What was the trauma in Indian boarding school?

Forced by the federal government to attend the schools, Native American children were sexually assaulted, beaten and emotionally abused. They were stripped of their clothes and scrubbed with lye soap. Matrons cut their long hair. Speaking their tribal language could lead to a beating.

What were the abuses of Indian boarding schools?

They told stories of being punished for speaking their native language, getting locked in basements and their hair being cut to stamp out their identities. They were sometimes subjected to solitary confinement, beatings and withholding food.

What is the trauma of being sent to boarding school?

The lasting effects of early boarding is a hidden trauma. A young child sent away from home to live with strangers, and in the process loses their attachment figures and their home. They're exposed to prolonged separation. They may experience bullying and loss.

What were the experiences of Indian boarding schools?

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. The students learned math, science, and other academic subjects.

What was the tragedy of the Native American boarding schools?

While researchers say the known toll is still far from complete, there are at least hundreds of Native children who died while attending boarding schools. In site after site, children's bodies were stuffed into graves without regard for the burial traditions of their families or their cultures.

The Reckoning: Native American Boarding Schools’ Painful History Unearthed

What is one reason why so many Native students died at boarding schools like Carlisle?

Disease was one reason why many Indian Boarding Schools closed. Though not the reason Carlisle shut down, at least 168 children who attended Carlisle died from tuberculosis, pneumonia, and the flu at the school.

How many children died in Indian boarding schools?

Hundreds died over the course of 150 years, the Interior Department found. More than 500 American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children died over the course of 150 years in Indigenous boarding schools run by the American government and churches to force assimilation, according to a new report.

What happened to the Native American families who refused to send their children to a boarding school?

Parents who refused to send their children to the schools could be legally imprisoned and deprived of resources such as food and clothing which were scarce on reservations. Three of the 25 Indian boarding schools run by the U.S. government were in California.

How did Indian boarding schools end?

The boarding school system didn't last forever; At least, not in it's original intent. By 1917, off-reservation schools were no longer allowed to coerce children to enroll. This lead to the encouragement of Indian youth to attend the public schools near or around their reservations.

How long did Indian boarding schools last?

The investigation found that from 1819 to 1969, the federal Indian boarding school system consisted of 408 federal schools across 37 states or then territories, including 21 schools in Alaska and 7 schools in Hawaii.

What was the most feared disease at the boarding schools?

In the late 1800s, communicable disease, particularly tuberculosis and influenza—became a problem at the boarding schools. Hundreds of Indian students fell victim to deadly diseases that were propagated within the schools' close confines.

Can boarding school be traumatic?

The many benefits of a private education include unique learning opportunities, smaller class sizes, and great career prospects, but evidence suggests that children who are sent to boarding school at a young age can suffer “irrevocable loss of primary attachments” and “for many, this constitutes a significant trauma.”

What are the psychological effects of being sent to boarding school?

The term 'boarding school syndrome' has long been associated with the severe psychological impact of boarding school on some boarders – such as problems with relationships, depression and long-term emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Why were Indian boarding schools shut down?

In the mid-20th century, many of these schools shut down due to reports of neglect and abuse, while those that remained made enormous changes. Four are still open today.

What 3 things were the Indian children in boarding schools not allowed to do?

Schools forced removal of indigenous cultural signifiers: cutting the children's hair, having them wear American-style uniforms, forbidding them from speaking their mother tongues, and replacing their tribal names with English language names (saints names under some religious orders) for use at the schools, as part of ...

How were Native American children punished in boarding schools?

Federal Indian boarding school rules were often enforced through punishment, including corporal punishment such as solitary confinement; flogging; withholding food; whipping; slapping; and cuffing. The Federal Indian boarding school system at times made older Indian children punish younger Indian children.

What was the true purpose of the Indian boarding schools?

The end goal was to eradicate all vestiges of Indian culture. By the 1880s, the U.S. operated 60 schools for 6,200 Indian students, including reservation day schools and reservation boarding schools.

What happens to the Indian girl in 1923?

The 1923 finale reconnected Teonna with her father after she escaped the school that was beating her culture and language out of her. Their reconnection was bloody, however, including the deaths of Teonna's grandmother and Hank, the shepherd who tried to help her.

Who ended Indian boarding schools?

The federal government shut many of them down in the 1930s, and the big story of Indian education became public school education. But some of [the boarding schools] continued, actually, at the demand of the Indian families, who used them as a poverty relief program for their families to survive the Great Depression.

Why were Native children bathed in kerosene?

Some Native children were taken thousands of miles away from their families, and in many cases never made it back home. They were doused in kerosene to ward off infection or lice, their hair — which is sacred for many tribes and cut only during periods of mourning — cut short.

What is the California genocide for kids?

California Genocide refers to the actions by the United States federal, state, and local governments that targeted Native American populations beginning in the mid-19th century. These included more than 370 large-scale massacres, as well as the murder or enslavement of individuals, sometimes for bounties and rewards.

What were Native American children forced to do?

Government and religious authorities believed that separating children from their indigenous cultures and languages would expedite assimilation into mainstream American society. Children were often forced to abandon their native languages, customs, and traditions, and were subjected to harsh discipline.

Are there any Indian boarding schools still standing?

Sherman and Chemawa remain open as residential schools. Only four schools exist today: Chemawa, Sherman, Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota and Riverside Indian School in Oklahoma.

When did the last Indian boarding school closed in the US?

Harbor Springs was the last to close in 1983. Why did Native kids have to go to boarding schools? In the 1800s, the United States wanted to change the lives of Native people to be more like white Americans. Laws were made to force that change.

What is the most infamous Indian boarding school?

Various Native American boarding schools were established across the country, the most famous of which was the Carlisle Indian School, built in 1879 in Carlisle, Penn.