The issue of American Indian Residential Schools

[GigageiTsula]

American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many

That is the first article concerning American Indian Residential Schools that I would like to discuss. We can still see the effects of "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" philosophy today in Indian country. Why do you think this was considered acceptable to non-native people?

An excerpt from the article:

Transforming People, Inside and Out
Fifty years later, Pratt's philosophy was still common. In 1945, Bill Wright, a Pattwin Indian, was sent to the Stewart Indian School in Nevada. He was just 6 years old. Wright remembers matrons bathing him in kerosene and shaving his head. Students at federal boarding schools were forbidden to express their culture — everything from wearing long hair to speaking even a single Indian word. Wright said he lost not only his language, but also his American Indian name.

 

[Etsi]

Why? Because of Euro-Centrism.

 

[GigageiTsula]

Please explain further, Etsi.

 

[Etsi]

Europeans have thought, for much of history, that THEIR way (culturally) was the most "civilised". The English thought the Irish were trash and the Scots were savages. The French felt that way about the English. The Spanish felt that they were superior religiously and the Italians felt they were culturally. The Spaniards obviously felt that way about Native Americans. The lighter black house servants felt that way about the darker field hands. The whites felt that way about the blacks (I've heard even in the past few years about how it was God's Providence for Africans to become slaves in the Americas so that they would become Christians and civilised...uhm, where did Christianity take root? The Mediterranean and Africa...).

The schools were part of that Euro-centric thinking. Kill the Indian and save the man...aka, make the savage civilised. Strip him of his clothing, shear his head, take away his bow and knife, and make him speak your language while forbidding him to ever speak his own. This is akin to a white man saying that only (uncivilised or civilised-but-we'll-excuse-them-because-they-are-black) black people wear braids or speak with a southern accent (instead of "properly"), only harlots wear earrings, etc. If you aren't trying to do it their way, then you are poor, ignorant, dumb, or trash. From a few hundred years ago until three quarters through the 20th century, this thinking was mixed with the idea of religious duty. It's the white (and thus Christian) man's duty to civilised these other cultures. We must force them to conform to save their souls. We can't have them running around barebacked, now can we? Yep, Euro-Centrism.

 

[bsd31]

What's really scary is there are people who still send their children to Indian boarding schools. I'm sure (sorta...) that they've changed and are better than they were, but still...

 

[GigageiTsula]

I know. There is one in Anadarko, Oklahoma. I do think, however, that these schools aren't what they use to be.