Americans into mainstream American culture. Assimilation efforts included forcibly removing Native Americans from their families, converting them to Christianity, preventing them from learning or practicing indigenous culture and customs, and living in a strict military fashion. When students arrived at boarding schools, the routine was typically the same. First, the students were forced to give up their tribal clothing and their hair was cut. Second, " instill the necessary discipline, the entire school routine was organized in martial fashion, and every facet of student life followed a strict timetable". One student recalled the routine in the 1890s:
A small bell was tapped, and each of the pupils drew a chair from under the table. Supposing this act meant that they were to be seated, I pulled out mine and at once slipped into it from one side. But when I turned my head, I saw that I was the only one seated, and all the rest at our table remained standing. Just as I began to rise, looking shyly around to see how chairs were to be used, a second bell was sounded. All were seated at last, and I had to crawl back into my chair again. I heard a man's voice at one end of the hall, and I looked around to see him. But all the others hung their heads over their plates. As I glanced at the long chain of tables, I cause the eyes of a paleface woman upon me. Immediately I dropped my eyes, wondering why I was so keenly watched by the strange woman. The man ceased his mutterings, and then a third bell was tapped. Everyone picked up his knife and fork and began eating. I began crying instead, for by this time I was afraid to venture anything more.
Besides mealtime routines, administrators "educated" Indigenous students on how to farm using European-based methods, which they considered superior to indigenous methods. Given the constraints of rural locations and limited budgets, boarding schools often operated supporting farms, raising livestock and produced their vegetables and fruit. From the moment students arrived at school, they could not "be Indian" in any way. Boarding school administrators "forbade, whether in school or on reservation, tribal singing and dancing, along with the wearing of ceremonial and 'savage' clothes, the practice of native religions, the speaking of tribal languages, the acting out of traditional gender roles". School administrators argued that young women needed to be specifically targeted due to their important place in continuing assimilation education in their future homes. Educational administrators and teachers were instructed that "Indian girls were to be assured that, because their grandmothers did things in a certain way, there was no reason for them to do the same". "Removal to reservations in the West in the early part of the century and the enactment of the Dawes or General Allotment Act in 1887 eventually took nearly 50 million acres of land from Indian control". On-reservation schools were either taken over by Anglo leadership or destroyed. Indian-controlled school systems became non-existent while "the Indians eremade captives of federal or mission education". Although schools did use verbal correction to enforce assimilation, more violent measures were also used, as corporal punishment was common in European-American society. Archuleta et al. (2000) noted cases where students had "their mouths washed out with lye soap when they spoke their native languages; they could be locked up in the guardhouse with only bread and water for other rule violations; and they faced corporal punishment and other rigid discipline on a daily basis". Beyond physical and mental abuse, some school authorities sexually abused students as well. One former student recounted,
Intimidation and fear were very much present in our daily lives. For instance, we would cower from the abusive disciplinary practices of some superiors, such as the one who yanked my cousin's ear hard enough to tear it. After a nine-year-old girl was raped in her dormitory bed during the night, we girls would be so scared that we would jump into each other's bed as soon as the lights went out. The sustained terror in our hearts further tested our endurance, as it was better to suffer with a full bladder and be safe than to walk through the dark, seemingly endless hallway to the bathroom. When we were older, we girls anguished each time we entered the classroom of a certain male teacher who stalked and molested girls.
Girls and young women taken from their families and placed into boarding schools, such as the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, were urged to accomplish the U.S. federal government's vision of "educating Indian girls in the hope that women trained as good housewives would help their mates assimilate" into U.S. mainstream culture. Historian Brenda Child asserts that boarding schools cultivated pan-Indian-ism and made possible cross-tribal coalitions that helped many different tribes collaborate in the later 20th century. She argues:
People formerly separated by language, culture, and geography lived and worked together in residential schools. Students formed close bonds and enjoyed a rich cross-cultural change. Graduates of government schools often married former classmates, found employment in the Indian Service, migrated to urban areas, returned to their reservations and entered tribal politics. Countless new alliances, both personal and political, were forged in government boarding schools.
Jacqueline Emery, introducing an anthology of boarding school writings, suggests that these writings prove that the children showed a cultural and personal resilience "more common among boarding school students than one might think". Although school authorities censored the material, it demonstrates multiple methods of resistance to school regimes. Several students educated in boarding schools, such as Gertrude Bonnin,
Angel De Cora Angel De Cora Dietz (1871–1919) was a Winnebago painter, illustrator, Native American rights advocate, and teacher at Carlisle Indian School. She was a well-known Native American artist before World War I. Background Angel De Cora Dietz or H ...
,
Francis La Flesche Francis La Flesche (Omaha, 1857–1932) was the first professional Native American ethnologist; he worked with the Smithsonian Institution. He specialized in Omaha and Osage cultures. Working closely as a translator and researcher with the ant ...
, and
Laura Cornelius Kellogg Laura Cornelius Kellogg ("Minnie") ("Wynnogene") (September 10, 1880 – 1947), was an Oneida leader, author, orator, activist and visionary. Kellogg, a descendant of distinguished Oneida leaders, was a founder of the Society of American Indians ...
, became highly educated and were precursors to modern Indigenous activists. After release or graduation from Indian boarding schools, students were expected to return to their tribes and induce European assimilation there. Many students who returned to their reservations experienced alienation, language and cultural barriers, and confusion, in addition to
posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
and the legacy of trauma from abuse. They struggled to respect elders, but also met resistance from family and friends when trying to initiate Anglo-American changes. Everyone in these boarding schools faced hardship but that didn’t stop them from building their foundation of resistance. Native students utilized what was taught at school to speak up and perform activism. They were very intelligent and resourceful to become knowledgeable in activist and political works. Forcibly being removed from their families, many put up a stance to refuse their kids to be kidnapped from them by hiding them and encouraging them to run away. It has not always been successful but it was a form of resistance that was present during this period. As mentioned by historians Brian Klopotek and Brenda Child, "A remote Indian population living in Northern Minnesota who, in 1900, took a radical position against the construction of a government school." This Indigenous population is rather known as the Ojibwe people showed hostility to construction happening on their land by expressing armed resistance. The Ojibwe men stood as armed guards surrounding the construction workers and their building indicating the workmen were not welcomed to build on their region of living. This type of armed resistance was common throughout Native society during the boarding school period. Many indigenous communities expressed this rebellion throughout their stolen land.Child, Brenda J., et al. “Comparing Histories of Education for Indigenous Peoples.” Indian Subjects: Hemispheric Perspectives on the History of Indigenous Education, School for Advanced Research Press, Santa Fe, California, 2014, pp. 1–1. A famous resistance tactic used by these students in boarding schools was speaking and responding back in their mother tongue. These schools stressed the importance of enforcing the extinction of their 1st language and adapting to English. Speaking their language symbolized a bond that strictly attached them closer still to their culture.. Speaking their mother tongue resulted in physical abuse which was feared but resistance continued in this form to cause frustration. They wanted to show that their roots are deeply rooted in them and can’t be replaced with force. Another form of resistance they used was misbehavior, giving their staff a very hard time. This meant acting very foolish making it hard for them to be handled. Misbehaving meant consistently breaking the rules, acting out of character, and starting fires or fights. This was all an act and a habit to be kicked out of the boarding school and in hopes to be sent home. They wanted to be a huge headache enough to not suffer abuse but to be expelled. Resistance was a form of courage used to go against these boarding schools. These efforts were inspired by each other and from times of colonization. It was a way to keep their mother tongue, culture, and Native identities still attached and restored to civilization. Using resistance tactics helped slow down the intelligence of American culture being understood and taught. The ongoing effects this event had brought within indigenous communities was hardly forgivable by these various groups. "According to Mary Annette Pember, whose mother was forced to attend St. Mary's Catholic Boarding school in Wisconsin, her mother often recollected, "the beatings, the shaming, and the withholding of food (P.15)." done by the nuns. Thus her mothers lasting effects, the traumatic effects that boarding schools have had continue for generations of Native people who never attended the schools such as families members with surviving and missing loved ones. When faculty visited former students, they rated their success based on the following criteria: "orderly households, 'citizen's dress', Christian weddings, 'well-kept' babies, land in severalty, children in school, industrious work habits, and leadership roles in promoting the same 'civilized' lifestyles among family and tribe". many students returned to the boarding schools. General
Richard Henry Pratt Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt (December 6, 1840 – March 15, 1924) was an American military officer who founded and was longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is associat ...
, an administrator who had founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, began to believe that " civilize the Indian, get him into civilization. To keep him civilized, let him stay."


Schools in mid-20th century and later changes

Attendance in Indian boarding schools generally increased throughout the first half of the 20th century, doubling by the 1960s. In 1969 the BIA operated 226 schools in 17 states, including on reservations and in remote geographical areas. Some 77 were boarding schools. A total of 34,605 children were enrolled in the boarding schools; 15,450 in BIA day schools; and 3854 were housed in dormitories "while attending public schools with BIA financial support. In addition, 62,676 Indian youngsters attend public schools supported by the Johnson-O'Malley Act, which is administered by BIA." Enrollment reached its highest point in the 1970s. In 1973, 60,000 American Indian children are estimated to have been enrolled in an Indian boarding school. The rise of pan-Indian activism, tribal nations' continuing complaints about the schools, and studies in the late 1960s and mid-1970s (such as the
Kennedy Report The Bristol heart scandal occurred in England during the 1990s. At the Bristol Royal Infirmary, babies died at high rates after cardiac surgery. An inquiry found "staff shortages, a lack of leadership, ... unit ... 'simply not up to the task' . ...
of 1969 and the National Study of American Indian Education) led to passage of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (Public Law 93-638) authorized the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, ...
. This emphasized authorizing tribes to contract with federal agencies in order to take over management of programs such as education. It also enabled the tribes to establish community schools for their children on their reservations. In 1978 Congress passed and the President signed the
Indian Child Welfare Act The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) ((), codified at Indian Child Welfare Act, (, )) is a United States Code, United States federal law that governs jurisdiction over the removal of Native Americans in the United States, American Indian ...
, giving Native American parents the legal right to refuse their child's placement in a school. Damning evidence related to years of abuses of students in off-reservation boarding schools contributed to the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Congress approved this act after hearing testimony about life in Indian boarding schools. As a result of these changes, many large Indian boarding schools closed in the 1980s and early 1990s. Some located on reservations were taken over by tribes. By 2007, the number of American Indian children living in Indian boarding school dormitories had declined to 9,500. This figure includes those in 45 on-reservation boarding schools, seven off-reservation boarding schools, and 14 peripheral dormitories. From 1879 to the present day, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Native Americans attended Indian boarding schools as children.
Union of Ontario Indians press release: "Time will prove apology's sincerity", says Beaucage.
In the early 21st century, about two dozen off-reservation boarding schools still operate, but funding for them has declined. Native American tribes developed one of the first women's colleges.


21st century

Circa 2020 the
Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., and formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP), is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant ...
operates approximately 183 schools, primarily non-boarding, and primarily located on reservations. The schools have 46,000 students.https://www.propublica.org/article/the-federal-government-gives-native-students-an-inadequate-education-and-gets-away-with-it ''The Federal Government Gives Native Students an Inadequate Education, and Gets Away With It'' by Alden Woods, Arizona Republic Aug. 6, 2020 Co-published with ProPublica Retrieved 2021-08-19 Modern criticisms focus on the quality of education provided and compliance with federal education standards. In March 2020 the BIA finalized a rule to create Standards, Assessments and Accountability System (SAAS) for all BIA schools. The motivation behind the rule is to prepare BIA students to be ready for college and careers.


Books about Native American boarding schools

* '' Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928'', author David Wallace Adams (1995) * '' Indian Horse'', author Richard Wagamese (
Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
) (2012)


Movies and Documentaries about Native American boarding schools

* ''Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School'', Documentary produced by Rich-Heape Films (2008) * '' The Only Good Indian'', 2009 film starring
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 ...

''Playing for the World''
Documentary produced by
Montana PBS Montana PBS is the PBS member public television network for the U.S. state of Montana. It is a joint venture between Montana State University (MSU) and the University of Montana (UM). The network is headquartered in the Visual Communications B ...
(2010) * '' Our Fires Still Burn'', Documentary produced by Audrey Geyer (2013) * ''Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools'', Documentary produced by
KUED KUED (channel 7), branded on-air as PBS Utah, is a PBS member television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The station is owned by the University of Utah, and has studios at the Eccles Broadcast Center on Wasatch Drive in the nor ...
(2016) * ''Indian Horse'', based on the book with the same name written by Richard Wagamese (
Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
), produced by Devonshire Productions and Screen Siren Pictures (2017)


List of Native American boarding schools

Listed of Native American boarding schools by present-day state or territory, and in alphabetical order.


Alabama

*
Asbury Manual Labor School Asbury Manual Labor School was an American Indian boarding school near Fort Mitchell, Alabama. Founded by the United Methodist Church, and named for Francis Asbury, it opened in 1822 and closed in 1830, when the Creek were forcibly removed to Oklah ...
, near
Fort Mitchell, Alabama Fort Mitchell is an unincorporated community in Russell County, Alabama, United States. The settlement developed around a garrisoned fort intended to provide defense for the area during the Creek War (1813–14). Fort Mitchell is about 10 miles s ...
, open 1822–30 run by the United
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
Missions.


Alaska

*
Jesse Lee Home for Children The Jesse Lee Home for Children was a former home for displaced children on Swetmann Avenue in Seward, Alaska, United States. It was operated by the United Methodist Church from its opening in 1926 until the building suffered damage from a 1964 ...
, Originally in
Unalaska, Alaska Unalaska ( ale, Iluulux̂; russian: Уналашка) is the chief center of population in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska ...
, moved to
Seward, Alaska Seward (Alutiiq: ;  Dena'ina: ''Tl'ubugh'') is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska's southern coast, approxima ...
and later
Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring M ...
. Founded and run by
Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
* Mount Edgecumbe High School, Sitka, Alaska, established as a BIA school, now operated by the State of Alaska *
Sheldon Jackson College Sheldon Jackson College (SJC) was a small private college located on Baranof Island in Sitka, Alaska, United States. Founded in 1878, it was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska and maintained a historic relationship with the Pre ...
, Presbyterian-run high school, then college, in Sitka, Alaska * Wrangell Institute, Presbyterian church-led initiative, run by the BIA in
Wrangell, Alaska The City and Borough of Wrangell ( tli, Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, russian: Врангель) is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Bo ...


Arizona

*
Chinle Boarding School Many Farms Community School, Inc. (MFCS), is a tribally controlled K-8 school in Many Farms, Arizona, operated by the Navajo Nation. It is funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). MFCS has a boarding program to serve students who live at ...
, at Chinle, Arizona (1910-1976); then relocated to Many Farms, Arizona; converted to Navajo operated school that year * Holbrook Indian School,
Holbrook, Arizona Holbrook ( nv, Tʼiisyaakin) is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city was 5,053. The city is the county seat of Navajo County. Holbrook was founded in 1881 or 1882, when the r ...
* Many Farms High School, near Many Farms, Arizona *
Phoenix Indian School The Phoenix Indian School, or Phoenix Indian High School in its later years, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated school in Encanto Village, in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. It served lower grades also from 1891 to 1935, and then served as a ...
,
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
* Pinon Boarding School, Pinon, Arizona * Theodore Roosevelt Indian Boarding School, founded in 1923 in buildings of the U.S. Army's closed
Fort Apache, Arizona Fort Apache ( apw, Tłʼog Hagai) is an unincorporated community in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Fort Apache is on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, east of Canyon Day. Fort Apache has a post office with ZIP code 85926. Demograph ...
, as of 2016 operating as a Navajo tribal school * Truxton Boarding School near the Haulapai Reservation, a national historic site.


California

* Fort Bidwell School,
Fort Bidwell, California Fort Bidwell is a census-designated place in Modoc County, California. It is located northeast of Alturas, at an elevation of 4564 feet (1391 m). Its population is 180 as of the 2020 census, up from 173 from the 2010 census. Geography Fort Bi ...
* Greenville School, California * St. Boniface Indian School,
Banning, California Banning is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 29,505 as of the 2020 census, down from 29,603 at the 2010 census. It is situated in the San Gorgonio Pass, also known as ''Banning Pass''. It is named for Phi ...
*
Sherman Indian High School Sherman Indian High School (SIHS) is an off-reservation boarding high school for Native Americans. Originally opened in 1892 as the Perris Indian School, in Perris, California, the school was relocated to Riverside, California in 1903, under the ...
, in
Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire and i ...
since 1903


Colorado

* Ignacio Boarding School, Colorado * Teller Institute, Grand Junction Colorado


Connecticut

*
Eleazar Wheelock Eleazar Wheelock (April 22, 1711 – April 24, 1779) was an American Congregational minister, orator, and educator in Lebanon, Connecticut, for 35 years before founding Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He had tutored Samson Occom, a Mohe ...
and Moor's Indian Charity School,
Lebanon, Connecticut Lebanon is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,142 at the 2020 census. The town lies just to the northwest of Norwich, directly south of Willimantic, north of New London, and east of Hartford. The fa ...
open from 1754 to 1768


Idaho

* Mary Immaculate School,
De Smet, Idaho De Smet (also spelled Desmet) is an unincorporated census-designated place in the northwestern United States, located on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Benewah County, Idaho. U.S. Route 95 passes nearby and the community is located about a ...
, open from 1878 to 1974


Indiana

* White's Manual Labor Institute,
Wabash, Indiana Wabash is a city in Noble Township, Wabash County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 10,666 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Wabash County. Wabash is notable as claiming to be the first electrically lighted ci ...
. Open 1870–1895 and operated by
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
*
Saint Joseph's College (Indiana) Saint Joseph's College (SJC; colloquially, Saint Joe) is an unaccredited private Catholic college in Rensselaer, Indiana. It was founded in 1889 and suspended academic operations in 2017 with approximately 1,100 students enrolled. In 2021, the ...
was founded in 1889 by Father Joseph A. Stephan as a secondary school to educate Native Americans.


Indian Territory

* Arapaho Manual Labor and Boarding School, Darlington, Indian Territory, (Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation), opened in 1872 and paid for by federal funds, but run by the Hicksite (Liberal) Friends and Orthodox
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
. Moved to Concho Indian Boarding School in 1909. * Cheyenne-Arapaho Boarding School, Darlington, Indian Territory, opened 1871 became the Arapaho Manual Labor and Boarding School in 1879 *
Armstrong Academy Chahta Tamaha (Choctaw Town) served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation from 1863 to 1883 in Indian Territory. The town developed initially around the Armstrong Academy, which was operated by Protestant religious missionaries from 1844 to 1861 to ...
, near Chahta Tamaha, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory * Cheyenne Manual Labor and Boarding School, Caddo Springs, Indian Territory, opened 1879 and paid with by federal funds, but run by the Hicksite (Liberal) Friends and Orthodox
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
. Moved to Concho Indian Boarding School in 1909. * Chuala Female Seminary (also known as the Pine Ridge Mission School), near Doaksville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1838–61 by the
Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...
* Darlington Mission School, Darlington, Indian Territory, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation, run by the General Conference
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
s from 1881 to 1902 *
Fort Sill Indian School Fort Sill Indian School was an American Indian boarding school near Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States. The school opened in 1871, with 24 students in the first year, had 300 students in the 1970s, and closed in 1980 although "Nati ...
(originally known as Josiah Missionary School), near Fort Sill, Indian Territory, opened in 1871 by the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
. Operated until 1980. * Pine Ridge Mission School, near Doaksville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory; see Chuala Female Seminary * Quapaw Industrial Boarding School, Quapaw Agency,
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign i ...
, open 1872–1900 * Spencer Academy (sometimes referred to as the National School of the
Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United St ...
), near Doaksville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, operating 1842–1900 * Wealaka Mission School Wealaka, Indian Territory, open 1882–1907


Iowa

* White's Manual Labor Institute,
West Branch, Iowa West Branch is a city in Cedar and Johnson counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 2,509 as of the 2020 census. It is the birthplace of the only American president born in Iowa, Herbert Hoover. The Johnson County portion of West Br ...
, open 1881–87


Kansas

* Haskell Indian Industrial Training School,
Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2020 census ...
, 1884–present


Kentucky

* Choctaw Academy, Blue Spring,
Scott County, Kentucky Scott County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,155. Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Native Amer ...
, opened 1825


Michigan

* Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School,
Mount Pleasant, Michigan Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in Central Michigan, the city is the county seat of Isabella County. The population was 21,688 as of the 2020 United States census. It is surrounded by Union Township but is politi ...
, 1893–1934


Minnesota

* Morris Industrial School for Indians,
Morris, Minnesota Morris is a city in and the county seat of Stevens County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,105 at the 2020 census. Morris is surrounded by some of the nation's richest agricultural land, and agribusiness is important to the loca ...
, open 1887–1909 * Pipestone Indian School,
Pipestone, Minnesota Pipestone is a city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Pipestone County. The population was 4,215 at the 2020 census. The city is also the site of the Pipestone National Monument. History Pipestone was platted in October, 1 ...
* Covenant of our Lady of the Lake * Cross Lake * St. Benedict's Industrial School * Pine Point * Red Lake * Cass/Leech Lake * Clontarf (St. Paul's Industrial School) * St. Mary's Mission * St. John's Industrial School * St. Theodore's * Vermillion Lake Indian School * White Earth Boarding School * Wild Rice River


Montana

* Fort Shaw Indian School,
Fort Shaw, Montana Fort Shaw is a census-designated place (CDP) in Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 280 at the 2010 census. Named for a former United States military outpost, it is part of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical ...


Nebraska

* Genoa Indian Industrial School, Genoa, Nebraska


Nevada

* Stewart Indian School,
Carson City, Nevada Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the ...


New Mexico

* Albuquerque Indian School,
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
Carter, Kent, compiler
"Preliminary Inventory of the Office of the Five Civilized Tribes Agency Muscogee Area of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75). Appendix VI: List of Schools (Entry 600 and 601)"
''RootsWeb''. 1994 (retrieved 25 Feb 2010)
* Nenannezed Boarding School, New Mexico * Rehoboth Mission School located in Rehoboth, New Mexico, near the
Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...
. Operated as an Indian Boarding School by the
Christian Reformed Church in North America The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA or CRC) is a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was founde ...
from 1903 to 2007. The school currently operates as a day school onl
History - Rehoboth Christian School
* San Juan Boarding School, New Mexico * Santa Fe Indian School, Santa Fe, New Mexico * Shiprock Boarding School,
Shiprock, New Mexico Shiprock ( nv, ) is a unincorporated community on the Navajo reservation in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 7,718 people in the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Sh ...
*
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) is a public tribal land-grant community college in unincorporated Bernalillo County, New Mexico, with an Albuquerque postal address. It is federally operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and fund ...
,
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...


New York

*
Thomas Indian School Thomas Indian School, also known as the Thomas Asylum of Orphan and Destitute Indian Children, is a historic school and national historic district located near Irving at the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in Erie County, New York. The institution ...
, near
Irving, New York Irving is a hamlet in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It is located near the eastern town line and the eastern county line in the town of Hanover. U.S. Route 20 and New York State Route 5 pass through the hamlet, which is next to Catta ...


North Dakota

* Circle of Nations Indian Schoolbr>Home , Circle of Nations
Wahpeton, North Dakota Wahpeton ( ) is a city in Richland County, in southeast North Dakota along the Bois de Sioux River at its confluence with the Otter Tail River, which forms the Red River of the North. Wahpeton is the county seat of Richland County. The populat ...
* Fort Totten Indian Industrial School, Fort Totten,
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, South ...
. Boarding and Indian Industrial School in 1891–1935. Became a Community and Day School from 1940 to 1959. Now a Historic Site run by the State Historic Society of North Dakota. * Wahpeton Indian School, Wahpeton, North Dakota, 1904–93. In 1993 its name was changed to Circle of Nations School and came under tribal control. Currently open.


Oklahoma

* Absentee Shawnee Boarding School, near Shawnee, Indian Territory, open 1893–99 * Anadarko Boarding School,
Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County. History Anadarko got its name when its post off ...
, open 1911–33 * Asbury Manual Labor School, near Eufaula, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, open 1850–88 by the United
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
Missions. *
Bacone College Bacone College, formerly Bacone Indian University, is a private tribal college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by missionary Almon C. Bacone, it was originally affiliated with the mission arm of what is now Americ ...
,
Muscogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...
, 1881–present * Bloomfield Female Academy, originally near Achille, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Opened in 1848 but relocated to
Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,283, with an estimated population of 24,698 in 2019. The Ardmore micropolitan statistical area had an estimate ...
, around 1917 and in 1934 was renamed Carter Seminary. * Bond's Mission School or Montana Industrial School for Indians, run by Unitarians,
Crow Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe. Established 1868, the reservation is located in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties in southern Montana in the United States. The Crow Tribe has an enrolled member ...
, near Custer Station, Montana, 1886–97 * Burney Institute, near Lebanon, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1854–87 when name changed to Chickasaw Orphan Home and Manual Labor School and operated by the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000) ...
. * Cameron Institute, Cameron, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1893–early 20th century, was operated by the
Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...
* Cantonment Indian Boarding School, Canton, Indian Territory, run by the General Conference
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
s from September, 1882 to 1 July 1927 * Carter Seminary,
Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,283, with an estimated population of 24,698 in 2019. The Ardmore micropolitan statistical area had an estimate ...
, 1917–2004 when the facility moved to Kingston, Oklahoma, and was renamed the Chickasaw Children's Village. * Cherokee Female Seminary, Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, open 1851–1910 *
Cherokee Male Seminary The Cherokee Male Seminary was a tribal college established in 1846 by the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. Opening in 1851, it was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the United States to be founded west of the Mississippi River ...
, Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, open 1851–1910 * Cherokee Orphan Asylum, Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, opened in 1871Conley, Robert L
''A Cherokee Encyclopedia''
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2007:214. (Retrieved through Google Books, 23 July 2009.) .
* Chickasaw (male) Academy, near Tishomingo, Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma. Opened in 1850 by the
Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
and changed its name to Harley Institute around 1889. * Chickasaw Children's Village, on
Lake Texoma Lake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, the 12th largest US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) lake, and the largest in USACE Tulsa District. Lake Texoma is formed by Denison Dam on the Red River in Bryan County, Oklahom ...
near Kingston, Oklahoma, opened 2004 * Chickasaw National Academy, near Stonewall, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Open about 1865 to 1880 * Chickasaw Orphan Home and Manual Labor School (formerly Burney Academy) near Lebanon, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1887–1906 *
Chilocco Indian Agricultural School Chilocco Indian School was an agricultural school for Native Americans on reserved land in north-central Oklahoma from 1884 to 1980. It was approximately 20 miles north of Ponca City, Oklahoma and seven miles north of Newkirk, Oklahoma, near th ...
, Chilocco, Oklahoma, open 1884–1980 * Colbert Institute, Perryville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1852–57 by the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
* Collins Institute, near Stonewall, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Open about 1885 to 1905 * Concho Indian Boarding School,
Concho, Oklahoma Concho is an unincorporated community in Canadian County, Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansa ...
, open 1909–83 * Creek Orphan Asylum, Okmulgee, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, opened 1895 * Dwight Mission, Marble City, Oklahoma * Elliott Academy (formerly Oak Hill Industrial Academy), near
Valliant, Oklahoma Valliant is a town in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 754 at the 2010 census. History Valliant was founded June 2, 1902, in what was the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, and named for Frank W. Valliant, a chief div ...
, 1912–36 * El Meta Bond College, Minco, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1890–1919 * Emahaka Mission, Wewoka, Seminole Nation, Indian Territory, open 1894–1911 * Euchee Boarding School, Sapulpa, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, open 1894–1947 * Eufaula Dormitory,
Eufaula, Oklahoma Eufaula is a city and county seat of McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,813 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.6 percent from 2,639 in 2000. Eufaula is in the southern part of the county, north of McAlester and ...
, name changed from Eufaula High School in 1952. Still in operation * Eufaula Indian High School, Eufaula, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, replaced the burned Asbury Manual Labor School. Open in 1892–1952, when the name changed to Eufaula Dormitory * Folsom Training School, near Smithville, Oklahoma, open 1921–32, when it became an all-white school * Fort Coffee Academy, Fort Coffee, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. Open 1840–63 and run by the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
* Goodland Academy & Indian Orphanage,
Hugo, Oklahoma Hugo is a city in and the county seat of Choctaw County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in southeastern Oklahoma, approximately north of the Texas state line. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,310. The city was founded i ...
* Harley Institute, near Tishomingo, Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma. Prior to 1889 was known as the Chickasaw Academy and was operated by the
Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
until 1906. * Hillside Mission School, near Skiatook, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, open 1884–1908 by the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
* Iowa Mission School, near Fallis, Iowa Reservation, Indian Territory, open 1890–93 by the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
* Jones Academy, Hartshorne, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory/
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
. Opened in 1891 * Koweta Mission School Coweta, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, open 1843–61 * Levering Manual Labor School, Wetumka, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Open 1882–91, operated by the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...
. * Mekasukey Academy, near Seminole, Seminole Nation, Indian Territory, open 1891–1930 * Murray State School of Agriculture,
Tishomingo, Oklahoma Tishomingo is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,034 at the 2010 census, a decline of 4.1 percent from the figure of 3,162 in 2000. It was the first capital of the Chick ...
, est. 1908 * New Hope Academy, Fort Coffee, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. Open 1844–96 and run by the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
* Nuyaka School and Orphanage ( Nuyaka Mission, Presbyterian), Okmulgee, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, 1884–1933 * Oak Hill Industrial Academy, near Valliant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. Open 1878–1912 by the Presbyterian Mission Board. The Choctaw freedmen's academy was renamed as the Elliott Academy (aka Alice Lee Elliott Memorial Academy) in 1912. * Oak Ridge Manual Labor School, near Holdenville, Indian Territory, in the Seminole Nation. Open 1848–60s by the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...
Mission Board. * Oklahoma Presbyterian College for Girls,
Durant, Oklahoma Durant () is a city in Bryan County, Oklahoma, United States that serves as the headquarters of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The population was 18,589 in the 2020 census. Durant is the principal city of the Durant Micropolitan Statistical ...
* Oklahoma School for the Blind, Muskogee, Oklahoma * Oklahoma School for the Deaf,
Sulphur, Oklahoma Sulphur is a city in and county seat of Murray County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,929 at the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent gain over the figure of 4,794 in 2000. The area around Sulphur has been noted for its mineral springs, sin ...
* Osage Boarding School, Pawhuska, Osage Nation, Indian Territory, open 1874–1922 * Park Hill Mission School, Park Hill,
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign i ...
/
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
, opened 1837 * Pawnee Boarding School, Pawnee, Indian Territory, open 1878–1958 * Rainy Mountain Boarding School, near Gotebo, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, Indian Territory, open 1893–1920 * Red Moon School, near Hammon, Indian Territory, open 1897–1922 *
Riverside Indian School Riverside Indian School (RIS) is a Bureau of Indian Education-operated boarding school in unincorporated Caddo County, Oklahoma, with an Anadarko address, for grades 4-12. It first opened in 1871 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Riverside Indian School, ...
,
Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County. History Anadarko got its name when its post off ...
, open 1871–present * Sac and Fox Boarding School, near Stroud, Indiant Territory, open 1872–1919 by the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
* Sacred Heart College, near Asher, Potowatamie Nation, Indian Territory, open 1884–1902 * Sacred Heart Institute, near Asher, Potowatamie Nation, Indian Territory, open 1880–1929 * St. Agnes Academy,
Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,283, with an estimated population of 24,698 in 2019. The Ardmore micropolitan statistical area had an estimate ...
* St. Agnes Mission,
Antlers, Oklahoma Antlers is a city in and the county seat of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,453 at the 2010 census, a 3.9 percent decline from 2,552 in 2000. The town was named for a kind of tree that becomes festooned with antl ...
* St. Elizabeth's Boarding School,
Purcell, Oklahoma Purcell is a city in and the county seat of McClain County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,651. Founded in 1887, Purcell was a railroad town named after Edward B. Purcell, who was an official with the ...
* St. John's Boarding School, Gray Horse, Osage Nation, Indian Territory, open 1888–1913 and operated by the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions * St. Joseph's Boarding School,
Chickasha, Oklahoma Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,036 at the 2010 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The city is named for and strongly connecte ...
* St. Mary's Academy, near Asher, Potowatamie Nation, Indian Territory, open 1880–1946 * St. Louis Industrial School, Pawhuska, Osage Nation, Indian Territory, open 1887–1949 and operated by the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions * St. Mary's Boarding School, Quapaw Agency
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign i ...
/
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
, open 1893–1927 * St. Patrick's Mission and Boarding School, Anadarko, Indian Territory, open 1892–1909 by the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. It was rebuilt and called the Anadarko Boarding School. * Sasakwa Female Academy, Sasakwa, Seminole Nation, Indian Territory, open 1880–92 and run by the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...
* Seger Indian Training School, Colony, Indian Territory * Seneca, Shawnee, and Wyandotte Industrial Boarding School, Wyandotte, Indian Territory * Sequoyah High School, Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory * Shawnee Boarding School, near Shawnee, Indian Territory, open 1876–1918 * Shawnee Boarding School,
Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical ...
, open 1923–61 * Sulphur Springs Indian School, Pontotoc County, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory open 1896–98 *
Tullahassee Mission School Tullahassee is a town in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 106 in both the 2010 and the 2000 censuses. It was the location of Tullahassee Mission, an Indian boarding school that burned in 1880. Because their population ...
, Tullahassee, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, opened 1850 burned 1880 * Tullahassee Manual Labor School, Tullahassee, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, open 1883–1914 for
Creek Freedmen Creek Freedmen is a term for emancipated Creeks of African descent who were slaves of Muscogee Creek tribal members before 1866. They were emancipated under the tribe's 1866 treaty with the United States following the American Civil War, during w ...
* Tushka Lusa Institute (later called Tuska Lusa or Tushkaloosa Academy), near Talihina, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory opened 1892 for Choctaw Freedmen * Tuskahoma Female Academy, Lyceum, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1892–1925 * Wapanucka Academy (also sometimes called Allen Academy), near Bromide, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Open 1851–1911 by the
Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...
. * Wewoka Mission School, (also known as Ramsey Mission School) near Wewoka, Seminole Nation, Indian Territory. Open 1868–80 by the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...
Mission Board. *
Wheelock Academy Wheelock Academy was the model academy for the Five Civilized Tribes' academies. It was started as a missionary school for Choctaw girls, and is still owned by the Choctaw nation. The school closed in 1955 and the only remaining Choctaw school, ...
,
Millerton, Oklahoma Millerton is a town in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 359 at the United States Census, 2000, 2000 census. The oldest church building in Oklahoma, Wheelock Church, is located near Millerto ...
, closed 1955 * Wetumka Boarding School, Wetumka, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Levering Manual Labor School transferred from the Baptists to the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the Southe ...
in 1891 and they changed the name to the Wetumka Boarding School. Operated until 1910. * Yellow Springs School, Pontotoc County, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, open 1896–1905


Oregon

*
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 added ...
,
Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary bet ...
*Grand Ronde Agency School- Grand Ronde, Oregon *Indian Manual Labor Training School- Willamette, Oregon *Klamath Agency Schools (2)- Klamath Falls, Oregon *Siletz Agency School- Tillamook, Oregon *Umatilla Agency School *Warm Springs Agency Schools (2)- Warm Springs, Oregon


Pennsylvania

*
Carlisle Indian 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 ...
,
Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 census, the borough population was 20,118 ...
,"Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs"
''National Archives''. (retrieved 25 Feb 2010)
open 1879–1918
15 Sept 2003 (retrieved 25 Feb 2010)


South Dakota

* Chamberlain Indian School,
Chamberlain, South Dakota Chamberlain is a city in Brule County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Missouri River, at the dammed section of the Lake Francis Case, close to where it is crossed by Interstate 90. The population of Chamb ...
opened from 1898 to 1908 when it closed, reopened later in 1927 as St. Josephs Indian School. *
Flandreau Indian School Flandreau Indian School (FIS), previously Flandreau Indian Vocational High School, is an boarding school for Native American children (primarily Lakota) in unincorporated Moody County, South Dakota, adjacent to Flandreau. It is operated by the B ...
,
Flandreau, South Dakota Flandreau is a city in and county seat of Moody County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,372 at the 2020 census. It was named in honor of Charles Eugene Flandrau, a judge in the territory and state of Minnesota. He is credit ...
opened in 1872 as a mission school and then as a boarding school in 1890. As of 2022, it is still in operation. * Good Will Mission,
Sisseton, South Dakota Sisseton is a city in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,479 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Roberts County. Sisseton is the home to a number of tourist attractions, including the Nicollet Tower, and ...
open 1872 to 1910. * Immaculate Conception Indian School,
Stephan, South Dakota Stephan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hyde County, South Dakota, United States. Stephan has been assigned the ZIP code of 57346. The population of the CDP was 68 at the 2020 census. Some say Stephan was nam ...
opened in 1886 under the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, later renamed the Stephan Indian School. Came under control of the Crow Creek tribe in 1970 and is now the Crow Creek Tribal School * Marty Indian School,
Marty, South Dakota Marty is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern Charles Mix County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 677 at the 2020 census. The community has the name of Marty McFly, a character from the movie Back to the Future. The commu ...
The school was founded in 1924 as St. Paul's Indian Mission School and has been tribally owned and operated by the Yankton Sioux Tribe since 1975. * Oahe Industrial School,
Pierre, South Dakota Pierre ( ; lkt, Čhúŋkaške, lit=fort) is the capital city of South Dakota, United States, and the seat of Hughes County. The population was 14,091 at the 2020 census, making it the second-least populous US state capital after Montpelier, ...
opened in 1874 by Congregationalists until construction of the Oahe Dam in the 1950s closed the school and flooded the land. * Pierre Indian School,
Pierre, South Dakota Pierre ( ; lkt, Čhúŋkaške, lit=fort) is the capital city of South Dakota, United States, and the seat of Hughes County. The population was 14,091 at the 2020 census, making it the second-least populous US state capital after Montpelier, ...
opened in 1891 and still in operation today * Pine Ridge Boarding School,
Pine Ridge, South Dakota Pine Ridge ( Lakota: ''wazíbló'') is a census-designated place (CDP) and the most populous community in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,138 at the 2020 census. It is the tribal headquarters of the Oglala ...
opened in 1888 as the Holy Rosary Mission by the Jesuits, renamed the Red Cloud Indian School in 1969 * St. Joseph's Indian School,
Chamberlain, South Dakota Chamberlain is a city in Brule County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Missouri River, at the dammed section of the Lake Francis Case, close to where it is crossed by Interstate 90. The population of Chamb ...
, opened in 1927, run by the Priests of the Sacred Heart and still in operation * St. Elizabeths Indian School,
Wakpala, South Dakota Wakpala is an unincorporated community in Corson County, South Dakota, United States, on the west side of the Missouri River, north-northwest of Mobridge. Although not tracked by the Census Bureau, Wakpala has been assigned the ZIP code of 5765 ...
opened 1886-1967 * Rapid City Indian School,
Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
open from 1898 to 1933 * Springfield Indian School, Springfield, South Dakota opened as the Hope Indian Mission in 1879, renamed the St. Mary's Indian School for Girls in 1902, and closed by the 1970s. * Sisseton Industrial School,
Sisseton, South Dakota Sisseton is a city in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,479 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Roberts County. Sisseton is the home to a number of tourist attractions, including the Nicollet Tower, and ...
opened in 1873 as the Sisseton Manual Labor Boarding School, later named the Sisseton Industrial school in 1902, and closed by 1919 * Tekakwitha Indian Orphanage, Sisseton,
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large portion ...
,opened by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1938 and closed by the late 1960s.


Utah

*
Intermountain Indian School The Intermountain Indian School (1950–1984) was a Native American boarding school in Brigham City, Utah. History This was originally the site of Bushnell Army Hospital. It operated from 1942 to 1946 and served wounded soldiers of World ...
, Utah


Virginia

*
Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association aft ...
, Hampton, Virginia, began accepting Native students in 1878.


Washington

* Puyallup Indian School,
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
, Open 1860-1920 * St. Mary's Mission Pascal Sherman Indian School, Omak, WA * Tulalip Indian School,
Tulalip The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, lut, dxʷlilap), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. T ...
, WA


Wisconsin

* Hayward Indian School,
Hayward, Wisconsin Hayward is a city in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States, next to the Namekagon River. The population was 2,318 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sawyer County. The city is surr ...
* Oneida Indian School, Wisconsin * Tomah Indian School, Wisconsin * Wittenberg Indian School,
Wittenberg, Wisconsin Wittenberg is a village in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,081 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Wittenberg. History In 1886, the Wittenberg Indian School was established by the Norweg ...


See also

* American Indian outing programs *
Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school s ...
*
Cultural assimilation of Native Americans The cultural assimilation of Native Americans refers to a series of efforts by the United States to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream European–American culture between the years of 1790 and 1920. George Washington and Henry Knox we ...
*
Cultural genocide Cultural genocide or cultural cleansing is a concept which was proposed by lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944 as a component of genocide. Though the precise definition of ''cultural genocide'' remains contested, the Armenian Genocide Museum defines ...
*
Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team The Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team was made up of seven Native Americans in the United States, Native American students from various tribes who attended the Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School in Fort Shaw, Montana, Fort Shaw, Montana, U ...
*
Indian Placement Program The Indian Placement Program (IPP) or Indian Student Placement Program (ISPP), also called the Lamanite Placement Program,
*
Indian Relocation Act of 1956 The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 (also known as Public Law 959 or the Adult Vocational Training Program) was a United States law intended to create a "a program of vocational training" for Native Americans in the United States. Critics charact ...
*
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Ame ...
*
Native Americans in the United States Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States a ...
* Native schools in New Zealand *
School segregation in the United States A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
*
Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
, children of
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
descent who were removed from their families by the
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
and state government agencies * '' Tobeluk v. Lind'', a landmark case in Native education where 27 teenaged
Alaskan Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
plaintiffs brought suit against the State of
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
claiming that their boarding school experiences were
racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
and educational inequity.


References


Further reading

* Adams, David Wallace. ''Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928''. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1995. * * Child, Brenda J. (2000). ''Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families'', Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press. . *
Meriam, Lewis et al., ''The Problem of Indian Administration''
Brookings Institution, 1928 (full text online at Alaskool.org) * Warren, Kim Cary, ''The Quest for Citizenship: African American and Native American Education in Kansas, 1880-1935'', Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.


External links

* Bear, Charla
"American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many"
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
, May 12, 2008
An Indian Boarding School Photo Gallery
University of Illinois

University of Washington Digital Collection *
Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report
',
US Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...
, May 2022 {{Schools Assimilation of indigenous peoples of North America History of education in the United States United States federal Indian policy C Cultural genocide Violence against children Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States Child sexual abuse in the United States Christianity and children Christianity-related controversies