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Unit 10: The Early Reservation Years 1880-1920
In this Unit, students will learn:
How Indians survived without the bison.
How Federal Indian Policy kept changing.
How the US government tried to destroy Indian
culture.
What Indian people did to keep their cultural
traditions alive.
Why non-Indians own so much land so some
Montana Reservations.
Question to Ponder: Have you
been to a Montana Reservation?
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The Big
Picture
The Big Picture
After the Indian Wars, there was still tremendous upheaval for the
Native Americans in Montana.
Government policies made life difficult during this transition time and
forced Montana’s Natives to adapt to a new way of life.
Native Americans have always
presented a challenge for the
United States. How do you deal
with the indigenous peoples of the
land you conquered? Moving them
West only lasted as long as there
was land to move them onto. Plus,
it wasn’t always successful or
beneficial to all parties. Because of
these complexities, Federal Indian
Policy shifted over the years. Each
shift marks the end of an era. The
first ‘era’ is called co-existence, and
lasted until about 1828. But,
events, and court cases would
quickly change this relatively
peaceful time.
The Bison Era Comes to an End
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First
Eras
1492-1828: Co-existence Era: Peaceful cohabitation of whites and Indians.
1829-1849: Removal Era: President Jackson sent remaining Eastern
Indians west, mostly to Oklahoma.
1850-1871: Treaty Era: The US recognized Indian sovereignty and entered
into agreements with tribes across America.
The Supreme Court shaped much of
early Indian policy. One of the first
court cases dealt with the simple
question of Indians owning land. In
1823, the court handed down the
decision in Johnson v M’Intosh which
ruled that private citizens couldn’t
buy land from Native Americans. In
dismissing the case, Chief Justice
Marshall said that the very discovery
of the Americas gave us the right to
Indian lands either by purchase or
conquest. Marshall concluded that
Indians were simply temporary
occupants of America and had no
rights to land ownership.
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Middle
Eras
The Bison Era Comes to an End
1871-1886: Reservation Era: Westward expansion mandated extreme
reductions in Indian Lands and resettlement of Native populations.
1886-1932: Assimilation Era: New laws aimed at destroying tribes in
favor of individual Indians being brought into the American melting pot.
As we learned in Chapter 7, treaties
simply made the procurement of Indian
lands legal. No matter what the treaties’
language, the signed documents allowed
the continual reduction of traditional
tribal areas. Each tribe was faced with
decisions on how to proceed into the
future. Some tribes peacefully moved,
others fought back. Some tribes were
treated so brutally, that they were left
with no choice but to resettle.
Americans thought this was the end to
the Indian problem, but relocating
hunter/gatherers onto barren tracks of
land with nothing to survive on forced
tribe after tribe to rely solely upon the
annuities and handouts the Federal
Government provided.
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Late
Eras
The Bison Era Comes to an End
1932-1945: Indian Reorganization Act Era: Assimilation was deemed a
failure and Indians were once again allowed tribal self-rule.
1945-1961: Termination Era: Last attempt to break the hold
Reservations had over their communities by relocating thousands to cities.
The United States wasn’t unique during
this time. Other countries carved out
of indigenous lands also saw great
changes throughout the 19th Century.
New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and
South Africa all had ‘native’ populations
that presented problems to the
conquerors. But in each country
(including the US,) the traditions,
culture, and society of the Natives was
ignored and marginalized. Each nation
forgot that the people they conquered
had been living unchanged for
thousands of years. No one ever
expected Natives to display such
tenacity, perseverance, and resilience
to maintain ancient lifestyles.
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Current
Era
The Bison Era Comes to an End
1961-Present: Self Determination Era: The Civil Rights movement
expanded to Native Americans allowing them legal protections to their
culture and expanded rights on their Reservations.
The American Indian Movement (AIM) was
formed in 1968 to focus on Indian
spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty for
Native Americans. The 1960s was a time of
turmoil and change, and Native Americans
wanted their equal rights and protections
as well. AIM started in Minnesota to
address poverty and problems on local
reservations. But, they also wanted
protections that mostly fell on deaf ears;
this kept expanded AIM membership. In
1971, AIM occupied the Bureau of Indian
Affairs in Washington. Two years later, AIM
members occupied the Wounded Knee
Battlefield for over 90 days. They have 20
‘points’ or demands-which includes the
restoration of millions of acres of land back
into Indian hands.
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Reservation
Era
1871-1886
The Bison Era Comes to an End
Each Montana Tribe was moved onto Reservations at different
times with different results.
The main problem was survival made difficult by the bison
eradication and limited opportunities on their new, smaller lands.
After being denied further help and
supplies from the Canadians, Sitting Bull
returned to the United States in 1881
with 187 members of his tribe. After
four years, most of the young member
had already drifted back to the US, and
most of the Indians still left with him
were old with no where else to go. His
official surrender was at Fort Buford in
North Dakota. As each member turned
over his weapons, Sitting Bull handed
his rifle to his son. After asking the
soldier what his father was supposed to
do now, the soldier is reported to have
said, “Boy, if you live, you will never be a
man in this world because you can never
again own a gun or pony.”
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Starvation
Winter
The Bison Era Comes to an End
Montana’s northern tribes, the Blackfeet, Gros Ventre, Sioux, and
Assiniboine grew increasingly dependent upon annuities for survival.
Sympathy was low for Indians, and Congress ignored or cut back
on supplies which proved disastrous when winter hit early in 1883.
The Blackfeet buried their dead on what is
known as Ghost Ridge. It is filled with
hundreds of graves from Starvation Winter
and stands as a reminder to the Blackfeet
that at one time the United States tried to
eradicate their people. Only recently, have
some wrongs been made right. For 118
years, the BIA managed mineral, oil, and
timber rights on Reservations. The idea was
to help the tribes develop these resources.
The reality was a century of mismanagement
and thievery. In 2010, the Supreme Court
ruled in favor of Elouise Cobell and agreed to
a $3.4 billion settlement for past moneys
owed to tribes. It’s doubtful anyone will see
the $352,000 average settlement, but the
case opens doors for future litigations.
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Brutal
Outcome
The Bison Era Comes to an End
Blackfeet Reservation Agent John Young mismanaged funds and
denied problems as crop failures and annuity shortages became critical.
Each northern tribe lost hundreds to starvation as spring revealed the
results and each was forced to sell off more land to survive.
In the winter of 1883, as the cattle of white
settlers grazed illegally on Indian lands, the
Blackfeet began to die of starvation and a
streptococcal epidemic. In the spring, they ate
their last government-provided seed potatoes;
by June they were stripping cottonwood trees
to chew the inner bark. By the time BIA
officials in Washington finally responded with
extra rations, a Blackfeet man called Almost-ADog was said to have cut 555 notches in a
willow stick, one for every Indian who had died
-- one in every four Blackfeet in the state of
Montana. Each tribe’s losses were similar and
entirely preventable. But apathy or even
outright hatred for Natives prevented or
thwarted minimal amounts of supplies that
could have saved thousands.
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Reservation
Control
Life on the Reservations
In 1849, Agents were appointed by Washington to oversee day to
day operations, distribute funds or annuities, and maintain order.
Little oversight allowed corrupt Agents to dictate and control the lives
of their Natives while also stealing the funds allocated to help them.
Until 1849, the US military was in charge of the
Native Americans. The new Department of the
Interior then became responsible and control
fell to politically appointed Reservation Agents.
As more tribes were resettled onto smaller
tracks of land, hunting and gathering became
impossible. Hunger, disease and poverty quickly
became a way of life for Indians across America.
When government policy shifted to assimilation,
Agents became the de facto tribal government
for each Reservation. Agents not only
distributed supplies, they also dispensed justice,
decided allotments, signed contracts for the
tribe, and became responsible for their Indian’s
health and education. Corruption was rampant
and most Agents only stayed long enough to pad
their own wallets before moving on.
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Indian
Appropriations
Act of 1871
Life on the Reservations
Congress officially ended the Treaty Era by no longer recognizing
independent Tribal governments.
Indians were also made wards of the United States to help
protect them from whites who were encroaching on Indians Lands.
After the Civil War, abolitionists tackled the
“Indian Problem.” Their solution was assimilation
and the destruction of Indian culture. Even the
most liberal reformers desired Indians to become
part of, rather than stand in the way of US
expansion and development. Most reformers felt
they had the best interests of the Indians in mind,
and their sincerity can’t be dismissed. But,
reformers thirty years previously had argued the
best policy then was to move Indians away from
civilization and onto their own tracks of land. The
‘new’ reformers saw the Reservations as the main
problem and pushed for mainstreaming Natives
into American Society. Reformers refused to
acknowledge any value in Indian cultures or
traditions, the only thing most Native Americans
had left by the time Federal Policy shifted again.
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Assimilation
Era
1886-1932
Life on the Reservations
As free roaming Indians became scarcer, Federal Policy shifted
again to mainstreaming Natives into American society.
Reformers felt forcing Indians to give up their traditions, beliefs,
and cultures would help speed up their transition into US citizens.
The Friends of the Indians was actually an
organization formed to better Indian lives.
Most members were Quakers, who felt religion
would speed up the assimilation process, and
various Protestant churches already had a
strong presence on most Reservations. The
Friends desired to teach Indians how to behave
in a civilized manner and learn skills that would
help transition them out of the
hunter/gatherer way of life. To make this more
effective, the Friends wanted to remove Indian
children from their tribes and educate them
properly, away from cultural influences. They
pressured Congress into assimilation policies
designed to further weaken the power Tribes
held over their people. Their next step was to
go after the Reservations themselves.
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Life on the Reservations
Reforms were aimed at destroying the hold Tribes had over their
Good
Intentions people and replace them with Individual rights and responsibilities.
Agents changed leadership traditions, outlawed religious ceremonies,
banned traditional dress, and appointed cooperative Indian leaders.
Leadership was something every Montana
tribe had dealt with for eons. Each tribe had
its own way to determine who could lead their
people. The Crow, for instance, saw four ways
for men to demonstrate leadership: stealing
an enemies horse or his weapon in battle,
Counting Coup on an opponent, leading men
into battle successfully, or by doing a brave act.
Obviously, this was a subjective process, but
this provided cohesion to a tribe based upon
traditions they felt were honorable and gave
children a reason to become men. As tribes
were put onto reservations, each found these
time honored ways taken away from them.
The result would be the same thing if you took
away our political, educational, and even our
social traditions that make us Americans.
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Bad
Results
Life on the Reservations
The Tribal Council system of chiefs, advisors, and democratic debate was
replaced with Indians who were simply allied with the Agents.
The new leaders created discord by advocating for the Agent and his
assimilation policies; rifts split tribes and created future problems.
Indians were truly in a no win situation. If they
cooperated with the Agent they were looked badly
upon by their peers. If they didn’t cooperate, their
rations were cut or suspended and they were
constantly threatened with being relocated on the
Reservation to less favorable circumstances.
Agents controlled the limited Reservation housing,
which they allocated to cooperative tribal
members. They controlled who came and went,
and ‘passes’ were only granted to the Agent’s
Indians. As assimilation Reformers eyed the forced
white education of Indian children, Agents
handpicked the children of the least cooperative
Indians to send the furthest away. Reservations
themselves were then blamed for the very
conditions they created, and legislation would
soon be passed that would turn Montana’s
Reservations from red to white.
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The People Kept Their Cultures Alive
Grass Dances had been practiced by most Montana Tribes for
Holidays
centuries and were ways for all to celebrate the deeds of the Tribe.
Become
Pow Wows Agents banned traditional celebrations; tribes realized the only way
to keep traditions alive was to piggy back them onto our holidays.
Pow Wows also allowed for inter-tribal
sharing and bonding. Reservations often had
more than a single tribe, and some tribes
found themselves living right next to ‘bitter’
enemies. Violence wasn’t going to be
tolerated, so celebrations like Pow Wows
allowed different tribes to form bonds where
none had existed previously. Sharing of
songs, dances, food, and merriment allowed
friendships to foster while also keeping some
aspect of Indian culture alive. Most tribes
used to only allow warrior to perform Pow
Wow activities. But, as tribal numbers kept
dwindling on the Reservations, tribes opened
up the celebrations to include women,
children, and the old. Today, most Pow Wows
in Montana are still held around the 4th of July
because of this.
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Germs
Strike
Again
Diseases Set Everyone Back
Diseases continually swept Reservations due to poor sanitation, over
crowding, bad nutrition, and non-existent preventive care.
Tuberculosis, measles, meningitis, streptococcus, and trachoma all
ravaged tribes across Montana keeping tribes weak and vulnerable.
We can only imagine what life must have been like
before antibiotics. For Native Americans living
during the early Reservation years, no antibiotics
often meant a death sentence. Reservations were
perfect breeding grounds for so called ‘crowd
diseases’ that flourished in tightly packed,
undernourished places. The mobility that let
most Montana tribes ‘escape’ the early epidemics
was replaced with overcrowded and sedentary life
styles conducive to diseases taking hold and
spreading. Tuberculosis rates ran as high as 90%,
trachoma 50%, and strep 30% or more for some
tribes. Even though vaccines had been available
for over a century, small pox was still a constant
threat as well; the last small pox epidemic in the
United States was in the 1930s on the Navajo
Reservation.
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Making a Living on the Reservations
Farming Most Montana tribes had practiced agriculture that complimented their
hunting and gathering, and transitioning to it on Reservations came easy.
Agents made this transition difficult as they stole or mismanaged funds,
shuffled people willy-nilly, and stole most profits or surplus crops.
At what point does gathering become farming?
Most people believe that Montana Native Americans
never farmed until we stuck them on Reservations.
Because Indians didn’t plow up the land every year,
judgment was passed that they were, at most,
primitive farmers. This only further demonstrates
the naivety we still have about our first peoples. By
not plowing, Indian farmland was far more
sustainable long term. By allowing plants to flourish
year round and picking only what was in season,
Indians practiced crop rotation on a more wide
spread basis than European fallowing. Even the
common Indian practice of slashing and burning old
crops has been looked at negatively for centuries; a
technique which actually returns nutrients to the
soil. As our soils are required to feed more and
more every year, people are looking at Indian
farming practices with a bit more respect.
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Making a Living on the Reservations
In 1908 the Supreme Court ruled that ranchers couldn’t divert the Milk
The
Winter’s River out of the Ft. Belknap Reservation.
Decision Indians were entitled to a fair share of a region’s water by the very
treaties that stuck them on Reservations in the first place.
The Justices argued that the very creation
of a Reservation has repercussions and
responsibilities to the states they reside in.
The Court established that the reservation
of land also included the reservation of
water on or bordering Reservations in
order for that land to be productive
farmland. The problem though was in the
details in that tribes had to show up front
how much water they needed. This wasn’t
always possible and neighbors used this
against tribes to ‘legally’ continue diverting
water. Even today, this is making news as
the Blackfoot river has irrigated farms on
and off the Flathead Reservation for a
century, and a new slew of cases is once
again being heard and argued.
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Making a Living on the Reservations
Ranching Cattle and horses provided a transition that most Indians embraced
and excelled at; but, politics and other problems were common.
Agents pressured their Natives towards profits while most Indians
simply wanted to raise livestock in order to feed their families.
Part of the problem for Natives was confusion on
what would work best for them. Originally,
Blackfeet Agents pressured their people to
become farmers. The thought was sedentary
lifestyles would be more conducive to
assimilation. Irrigation was all that the Agents
thought was needed to turn the desolate areas
they lived on into productive farmland. The same
Agent also demanded that cattle and ranching be
profitable. This is not easy to do, even in the less
harsh parts of Montana; on the Blackfeet
Reservation in the early 1900s with drought
conditions-profits were next to impossible. The
Agent at the time labeled the Indians incompetent
and took most of the cattle for himself. When
Allotment hit the Blackfeet in 1907, the Tribe was
once again in rough shape and was forced to sell
off thousands of acres to whites.
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Making a Living on the Reservations
Ranching Indian traditions such as giving away material possessions in order to
Problems help strengthen family bonds were ignored for profits.
Successful Indian ranchers often saw their cows confiscated by Agents
looking to profit without any compensation.
The story of the Northern Cheyenne
typifies Indian treatment during the early
part of the 20th century. At first, the 300
Natives were settled along the Tongue river
near the Crow reservation. Their plight was
sad enough that many white ranchers,
already living along the river, not only
helped out the Indians, but some even
married into the tribe. As the tribe
expanded, so did their cattle and horse
herds. Their horse herds grew so large, that
many Indians simply let them roam wild.
The Cheyenne leased out ranch and farm
land to nearby whites, who started
complaining about the horses eating all the
feed. As their complaints grew louder, the
government stepped in to cull the herds.
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Making a Living on the Reservations
Horse On the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations, neighboring white
Culls ranchers successfully lobbied to have 1,000s of horses destroyed.
The horses were cutting into grazing rights, and by 1923, an est. 40,000
were killed, leaving both tribes bereft of a major aspect of their cultures.
Neither the Northern Cheyenne, nor the
Crow (who also had huge horse herds,) were
willing to kill their own horses, an almost
sacred animal to them. Outsiders, mostly
Texans, were brought in and paid 4 dollars
per horse to bring the wild horses down to a
manageable level. The culling took almost 3
years and by the time it was done at least
40,000 ponies were destroyed. Some Crow
put the number at over 100,000. The results
were tragic. Without their horses, both
Crow and Northern Cheyenne cattle herds,
which were large enough to allow for some
self sufficiency on both Reservations,
dramatically fell. The morale of both tribes
was devastated as one of the last aspects of
their cultures was destroyed.
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Other
Industries
Making a Living on the Reservations
Plentiful timber on most Reservations allowed for sawmills to spring
up, but the resource was managed by the Agent and outsiders.
Oil was abundant on the Blackfeet Reservation, but mismanagement
by the US Government meant little money trickled down to the tribe.
In 2010, the Blackfeet Tribal Council voted to once
again allow for drilling of gas and oil on their
Reservation. This was an extremely controversial
decision not supported by all of the tribe. Fracking,
or the process of pumping thousands of gallons of
water and chemicals into wells to increase
production, drives the controversy today. On one
side is money, something every Reservation,
particularly the Blackfeet with 80% unemployment,
needs desperately. On the other side is 150 years of
distrust, mismanagement, and outright thievery of
Indian industries and natural resources. In Poplar,
on the Fort Peck Reservation in Eastern Montana,
the tribe wants to participate in the Bakken Oil
boom, centered around Williston, North Dakota,
only 75 miles away. But, test wells in the area have
all come up dry. As exploration expands, maybe the
Sioux’s dream of oil money may come true.
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The Dawes Act: Allotments Subdivided the Reservations
Dawes Act Congress opened up Reservations to outside settlement by taking
away lands from the Tribe and allotting it to individual Indians.
of 1887
The goals were to break up Tribes, encourage individual initiative,
lessen government expenses, & to encourage more farming by Natives.
Traditional tribal organization was complicated
and based upon numerous factors. But, it gave
a purpose and a sense on continuity to tribes
based upon traditions that were thousands of
years old. Reformers though saw Tribes as the
main obstacle to assimilation that coddled
Natives into accepting a primitive way of life.
The tribes were seen as strong, tight-knit
societies led by powerful men who were
opposed to any change that weakened their
positions. The Indians' failure to adopt the
"Euroamerican" lifestyle, which was the social
norm in the United States at the time, was
seen as both unacceptable and uncivilized.
Compounding this were the Reservation
Agents who encouraged dissension amongst
the tribe by punishing uncooperative Indians.
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General
Allotment
Results
The Dawes Act: Allotments Subdivided the Reservations
Allotment was complicated, time consuming, and the 160 acres per
head of household was not enough for families to sustain themselves.
The promise of US citizenship by accepting allotments enticed
many Indians to participate, but the repercussions are still felt today.
Allotment was semi-compulsary. That
meant that the Tribes had to be involved but
individual Indians volunteered or were
coerced by their Reservation Agents to
participate. Natives were allowed up to 4
years to select which allotment they wanted
and once they had “adopted to a civilized
lifestyle,” and “lived separate from their
Tribes” they were granted U.S. citizenship
and full title. They also had to start paying
taxes on their newly acquired lands. But,
further legislation allowed Agents to
confiscate lands from ‘incompetent Indians.’
The results were devastating. Poverty rates
soared and the entire communal structure
for Tribes was replaced with individual plots
of land, insufficient to raise a family.
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Montana
Allotment
The Dawes Act: Allotments Subdivided the Reservations
Montana tribes handled Allotment differently and some were able to
argue successfully that surplus lands should be kept by the Tribe.
The most devastated Reservation was the Flathead, which was highly
coveted, and over 2/3rds was transferred out of Indian hands.
The Dawes Act was reaffirmed in a 1903 Supreme
Court ruling that gave the US authority, even without
permission from tribes, to subdivide Reservations. But,
most of the allotted lands, even with full title, was
basically worthless. Continual tax defaults and
repossessions devalued allotted Indian lands. The
majority of Indians though didn’t receive title until the
25 year Trust period had expired. But, as most allotted
land was done at the same time, after 25 years,
thousands of acres of land went up for sale across each
of Montana’s Reservations simultaneously. Most land
was sold at rock bottom prices to outsiders, further
whitening Reservations. The Dawes Act kept the
majority of Native Americans at the mercy of the
Federal Government, making it impossible for them to
get loans to develop their newly acquired allotments,
and keeping them in adjunct poverty.
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The Dawes Act: Allotments Subdivided the Reservations
Allotment Cattle herds fell as communal lands were replaced with private farms;
and 160 acres wasn’t enough to run cows while also farming.
Failures
Most allotments were held in Trust for 25 years, and couldn’t be sold.
Fractionalization caused subsequent generations to receive less and
less inheritance as the land was continually subdivided.
70% of Native lands were taken and poverty & illiteracy rates soared.
The Dawe’s Act was simply another legal way to take
back Indian Lands, something even a majority of people
understood at the time. Colorado Senator Henry Teller
spoke that allotment was designed "to get at the Indian
lands and open them up to settlement. The provisions for
the apparent benefit of the Indians are but the pretext to
get at his lands and occupy them....If this were done in
the name of Greed, it would be bad enough; but to do it
in the name of Humanity...is infinitely worse.“ Allotment
was a dismal failure and is the main cause for the
extreme poverty still felt on Reservation today. Instead
of reforming and assimilating Natives, the Dawe’s Act
separated tribes from millions of promised acres while
also putting them into a hopeless situation and at
disadvantage while all being expected to act, become
and prosper as a new, U.S. citizen.
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Education
Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Day Schools already existed on most Reservations, set up by various
Christian Churches to spread the Gospels to the Indians.
The emphasis was Religious conversion but the results were slow and
inconsistent; reformers again saw the problem as the tribes themselves.
Congress wasn’t keen on providing funds to educate
Indians, and most Reservations already had a strong
religious presence. Methodists, Lutherans, and
Catholics started the first mission schools on
Reservations as early as the 1840s, sometimes with
government support. But, in 1873, Congress
stopped all support of mission schools and started
building ‘Day Schools’ at major Reservation towns
like Poplar and Browning. Day schools still
emphasized religion, but also vocational training,
farming skills, and the three Rs’. Unfortunately, the
Reformers saw this as further coddling Tribes and
preventing assimilation as the students went home
each day. As the idea for in state boarding schools
took hold, extremists pushed for ‘total immersion’
into the white world by forcing students to travel
thousands of miles and stay away for years at a time.
Page 222
Kill the
Indian,
Save the
Man
Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
By 1880, over 60 Boarding schools had been set up on Reservations to
speed up assimilation by separating Indians from their tribes.
Reformers though advocated larger, far away schools where thousands
could be educated without ‘tribal influences’ slowing assimilation.
Colonel Richard Pratt is a bit of an enigma. He
almost singlehandedly created the Boarding School
model that would be used for the next 50 years. He
wanted schools to be in communities with no Indian
presence. After the Civil War, hundreds of former
military barracks went unused across the country,
and Pratt felt former barracks in Pennsylvania would
be perfect. Carlisle was the only school on the east
coast, but it became the most infamous. In 1904,
Pratt felt the Indian Problem was getting worse
because of the incompetence of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. The resulting political firestorm
forced him to resign. He spent the rest of his life
visiting former students and advocating for Indian
rights. He died in 1924 at the age of 83. His efforts
to kill the Indian and save the man had everlasting
consequences for dozens of tribes across the West.
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Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Boarding Richard Pratt set up one of the first of these schools in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania in 1879, and it became the model for dozens like it.
Schools
Thousands of Native children were shipped off across the nation, but
results were still low. In 40 years, Carlisle only ‘graduated’ 158 students.
Besides blacksmithing, woodworking, bricklaying, basic
plumbing, and construction, boys were trained in
farming and ranching. Girls received education in
maintaining households as well as basic secretary and
bookkeeping skills. Most schools also had sports
programs such as basketball and football. The football
coach, ‘Pop’ Warner got his start at Carlisle coaching Jim
Thorpe. In 1905, the first Carlisle graduate went to
college in North Dakota and by 1912 dozens of Indians
were enrolled in law schools. Carlisle extensively
documented its students over the years, and their
records provide invaluable resources for historians
today. Obviously, there was a darker side. Punishments
ranged from beatings to isolation. Bed wetting was
common amongst these children and the punishment
of stripping students naked and beating them in front of
their peers was exceptionally cruel and humiliating.
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Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Boarding The schools were run like military forts and students received
education in religious studies, the three Rs’ and vocational training.
School
Assimilation was the underlying goal, and Native cultures and traditions
Goals
were viewed as evil, savage, and backwards.
By 1904, $45 million had been spent setting up and
operating out of Reservation boarding schools like
Carlisle. Congress felt there was no evidence that
assimilation was progressing and shifted funding back to
Reservation based boarding schools. By 1920, 7 of the
dozen schools, including Carlisle, had been closed and
public schools were being built instead. Some state
boarding schools though continued to operate but all
were on the Reservations. Even though children were no
longer ripped from their mother’s arms, many tribes still
have negativity towards even these Montana run schools.
Today, there are a handful of operating boarding schools
in our state. The difference is students are selected by
merit and must apply for the superior education these
schools provide today. Some are even out of state and
have long waiting lists for students who see them as a
way out of the continual poverty of their Reservations.
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Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Boarding Thousands of children were separated from their families for years,
often permanently and many returned with long lasting emotional scars.
School
Scars existed for the Tribes as well, as family bonds were destroyed
Results
and often the Agents determined which children were sent away.
Many tribes look back at the boarding school experience,
regardless of the positive results, as the most devastating
event that happened to them. Many view this time
period as more hopeless than the initial transition tribes
experienced moving to Reservations. The abuse the
students endured was compounded by the loneliness and
lack of any loving support at the schools. Add to that the
misery inflicted upon parents separated from their
children for years and the disconnect towards anything
‘Indian’ that returning students felt, and you might begin
to understand the hopelessness that this era created.
Some historians go as far as to connect almost any
problem Reservations have today: suicide, drug and
alcohol abuse, child neglect, and adjunct poverty, as
having their roots in the boarding school era.
Generational poverty exists on Reservations, and maybe
this time period truly is the main culprit.
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Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Carlisle’s In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled that children could no longer be
forcibly removed; Congress also was balking at the cost and results.
End
By 1900, smaller state boarding schools had replaced far away ones as
they were cheaper and the results were actually better.
Chemawa Boarding School near Salem, Oregon
opened in 1885 and by 1900 had 450 students.
It was the second large, out of state school
after Carlisle. By 1913 the school not only
provided vocational and agricultural training,
but had basketball, baseball, and football
teams. The campus kept growing as some
former students bought nearby land and gave
it to the school. Threatened with closure
during the Great Depression, Chemawa
received national attention and money was
found to keep it running. In the 1970s, a new
campus was built and most of the old brick
buildings were torn down. Today, Chemawa is
the largest continuously operated boarding
school still running and is simply called
Chemawa High School.
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Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Educated Returning Natives brought changes back to their Reservations and for
the first time, Indians were able to start advocating for themselves.
Indians
The devaluing of Indian traditions weakened tribes, and languages and
cultures were forever lost as students returned home with educations.
Another boarding school still open today is
Sherman Indian High School in Riverside,
California. Opened in 1892, Sherman was also
rebuilt in the 1970s. The stories from there are
similar to Carlisle and Chemawa. Students
remember beatings, abuse, racism, and long
term separations from their families. But, in
spite of all the pain and suffering by both them
and their families, one of the main benefits
boarding schools students recall was helping
their tribes understand the US, business, and
American culture. Frank Miller, a Riverside
businessman, built the famous Mission Inn and
used Sherman graduates to staff it. Even though
Miller used the boarding school as a source of
cheap labor, he promoted Indian culture in the
process, helping preserve parts of it.
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Losing Our Selves: The Boarding School Experience
Promising By 1923, most boarding schools had been replaced with local, public
schools but numerous ones still exist throughout the West.
Changes
Intertribal friendships made at places like Carlisle also allowed for a
cohesive and unified Indian voice that started changes nationwide.
Regimented, military style training was the typical
daily schedule for most boarding school students.
Students recall that everything happened by the
bells of the triangles that rang wake-up, teeth
brushing, washing of hands and faces, morning
exercises, class warnings, class starts, lunch and
dinner calls, bathroom breaks, lights out, and bells
that rang to tell students to form military marching
lines. Students spent half of their days in classroom
learning the 3 Rs’ and spent the other half in the
fields, with the cows, at the dairy, blacksmithing,
chopping firewood, cooking , cleaning, doing
laundry, or other chores. Sports came in the late
afternoons and involved boxing, wrestling, football,
basketball, baseball, and track. It’s easy to see why
most Indian students formed everlasting intertribal
friendships during their boarding school times.
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People of Strength and Power Endure
Tenacity Tribes still associate Boarding schools with death, as many students
never returned, and few look back fondly upon this time.
But, after a century of humiliation, transition, and racism, significant
change was around the corner, this time with help from returning students.
There isn’t a final answer for the Boarding school years.
Some students recall only the negative aspects for them and
their families, others recall fondly their friendships and
attribute their educations to the first positive changes for
thier tribes in decades. In the end, we will never know what
would have happened to tribes without the boarding school
years, as all Montana tribes went through it. But, the
outright hatred lathered upon Indians and their cultures
seems overboard for a group that no longer presented any
threat to America. There had to have been other ways,
besides the forced assimilation of children that would have
achieved the same, or perhaps better, results. Maybe by
respecting Native cultures instead of blaming them, the
transition might have been easier. At the very least, it would
have been more humane, and maybe more everlasting.
Regardless, the impact from the boarding school years still
resonates across Montana’s Reservations today.