BIA's Impact on Indian Education Is an Education in Bad Education

The Navajos in NM and Arizona were also placed in these schools. I am so happy that kids are able to go to school locally and be where they belong with their family. If you are a kid and you don't have your family you have almost nothing.

Time to put te BIA in history books only as a role model for how not to effectively govern.

Time to reinvigorate the culture of all Native Americans.

We cannot turn back the clock. We can move forward to restore a great, priceless national treasure. That being the wisdom of all Native Americans cultures, languages, and lifestyles.

Enoch.

We need a change ASAP !

Pratt’s strategy was straightforward: take children away from their parents and reprogram them under the auspices of the government. Natives who attended this type of school endured daily punishment for speaking, writing or even acting in an Indian fashion. The typical day for a boarding school student was spent learning in the morning and the second half of the day was doing manual labor, which would help them once they finished school.

The goal of schools like Carlisle, Hampton Institute and the Phoenix Indian School was to make Natives dress, speak and act like whites. According to Peter Farb in his book, Man’s Rise to Civilization: The Cultural Ascent of the Indians of North America, “The children usually were kept at boarding school for eight years, during which time they were not permitted to see their parents, relatives, or friends. Anything Indian­—dress, language, religious practices, even outlook on life…was uncompromisingly prohibited.”

Some administrators at these schools had little training in education and many were former military officers, in part because the BIA felt military rules were best-suited for the task at hand. The Meriam Report uncovered many abuses—many students died while attending the schools, and many more were mistreated. Some of those deaths were related from overcrowding, in other cases it was lack of food. According to the report, “The boarding schools are crowded materially beyond their capacity.… The toilet facilities have in many cases not been increased proportionately to the increase in pupils, and they are fairly frequently not properly maintained or conveniently located.”

There is one more bill that had a huge and positive impact on Indian sovereignty and the quality of education for young Natives, but its impact was indirect. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was very important for Natives because it ended segregation of public schools. While most Natives were granted full civil rights in 1924 and Natives had already been admitted to white schools, it was the political turmoil of the 1960s that had lasting effects. More and more Natives wanted to make sure they were heard in the political debate. Just as blacks were becoming more militant, Natives believed great activism would help them, and in 1972 activists briefly occupied the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the BIA. This era was the starting point for new tactics that helped end Indian termination policy.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is what Ron Paul thinks should never have been passed. :(

While tribes have taken on much more responsibility in the educating of their youth, they still have to deal with the BIA for funding and grant requests. It has only been in the past 40 years that the focus has shifted from what the government wants to what the Native community wants and needs. Since the role of the BIA continues to be a major factor regardless of mismanagement and corruption issues, Natives will have to work with them until true self-determination is achieved.

What an informative seed, Kavika. I learned more things that is didn't know about...thank you for sharing this with us.