Wabanaki Education and Schooling

​Wabanaki Education

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Miss Colson​

​Today...

Wabanaki Education​

​I can learn the history of a people by analyzing primary and secondary sources

​Group Discussion:

• ​What is the difference between a primary source and a secondary source?

• ​What are biases?

​Interpreting Perspectives Scenario

Wabanaki Education​

​Imagine that you are the principal of a school and you just found out that there was a fight in the lunchroom during lunch. You've asked many students and teachers who witnessed the fight to write down what they saw and who they think started the fight. Unfortunately, you've received many conflicting accounts that disagree not only as to who started the fight, but also as to who was involved and when the fight even started. It's important to remember that NO ONE is just plain lying.

Open Ended

Why would there be different stories of the event if no one is just plain lying? What are the different types of people who might have seen this fight?

Open Ended

What might make one person's story more believable than another person's?

Open Ended

Explain how the job of the principal in this scenario is like what historians do.

Open Ended

What is Historiography?

(Take a guess if you don't know!)

​Historiography

Wabanaki Education | Native American Studies

• ​Historiography is the history of history!

• We can look at how historians interpret events over time

• The field of history is ALWAYS changing and we keep learning new things!

• ​We'll get to this part later!

Fill in the Blanks

Wabanaki means

Open Ended

Who are the Wabanaki? (What 4 Tribes are in Maine, just name the ones you know!)

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​K

(What do you know?)​

​L

(What did you learn?)​

​W

(What are you still wondering about?)​

​Day Schools	Similarities​	Boarding Schools​
​- Located on the reservation or in the community - Students could go home at night - There were 4 Day Schools in this area of Maine	​- Banned children from speaking in their Native language - Banned children from practicing their culture and traditions - Goal of "civilizing" indigenous children -Usually run by religious organizations supported by the US government	​- Far from their homes and families - Students lived in the dormitories, and mostly could not leave the campus

​Background Information

​Dawnland

Wabanaki Education​

• https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/search?q=dawnland​

• What did you learn from this film?

• ​What did it tell us about Native American education and their experiences in schools?​

Poll

Is Dawnland a Primary Source or a Secondary Source?

• Primary Source

• Secondary Source

​Day Schools in Our Area

• There were 4 day schools between the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes located on these reservations:

  • Indian Island ​

  • Lincoln

  • Pleasant Point

  • Peter Dana Point

Wabanaki Education

• There was one school on Indian Island

• Put under the authority of the Indian Agent

• ​The Sisters of Mercy taught classes beginning in 1878

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​Wabanaki Education

​Indian Island

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• Sisters of Mercy were a group of Catholic nuns

• ​Dormitory as of 1910

• ​Teachers in the schools

  • Taught math, geography, reading, and writing

• Also went into the community

  • ​Visiting the sick, visiting homes, and instructing about domestic duties

​Wabanaki Education

​Sisters of Mercy

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Open Ended

What do you notice about this picture?

Look for:

- Who is in this picture?

-What are they doing?

-When do you think it was taken?

• ​Indian agents worked for the state of Maine

• Disbursed money to the tribe from the "Indian Fund"

  • Indian Fund - ​money owned by the Maine Native tribes but held by the state

  • Money came from treaty negotiations, land sales, and selling resources

• Agents were required to submit reports to the Governor ​annually

• System in place until the ​Maine Indian Land Claims Act in 1980

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​Wabanaki Education

​Indian Agent Reports

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• What do you think these reports can tell us about Native Americans?

• How do we read these?​

• Let's look at one!

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​Wabanaki Education

​Indian Agent Reports

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​Primary Source: Report of the Indian Agents of The State of Maine (1861)

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(Fill out the first APPARTS Sheet!)​

​Penobscot Dance of Resistance

Wabanaki Education​

• ​Written about Paula MacDougall in ​2004

• Secondary source​

• Study of ethnohistory

  • Ethnohistory - ​discipline that combines the study of history and anthropology (study of humans)

• (Fill out the second APPARTS sheet!)​

" In 1861, agent Purinton reported more in detail on the progress of the schools. 'From the best information I can obtain by observation and inquiry, there are now in the tribe more than one hundred who can read understandingly —for instance they obtain and read the newspapers which contain the current news of the day, in which they take a deep interest. About forty can write legibly, and some of them write and compose good letters, and can draw in respectable form, common business agreements.' Literacy in English strengthened Penobscots' ability to negotiate with the state. As a result, they became politically more independent from the priest and the Indian agent. They also moved into better positions in the marketplace and advocated for better education for their children. But in spite of their success, the state continued its paternalistic policies." - MacDougall, Penobscot Dance of Resistance (pg 134)

​Wabanaki in Boarding Schools

• Some parents chose to send their children to a boarding school

• There are records of children from this area being sent to Carlisle Industrial School

• ​Carlisle was founded in 1879 by a former army officer

• ​Students had a regimented schedule of lessons, performed military drills, and did work details

Wabanaki Education

• Students in a math class at Carlisle in 1910 ​

• What do you notice about the students in this picture?​

​​Classroom

• Edith Ranco is pictured here, she was a young girl from Penobscot nation​

• These girls were dressed up for a performance of "The Captain of Plymouth"​

• ​What do you notice about the students in this picture?

​​Puritan Maiden's Chorus

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​This is part of the application for enrollment to Carlisle

This is Edith Ranco's application​

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​Student Application

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​K

(What do you know?)​

​L

(What did you learn?)​

​W

(What are you still wondering about?)​