native Americans

Lesson Objective

Analyze primary and secondary sources to explain the
impact of different types of schools on Native
American children and communities.

Multiple Choice

What was the true purpose of the Indian Boarding Schools?

• The teach Native Americans how to farm and work in a factory

• To "civilize" Native Americans

• To give willing Native Americans a chance to learn English

• To teach Native Americans how to preserve their cultural heritage

Independent Work

Tom Torlino,
1882-1885

BEFORE

AFTER

Multiple Choice

In 1887 the Americans sent many Indian children in boarding schools away from their mothers in order to ...

• teach them English

• make them Christians

• cut them off their customs and language

• all of the above

Multiple Choice

Indian children in boarding schools ...

• had to wear uniforms and keep their hair short

• enjoyed their education and life there

• could keep their Indian names

• could see their families very often

Multiple Choice

Which of these things is traditional in Native American tribes?

• wearing braids

• taking trains

• speaking English

• writing stories

Independent Work

Boarding Schools - Struggling with Cultural Repression

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, many American Indian children
attended government- or church-operated boarding schools. Families were
often forced to send their children to these schools, where they were forbidden
to speak their Native languages. Indian boarding schools were founded to
eliminate traditional American Indian ways of life and replace them with
mainstream American culture. The first boarding schools were set up either by
the government or Christian missionaries. At boarding schools, Indian children
were separated from their families and cultural ways for long periods,
sometimes four or more years. The children were forced to cut their hair and
give up their traditional clothing. They had to give up their meaningful Native
names and take English ones.

Multiple Choice

A Primary Source is from...

• A third party person writing about an event

• Someone who witnessed the event(s)

Independent Work

Boarding Schools - Struggling with Cultural Repression

They were not only taught to speak English, but were punished for speaking
their own languages. Their own traditional religious practices were forcibly
replaced with Christianity. They were taught that their cultures were inferior.
Some teachers ridiculed and made fun of the students’ traditions. These
lessons humiliated the students and taught them to be ashamed of being
American Indian. The boarding schools had a bad effect on the self-esteem of
Indian students and on the well being of Native languages and cultures. Indian
boarding schools usually imitated military life. Children were forced to cut their
hair, wear uniforms, and march in formations. Rules were very strict and
discipline was often harsh when rules were broken.

Multiple Choice

Many White Americans didn't understand Native American culture, so they sent the children to.....

• concentration camps

• to be slaves

• boarding schools

Multiple Choice

Henry Platt believed that Native Americans could be civilized but needed the right

• education

• Wounded Knee

• discovery of gold in the Black Hills

Multiple Choice

Native Americans were forced to adopt white culture, cut their hair, change their clothing, change their names and learn Christianity at -

• Battle of Little Bighorn

• Carlisle Indian Industrial boarding school

• Sioux

​Citizenship

The issue of American Indian birthright citizenship wouldn’t be settled until 1924 when the Indian Citizenship Act conferred citizenship on all American Indians. At the time, 125,000 of an estimated population of 300,000 American Indians weren’t citizens.

Multiple Choice

The 14th Amendment did not grant this to Native Americans -

• citizenship

• Carlisle Indian Industrial boarding school

• Sioux

Side Effects of Discrimination

●According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Native
Americans continue to experience higher rates of poverty, poor
educational achievement, substandard housing, and diseas

●Elements of acculturation - mission and boarding schools,
weakening parental influence, and dislocation from native lands -
undermine tribal unity and have removed many safeguards
against suicide that Native American culture might ordinarily
provide.

●There are very few evidence-based programs that are adapted
for American Indian and Alaska Native cultures.

Multiple Choice

Assimilation into American culture

• Nativism

• Americanization

• Discrimination

Multiple Choice

What word means: "To fit in"

• Assimilation

• Acculturation

• Urban

• Suburban