Education for extinction : American Indians and the boarding school experience, 1875-1928 / David Wallace Adams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Adams, David Wallace, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indian youth--Education--United States.

Indian youth.

Indian youth--Government policy--United States.

Indian youth--Cultural assimilation--United States.

Off-reservation boarding schools--United States--History.

Off-reservation boarding schools.

Off-reservation boarding schools--Biography.

Education and state--United States--History.

Education and state.

United States--Social policy.

United States.

United States--Race relations.

Indians of North America--Education--United States--History--19th century.

Indians of North America.

Indians of North America--Education--United States--History--20th century.

Boarding schools--United States--History--19th century.

Boarding schools.

Boarding schools--United States--History--20th century.

Indians of North America--Education.

Indian youth--Cultural assimilation.

Indian youth--Education.

Indian youth--Government policy.

Race relations.

Social policy.

Indian youth--Education--United States--History.

Indian youth--Government policy--United States--History.

Boarding schools--United States--History.

Genre:

Biography.

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 396 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

American Indians and the boarding school experience, 1875-1928

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas, [1995[.]

Summary:

The last "Indian War" was fought against Native American children in the dormitories and classrooms of government boarding schools. Only by removing Indian children from their homes for extended periods of time, policymakers reasoned, could white "civilization" take root while childhood memories of "savagism" gradually faded to the point of extinction. In the words of one official: "Kill the Indian and save the man." Much more than a study of federal Indian policy, this book vividly details the day-to-day experiences of Indian youth living in a "total institution" designed to reconstruct them both psychologically and culturally. The assault on identity came in many forms: the shearing off of braids, the assignment of new names, uniformed drill routines, humiliating punishments, relentless attacks on native religious beliefs, patriotic indoctrinations, suppression of tribal languages, Victorian gender rituals, football contests, and industrial training. Many students converted to varying degrees, but others plotted escapes, committed arson, and devised ingenious strategies of passive resistance. Adams recounts the various ways in which graduates struggled to make sense of their lives upon returning to the reservation and selectively drew upon their school experience in negotiating personal and tribal survival.

Contents:

pt. 1. Civilization. Reform

Models

System

pt. 2. Education. Institution

Classroom

Rituals

pt. 3. Response. Resistance

Accommodation

pt. 4. Causatum. Home

Policy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-390) and index.

Local Notes:

The Indian Rights Association Complementary Collection.

Other Format:

Online version: Adams, David Wallace. Education for extinction.

ISBN:

0700607358

9780700607358

9780700608386

0700608389

OCLC:

32167831

Online:

Book review (H-Net)