History of Native Education in the British North American Colonies - Essay Example

History of Native Education in the British North American Colonies The drawbacks of the internal colonial model of education could be seen all over in the North American history of Native American education. Since their arrival in North America, the colonizing European societies found ways of suppressing the Native values and ways of life. Internal colonialism was materialized by the Europeans through dislocating the Native peoples by their expansionary ways; by segregating and limiting the Native Americans in the reservation system; through forced integration of Native American societies; political and economic supremacy of reservation matters by the colonizers; and promoting racial outlook on Native people. Education was used as a tool to sideline and oppress Native people. Boarding schools played an active part in distancing Native children from their parents and traditional ways of life (Oliver, 1996). Afterwards, separate public schools were opened to fulfill the purpose of Christianizing the Natives to make them a part of the Christians’ capitalist economic system. Finally when Natives were permitted to go to mainstream schools, they were not treated parallel to White students in intelligence by school management and teachers. The education system proved a failure in not creating any consideration for traditional Native values, by not supporting bilingual language, and by not paying attention to the education needs of the Native students (Oliver, 1996). First of all, the East India School opened its door to the Indian tribes in 1621 with the aim of not only civilizing and rewarding them but introduce them their religion so that the selected students could be used like a tool to lure other tribesmen into conversion to Christianity. Undertaking of missionary work was the primary motive of educating the Indians. Such aspirations of the East India School soon dashed to the ground when in 1622 the superintendent of the school and some others were killed in an Indian revolt (Carnegie Foundation Report, 1989). Native education has been a traumatically remembered because of such experiences gone through by the Natives. The difference in the attitude has been historical between the Indian and European. Barman, Hebert, and McCaskill, (as cited in Atleo, 1991) have stated that, ”For the most part, the aboriginal population accepted the new arrivals at face value, while the Europeans assumed the superiority of their culture over that of any aboriginal peoples. Out of that misconception grew the conviction that in order for the Indians to survive, they would have to be assimilated into the European social order” (p. 2). Education being the primary vehicle of integration found the European trend exhibited in one of the on-record policy on native education in 1632 by Jesuit missionary: “Their education must…not merely training of the mind…weaning them…their ancestors and the acquirements of the language, arts, and customs of civilized life,” remarked Vallery, (as cited in Atleo, 1991). It was start of the bad experience for the native education, which could not be lessened in any way emerging from the early native education policy statement. The current education policy is totally opposite to the one pursued by the British education in North American colonies. It was taken for granted that the Native student was lacking in all aspects of education such as language, art, habits, mental acumen worth inculcating. All their community traits, gathered wisdom of centuries, their traditions were considered void until the Native student proved worthy to be ‘born again’ European. This colonial policy was proved wrong many a times (Atleo, 1991). The English used three methods of implementing this policy wherein terms were: 1. Education in the mission areas 2. Education on reserves 3. Education in boarding schools The policy implications for the Native student for even a novice critic having no knowledge of the history of Native education would have been easily imaginable; such was the basis of the policy. In other words, no Native student could have passed the education test given the education policy of the English. Starting a blame game, the whole blame was passed on the ‘savage’ nature of the Native student in 1688 by Mother de l’ Incarnation. She remarked: “It is…however not impossible…civilize them. We…out of a hundred…scarcely have we civilized one…find docility and intelligence…least expecting…run the woods…Savage nature is made that way…and we have to give them back, ” remarked Jaenen, (as cited in Atleo, 1991). Thus, the rate of success to the Native education was about one percent or we can say that failure rate in education of Native was 99 percent. The reason of failure was not cited to be the failure of the education policy or practice but the savageness of the Native student. Even when the policy served some purpose, the gain to the Native student was doubtful because he had forgotten his ancient craft, language, and all knowledge of traditional learning such as woodcraft, hunting, and fishing. The Native student was a ‘lost soul’ that could not be connected to either of the two worlds (Atleo, 1991). “Comments made by The Relations on the pitiable condition of the Native is worth noting, named as “poor wretch…alcoholic,…five unsuccessful marriages…a complete misfit among those the missionaries referred to as the barbarians,” remarked Jaenen, (as cited in Atleo, 1991). One can imagine the havoc created by the early Native education on the minds of the natives. The wrong Native education policy was continued for centuries resulting in utterly bad results for centuries although several ways of educating the Native were tried and tested in-between. One such method of boarding schools started by the English has been the target of criticism because the press has made it a focus of the wrong-doings committed at these boarding schools on the Native students. Natives are still bearing the negative impact of the colonial education policy started since 1600s. It was a common sight when Native students would run back to their homes. Natives were severely beaten after they returned back to schools, welts al over their bodies, as is evident from the experiences of the former pupils discussed in the study made by Persson (1986) entitled, “The Changing Experiences of Indian Residential Schooling: Blue Quills 1931-1970.” Social, political, economic circumstances and change in relationships could not bring improvement in the poor performance of Native children (Atleo, 1991). Time has not healed and brought about any change in the attitude of the native student although the relationship between the Native and the Euro-Canadian has visibly changed in different social, political and economic contexts. Mother de l’ Incarnation followed the practice of returning such students back to their homes but Persson’s research shows a major tilt in such trends wherein the authority over Native children has transferred from the Native parents to the Canadian government. Patterson (as cited in Atleo, 1991), the historian in his history of the Canadian Native admits that from nearly 1500 to the present times, the Natives have moved from a position of autonomy to one of lost of control in most if not all of the major areas of their lives”. Earlier, Indians were not dealt as the same nation, as stated by Patterson, (as cited in Atleo, 1991) “At the time of first contact, Indians were treated as the separate states or nations”. It could be assumed that in inculcating such an understanding the European nations had no other alternative because they were actually separate nations or states. Trigger (as cited in Atleo, 1991) admits this fact and remarks that: In histories of Canada written prior to the 1840s Indians played a prominent role and were treated respectfully. This reflected the actual significance of the native people, who as trappers and traders were important to the Canadian economy and who, with the exception of the Iroquois prior to 1701 and the Micmacs in the late eighteenth century, were allies of successive French and British governments in their struggle against the English colonists and later the Americans to the South. It is assumed that the Native students ran from schools not for political reasons but cultural reasons. They chose Native culture to European culture. Everything that belonged to the Native culture related to their arts, language, traditions, habits, viewpoints and feelings was preferred by Native to the opposition of their counterparts in the European culture. This was stated objectively by Mother de l’ Incarnation. What went wrong was not making any change in the Native education policy formulated during the 1600s for the Natives. Happenings and circumstances changed the Native people into vulnerable (Atleo, 1991). The impression of the European science and technology, European diseases, European social, political and economic distinctions and the publicity that the European culture was better in various aspects affected and shattered the Native perspective and confidence in their cultural lineage. Education was one such field that was the most affected; the impression was created for them that the only fit system for them was the Euro-Canadian system of education. It got materialized finally when the Natives accepted the fact that the Euro-Canadian system of education was the only choice left but the education policy did not undergo any change until the 1970s (Atleo, 1991). In 1973 a proposal was made by the then National Indian Brotherhood named ‘Indian Control of Indian Education’ to the federal government of Canada. The proposal totally changed the orientation of the 400 years old Native education policy, a total reversal of the old policy by revolutionizing it by recognizing the worth of Native culture in the new education policy by inviting the Euro-Canadians to be apart of it to enjoy its richness in stead of encouraging only one culture at the cost of another. The change in the attitude reflected respect for each others’ cultural traditions. The new education policy promoted the ancient Native culture of finding solitude in the unity of the surroundings, the world (Atleo, 1991). Atleo (1991) has discussed the theory of context in relation to his thesis named, “Grade 12 Enrolments of Status Indians in British Columbia: 1949-1985”. Housego (as cited by Atleo, 1991) has analyzed the time structure into three periods, the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s for suitability because of certain traits found in each specific period only, impacting Native education. Atleo’s theory of context employs these variances to describe the happenings over these periods. As per the theory, education gets impacted by outside factors and internal happenings. Outside factors such as political, social, and economic environment leave an impact on student achievements while internally syllabus and staff leave an impact on student performance. In the 1950s the internal circumstances were a hindrance in the overall growth of the Natives because social, political, and economic factors were not favorable. Natives were not a part of the political happenings because they were outside and debarred from federal franchise. Till the 1959 conditions were not conducive until in 1960, under the Prime Minister Diefenbaker the native people were given the right to vote in federal elections. In a research conducted in British Columbia in the 1950s by Hawthorne, Belshaw and Jamieson, (as cited by Atleo, 1991), it was noted that the majority White people had a very low opinion about the Natives. Natives were taken to be “lazy, shiftless, and irresponsible” by the whites, having low intellectual prowess, and lacking in the “potential to develop as rapidly as Whites along the lines of social, emotional, educational, moral or economic attainment”. Dosman (as cited by Atleo, 1991) has also reiterated the fact that till 1970 there could be seen enough visibility of Native poverty and their seclusion from the society. This segregation of the Natives from the mainstream society could be seen in the absence of Natives from such places as motels, restaurants, apartments, rental housing, and on their employability and overall presence in the Canadian society (Wolcott, 1967; Jack, 1970; Moran, 1988), (as cited by Atleo, 1991). The period of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s presented a mirror of the Native internal situation through the external view. Until the external conditions changed, no improvement was visible in the Native internal circumstances and this trend came to an end after the 1960s only. From the 1960s to the 1970s was the changing period in the history of Natives when external conditions created positive impacts on the Natives’ internal matters. Change came through the new Native education policy impacting a change in the curriculum and teacher traits. The earlier degradation in the Native culture in the old curriculum provided passage towards an agreement over the positive traits of the Native culture in the last stage of the study (Atleo, 1991). Some application of the theory of context could be seen in this changeover. The macro conditions in the society were seen impacting the micro elements. The political action by the National Indian Brotherhood proved to be the catalyst of change in the education policy, which spurred changes in the internal betterment through the Native education performance. As the basis of the theory of context is the conservative notion of reality, which did not let stop endless attempts on willful cultural suicide. On the basis of the theory of context, it has become easy to predict what would be the performance of the Native education in the coming times (Atleo, 1991). The Native education policy has opened the doors of Native enlightenment through local control of education and belief in the positive impact of the Native culture. The new education policy stresses on the importance of goodwill and mutual trust between the Natives and the rest of the society. The ‘unfortunate events’ of the past had affected the Native education in various economic, social, and political situations affecting conditions in the school system in different time periods. With the external conditions changing, it impacted the internal Native education environment positively. The significant variable in the positive change in the conditions of Native education could be seen in a stance between the Native and the non-Native featured by mutual trust (Atleo, 1991). All the structural disadvantages seem to be no more existent for there are no structural blockages in the way of Native education, which were present in the form of social, economic, and political barriers. The new education policy is based on the global and superior value system of having faith in the goodness of not only all human beings but all living beings. Natives need not depend on the western culture or the prevalent culture but in the best of the Native customs, which had been there before the coming of the Europeans to the Americas. The Native worldview inherent in the Native culture works to bring unity and harmony to create equilibrium between the personal and collective rights. The new dawn would be somewhat similar to the one described by the European observers when they saw no one begging or without shelter whatever harsh circumstances had been that time among the Native communities (Atleo, 1991). The disadvantages have disappeared to the maximum limit they could have after the 1970s. Issue remains on first how to regain the lost knowledge of the traditional culture and secondly, assimilating of the Native culture into the modern society. The Native worldview and the theory of context take it for granted that there is a link and relation between all things happening. What is needed is to assimilate the minority Native people of Canada into the bigger social, economic, and political framework or structure. Once the Natives feel themselves a part of the mainstream Canadian social, economic, and political environment, their harmonization would be smoother as based on mutual trust and concern. As soon as the Natives get the feel of gaining back the lost glorified past, their second problem could be resolved easily through mutual trust between the Natives and the non-Natives. Both communities can benefit from each other’s strengths for the overall benefit of the society (Atleo, 1991). Similarly, in the matter of Native American higher education, an understanding of the wider historical context is important to have. Cabrera (as cited by McClellan et al., 2005) states, “American Indians are victim of a legacy, which includes economic exploitation, military conquest, political manipulation, and social disregard.” Education including higher education has been a part of this legacy of the colonial period starting from the first contact between the colonial powers and the Native Americans, which continued till the revolutionary war. Out of nine original colonial colleges, three colleges provided higher education to the Native Americans in their saying but actually did nothing to offer higher education to the Native Americans. Carney (as cited by McClellan et al., 2005) finds the only viable reason of the colonial colleges to gather funds on the name of educating Native Americans than promoting the cause of higher education among Natives. Other reasons of failure in promoting the cause of higher education among Native Americans could be their disinterest. The colonial society never welcomed them and they were seen skeptically by their tribal people when they went back into their communities. The actual aim of the colonial colleges, according to Lomawaima (as cited by McClellan et al., 2005) was “to transform Indian people and societies and eradicate Indian self-government, self-determination, and self-education. Thus, it was a lost opportunity between the two cultures of exchanging knowledge and realization, which could not be accomplished due to ineffective structure of the education policy (McClellan et al., 2005). Later, it was suggested that parents of native students be made a part of the schooling process, stress was laid on changing the behavior of the teachers towards Native students and their performance level. Colonizing was discouraged by supporting Native culture, identifying and authenticating the positive role played by the Native history and the contribution of Native distinct learning way (Oliver, 1996). Lessons from the past history need to be learnt by not repeating the mistakes of distancing the Native students from their culture on the name of educating them. Native students should be provided the opportunities to learn from their own institutions so that they could recover their past and secure their future. (Carnegie Foundation Report, 1989). Learning from the Native institutes can become a medium of bridge between the Native communities and the wide American society, which can benefit from the knowledge and learning from the First Americans traits like survival, hope, determination, renewal of community, and recovering from all sorts of dependencies and linking to the bigger world through education. This could be the new era of Native education for the transformation of the society to serve all (Carnegie Foundation Report, 1989). Bibliography Atleo, E.R. (1991). Native education: the next 100 years. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Canadian Education Association. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.eric.ed.gov. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (1989). Tribal colleges: shaping the future of native America a special report. Princeton University Press. (Publication no. 311990). Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.eric.ed.gov. McClean, G.S., Fox, M.J.T., Lowe, S.C., (2005). Where we have been: a history of native American higher education. New Directions for Student Services, no. 109. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.eric.ed.gov. Oliver, Christopher. (1996). The internal colonialism model: what the model has done to the education of native Americans. Historical Material Report. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.eric.ed.gov. Swisher, K.G. and Tippeconnic, JW. (1999). Chapter 13: Research to support improved practice in Indian education. U.S. Department of Education Opinion Paper. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.eric.ed.gov. Read More