Educating the Native Americans in Arizona: From 1891 until Today - Research Paper Example

?Donna Purcell Order #591986 14 November Educating the Native Americans in Arizona: From 1891 until Today “It’s Cheaper to educate Indians than to kill them (Lindauer).” This was a statement made by Indian Commissioner Thomas Morgan while speaking at the establishment of the Phoenix Indian School in 1891. The school was established for the purpose of mainstreaming the Native American children into middle-class America. During this time, children were removed from their traditional environment in order to dissolve their cultural heritage and instill a more civilized set of values. The Indians were finally defeated militarily and made to settle themselves on reservations. Government leaders at the time believed it was time to exchange Natives lands for “the gift of civilization (Trennert).” This thought meant little to the Native Americans at the time, but the government was determined to make it a reality. According to the Indian Appropriation Act of March 3, 1871, Indians in the United States could not be recognized as an independent nation. Under this policy religious groups that included Methodist, Baptist and Catholics who had previously educated the Indians through missions were now receiving Federal support for their efforts in educating and civilizing them. In an attempt to separate church and state the religious affiliated schools were gradually dissolved and replaced with Federally controlled schools. The first school temporarily operated from the West End Hotel. Federal money allowed 160 acres to be purchased to complete the main school building by 1892. By 1900 the school grew to an enrollment of 698. The students consisted of tribes in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Oregon; 23 tribes were represented. The campus had 14 brick and 20 frame buildings including the schoolhouse. The school also included dormitories, a water and sewer system, a bathhouse, a boiler house and 240 acres for growing crops. Farm animals were raised also to contribute to the schools self-sufficiency. It was thought that by taking the children from their natural environment it would keep them more in touch with American society. The Phoenix school was a non-reservation boarding school, which took the children away from their communal tribes and into a more Americanized setting. The established schools were normally located near the reservations, but the children were discouraged from contact with any of their relatives. The schools suffered from a lack of resources so they relied on child labor. The children were forced to spend part of their time on education and the other time making uniforms, cooking, doing laundry and other hard work. By the end of the 1880s the children had become a major role in maintaining the existence of the school. Many students ran away and returned to their families and the ways of their people. The Anglos or American settlers had a deep respect for the hard working Native Americans; however, they were determined to “Americanize” them (Trennert). The Mormons had a direct influence on the improvements being made within the Native American schools. Teachers were chosen who possessed a “positive religious character (Trennert).” The students were trained not only in academics but also in religion. In most of the Indian schools the students were not allowed to use their own tongue, therefore, English was required. By dressing the students in uniforms, they put forth an appearance of following what the white man had intended. The students were seen by the school superintendent as having to make their living by the sweat of their brow and not their brains (Trennert). When the school was opened a few of the students earned wages working for local employers, however, the wages were not those paid to white people, but they were considered satisfactory to the Indians. The girls were forced to clean rooms and dormitories which was seen as that “which makes a true woman…..ladylike, agreeable young ladies…who have made great strides toward civilization and the higher aim in life (Trennert).” Stereotyping the Indian abilities left the thought that the graduates could never be any more than an ordinary breadwinner (Trennert). During the 1890s the overcrowding became so bad that the student’s health became compromised. There were epidemics of smallpox, influenza, measles, and whooping cough. In some instances sick children were enrolled in order to fill the schools. This lead to a rapid spreading of the diseases. Tuberculosis outbreaks were common up until the 1900s. The school did have an athletic team and fans liked to wish the athletes well by reminding them of their Indian heritage. Remarks were made concerning the footballists returning to school “with scalps dangling from their belts (Trennert).” On occasion the students were allowed to perform a native dance when territorial legislative members visited. In an article by Owen Lindauer it is noted that archaeological evidence has early records of the school including a newspaper, accounts of employees and students and historical records of school life. The evidence also documents how the students felt about the attempts to ignore their tribal traditions as well as identities (Lindauer). In a newspaper article in the New York Times on July 5, 1896 written by a reporter who visited the school reads, “The Phoenix Indian School was one of some 150 institutions for Indian wards of the U.S. Government founded as the Indian wars concluded. The schools’ mission was to “civilize” and assimilate the Indians to American society through a process of education that sought to obliterate their native cultures (Children & Youth in History, New York Times).” Rules controlled all aspects of the students’ daily lives. Military discipline was instilled in the boys and girls alike, which included elaborate marching routines. Here is an example of how one student felt upon graduation in 1905, published in the Phoenix Indian School newspaper. “The boy is filled with sorrow, to think he can no longer enjoy the freedom of his home, and live with those he loves. He must soon be placed in the care of the pale-face, whom he can not fully trust (Lindauer).” Another example from Helen Sekaquaptewa describes her return home to the Hopi Mesas from the Phoenix Indian School in 1918. “I didn’t feel at ease in the home of my parents now. My father and my mother, my sister and my older brother told me to take off those clothes and wear Hopi attire…I didn’t wear them (Lindauer).” These examples show how the students felt being away from their native culture and how it differed dramatically from what they were being taught. When the steam whistle was introduced at the school it signified order and discipline. It divided the day into regularly timed units and taught the students to depend on clock time. This method was entirely different from life on the reservation that was guided by sunrise, sun-over-head, and sunset. Mealtime was very different from life on the reservation. When the steam whistle blew for meals, it was consumed in a dining hall. Most students were not familiar with the use of dishes or eating utensils before they came to the school. On the reservation, mealtime consisted of sharing from a communal pot and using their hands for utensils. John Oberly, who was the superintendent of the school in 1888, said that “the objective of the schools was to wean the student from the tribal system and to imbue him with the egotism of American civilization, so that he would say “I” instead of “we” and “this is mine” instead of “this is ours (Lindauer).” It was his contention that if Indians were taught to appreciate tangible wealth, they could be encouraged to strive for its accumulation. Therefore, respect for private property and its importance as wealth were taught as a lesson of self-reliance. Helen Sekaquaptewa made a note in her journal that she was always embroidering, crocheting or tatting to make things to sell (Lindauer). The students were required to attend Sunday school and if pupils failed to attend they were punished. However, in 1934 religious freedom was established and it was no longer required for students to attend church services, however, punishment was practiced through the 1960s. In 1969 a congressional report declared Indian education “a national tragedy (americanindiantah.com).” It was noted that the non-reservation Indian boarding school was another failure of Indian educational policies. Policymakers sought to instill domination and eventually replace the Native American Indians’ identity. There could be only two outcomes of the boarding schools, total streamlining into American culture or rejection and returning to the traditional ways. Arthur C. Parker, who was an educated Seneca, studied anthropology and archaeology under Franz Boaz and Frederick W. Putnam, served in 1935 as the first president of the Society of American Archaeology. In his writings in 1916 he acknowledged the importance of preserving Indian identity in American society. He is quoted as saying, “Hundreds of Indians have attained honorable positions and are as other Americans, yet they retain their individuality as Indians (Lindauer).” As the government built more reservation schools, the value of the school lands in Phoenix became greater than the benefits of the school itself. President Ronald Reagan signed an Act of Congress in 1988, which closed the school. However, the school did not officially close until 1990. The Bureau of Indian Affairs passed the administration of the school to the National Park Service. Since then part of the property has been transferred to Barron-Collier Companies, a Florida Land Developer, in return for 108,000 acres of land it had owned. Barron- Collier also began a $35 million trust fund to benefit the education of Indian children in Arizona. Today in the on-reservation schools, keeping tribal culture is seen as important and a reinforcing aspect of the curriculum. Parents are now allowed to actively participate in the education of their children, which stabilizes their link to important traditions of tribal identity. On April 28, 2011 the Colt 45-caliber handgun was designated as the Arizona State Gun, which is an interesting fact, however, considered offensive to Native Americans. The weapon was used to kill many Indians during the Indian Wars of the 19th century. Even though it is offensive to Native Americans, the gun is on the list of official artifacts along with turquoise, which is considered one of four sacred stones by the Navajos. State Representative Albert Hale noted that “Guns were used to kill Native Americans and take everything that belonged to them. They were used to put Native Americans on reservations (Krol).” However offensive, it’s a part of history that defines the Native American past. Looking at the Phoenix Indian School today we see Steele Indian School Park. Only three of the original school buildings remain, and one of them is Memorial Hall, which was built in 1922. The Band Building, which was built in 1933, is now the Museum/Administrative office. The Dining Hall, which was built in 1901, is now the Native American Cultural Center. Indian School Road remains today as a reminder of the school that was located at the Central Avenue intersection. The original school was modeled after the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Both schools offered the students the opportunity to learn industrial skills thus mainstreaming them into white society as well paid workers. The era of assimilation lasted from the late 1800s to 1935, approximately 40 years. The New Deal legislation ended the non-reservation boarding schools. Due to laws that require archaeological sites to be evaluated when the federal government exchanges land, many historical relics have been found at the site of the school. A large dump near the school has uncovered 160,000 items such as bottles, plates with makers’ marks, bricks, and coins that date between 1891 and 1926. The artifacts give valuable information linked to the schools beginnings. Today the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is dedicated to providing leadership, education, and training to those that are responsible for the quality of education of Arizona’s American Indian children. Cultural treatment of its children reveals a great deal about its people. Their philosophies of life, values, and how they prepare their children for the future will effect our understanding of the heritage and expectations of a more modern Native American people. In conclusion, we have looked at the beginnings of the educational history of the Native Americans in Arizona. The first non-reservation schools can be described as a means of Anglo-conformity. It was a means by which the Federal government solved the problem of what to do with the Native Americans after the Indian Wars. Native Americans were seen as savages who needed to learn the ways of the pale-face in order to live within their society. The purpose of the boarding schools was to alienate the pupils from their families and forcibly change their cultural patterns. This included religion, language, and cultural practices, which would later be seen as a mistake by the Federal government. Luther Standing Bear notes that if they had only had the insight to see the importance of the traditional cultural, spiritual, and practices of the American Indian people. He wrote in 1933, “So we went to school to copy, to imitate; not to exchange languages and ideas, and not to develop the best traits that had come out of uncountable experiences of hundreds of thousands of years living upon this continent….So, while the white people had much to teach us, we had much to teach them, and what a school could have been established upon that ideal (americanindiantah.com).” References Indian Boarding Schools: Tools of Forced Assimilations, 1870 to the 1960s. “Introduction For the Teacher.” 2011. Web. 15 November 2011. http://americanindiantah.com/. Indian Education. “Overview.” Web. 14 November 2011. http://azed.gov/indian-education/. Krol, Debra Utacia. “Weapon Used to Kill American Indians Now Arizona State Gun.” Web. 15 November 2011. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/. Kruchten, Anna. “Interesting Phoenix, AZ Street Names.” Real Estate News & Fun Stuff. Web. 15 November 2011. Light, Harriett K., Martin, Ruth E. “Guidance of American Indian Children: Their Heritage And Some Contemporary Views.” Journal of American Indian Education. October 1985, 25(1). Web. 15 November 2011. http://64.17.169.52/AcademicPapers/NativeChildGuidance.htm/. Lindauer, Owen. “Archaeology of the Phoenix Indian School.” Archaeology. 27 March 1998. Web. 14 November 2011. http://archaeology.org/. Lindauer, Owen. “About the Phoenix Indian School.” Modern American Poetry. 1998. Web. 15 November 2011. http://english.illinois.edu/. Park Features. Web. 15 November 2011. http://phoenix.gov/PARKS/features/. Phoenix Indian School. “White Bison.” Web. 15 November 2011. http://whitebison.org/. Provenzo, Eugene F. Jr., McCloskey, Gary N. “Catholic and Federal Indian Education in the Late 19th Century: Opposed Colonial Models.” Journal of American Indian Education. October 1981 21(1). Web. 15 November 2011. http://jaie.asu.edu/v21/v21slopp/. The History of the Street Names in Phoenix, Arizona. Web. 15 November 2011. http://bradhallart.com/. The Phoenix Indian School, 1896, (Newspaper Article). “Children & Youth in History.” Web. 14 November 2011. http://chnm,gmu,edu/. Trennert, Robert A. “The Phoenix Indian School: Forced Assimilation in Arizona, 1891 – 1935.” The Deuce of Clubs Book Club. 1988. Web. 15 November 2011. http://deuceofclubs.com/books/213phoenix_indian_school.htm/. Read More