Carlisle Indian Industrial School

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The Carlisle Indian Industrial School Out of all the various attempts the United States government attempted over the years to solve the indian problem, one method employed relatively late in history was that of education. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School marked the beginning of a new federal government policy in regards to the education of Native Americans at early ages in life. The aim of the school was to rid the “red man” of his previous environment and teach him the rudimental values of modern life and assimilation into a civilized American community. However, despite reaching its goal of introducing a newfound education to Native American children that would have otherwise gone without, the Carlisle School mainly aided in the purpose…show more content…
government began the process of carrying out some of its previous obligations when dealing with the Native American population. By the 1870’s the power of Indian reform groups had increased as the movement pointed out the obvious flaws in morality that stemmed from taking land from the indigenous people simply because it was desired. This led to the federal government’s attempt in appeasement by setting up day schools close by several reservations. These day schools were built in order to make students travel off of reservations in order to attend schooling before returning home, in the hopes of not only assimilating the Indian children, but their parents as well through association and shared knowledge. The reformation of education for Native Americans was centrally based on ideals of individualism, industry, and the acceptance and conversion to Christian doctrine and morality. However, these day schools showed little to no improvement, and instead only served to increase instilling strong Native beliefs in young children in an attempt to keep their natural born culture…show more content…
In 1875, Colonel Pratt was placed in charge of 72 indians prisoners that had been captured during one of the numerous battles with the U.S. army on the southern plain. While guarding these prisoners, Pratt’s idea of assimilation bloomed and he immediately began teaching them basic english. After their english skills had been properly developed on a level Pratt considered appropriate, teachings soon switched to that of European ideals which concentrated on civilization and Christianity, agriculture, and working trades. Run very similarly to an army encampment, students were awoken by the sound of a bugle and made to follow a strict schedule that consisted of attending classes, studying, partaking in mass, roll call, and evening dinner. This lifestyle was run particularly fast paced, and enforced under the watchful eyes of strict administrators that mainly consisted of army appointed soldiers. By leading the school through such a strongly influenced curriculum, its original definition of a private boarding school soon shifted to that of a ‘boot camp”, essentially disregarding its original purpose of a means of education and assimilation to that of extensive
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