Analysis: Reparations For Indian Boarding Schools

Native Americans have been neglected, abused, and tormented since the 1700’s when their land was abruptly invaded by Europeans. Europeans declared this “unknown” territory to be their property from then forward and did anything and everything to make sure this would happen. This included forced assimilation, where Natives were stripped of their cultural traditions and forced to assimilate to an english speaking, westernized culture (McLeigh, 2010). This included taking children from their families and sending them to boarding school to learn a new language, new cultural traditions, and new religious practices. Starting in 1860 and lasting until 1970, children were taken from their families at a young age and often lost touch with their family

Indian Boarding Schools, which began in the late 1870’s, were started to transition Native Americans from their traditional cultures and transform them into American citizens. By the 1900’s, there were 147 day schools on and off reservations in the Great Plains. Day schools were first built before the government decided that the children needed to be removed from their Indian lifestyle in order for total assimilation to occur. The first off-reservation boarding schools appeared around 1884 in the Great Plains. By 1890, 25 federal off-reservation and 43 on-reservation boarding schools were operating nationally. Many Indian families chose to send their children to boarding schools because there were no other schools available. After $45 million had been spent and 20,000 Indian children had been put into schools, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Jones put emphasis on the importance of utilizing existing boarding and day schools more effectively. Jones declared that the Indian children had shown little evidence of assimilation and introduced the idea for a hierarchy of schools in order to “provide the greatest opportunity for assimilating the best students with the greatest potential for surviving in the white world” (Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, par.8).

When someone speaks of great inequalities and human rights violations, very seldom is Canada as a nation (in a broader sense,) conjured together with these thoughts. However, in reality probably some of the greatest human right violations within our time and even within the late modern period, and most concerning examples of them, can be found through looking back into Canadian history. For many this may be a surprise to hear, however for others, specifically the native population of Canada, we can assume this is well understood. Commonly known today as Indian residential schools, a great act of wrong was committed under the command and leadership of the Canadian government starting back with elementary roots through the passage of the

The act also funded boarding schools that designed to replace Native American culture with American culture within the school system. Family and cultural ties almost diminished because of the boarding schools. Children were even punished for speaking their native tongue or practicing anything dealing with Native American rituals

The first government boarding school for Indians was located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and established in 1879. Founded by Richard Pratt, a former frontier Indian fighter, the school was an attempt at assimilating their culture to that of the white man’s, rather than killing

In my opinion, there should be reparations for slavery. One reason being that the slaves helped create america’s infrastructure from the very beginning. Another reason is the discrimination and prejudice African Americans faced for centuries. Not to mention the jim crow laws and segregation following the civil war. In the atlantic article, “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author discusses the possilibilty of reparations for slaves in the united states.

“America remembers what it did to its Black slaves and is sorry. America remembers what happened to the Jews in Europe and says "never again." America refuses to remember what it has done to Native people, it wants to forget the lies and the slaughter.” (“Reservation Boarding Schools”). From 1878- 1978, Native American children were taken from their families and homes to boarding schools that stripped them of everything they were raised to believe. Schools today do not teach much on the topic of Native American boarding schools, so students either know nothing about them or very little.

I did most of my research by reading the book Magic weapons: aboriginal writers remaking community after residential school by Sam McKegney, and using my own knowledge. Luckily, I learnt all about the Residential schools in my grade 9 social studies class, which I took last year. This made composing and organizing my essay quite a considerable amount easier. While recollecting my earlier-learnt comprehension and searching the web for the research I needed, I asked myself these questions: What kind of unfortunate events were these children forced to go through? Has the government officially apologized or posted apology statements, and what were the people’s reactions to the apologies on behalf of the government? What are the people’s opinions

In the 1800’s there were 60 such boarding schools which were teaching Indian children values such as possessive individualism. This was the opposite teaching of what is instilled in Indian children by their elders, Indian believe in communal ownership and that the land is for everyone. In 1879 the establishment of Carlisle Indian School was created. Col. Richard Henry Pratt established the school due to his belief that by immersing the Indian children into white society they would start identifying as white and not return to the reservation and their Indian ways. Pratt’s motto was “kill the Indian, save the man” (www.nativepartnership.org). In 1978, 118 years after the first boarding school was established the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. This new law gave the parents of Native American children the right to refuse to allow their children to be taken and placed in off-reservation schools. But for many Native American children the damage had been done. Many young adults and children returned to their families not knowing the language and culture of their people. Many felt like they no longer fit into any area of society. The damage had been done and the effects are felt to this day.

Based on the process of making reparations for Japanese Americans, the pursuit of reparations for African Americans may face some logistical barriers. Witnesses of the Japanese internment spoke up in frustration about the experiences they had to go through and political arguments that present the injustice of the system. Many instances of stories told by the internees triggered emotional moments and audience interaction. However, the commissioner limited it to five minutes per person. When talking about Japanese internment, we’re talking about years of open racial segregation and unequal treatment, violating all sorts of civil rights. By limiting years of confinement into five minutes, it only proved that Japanese Americans are still suffering

The issues reparations bring are multifaceted and complex, ranging from how reparations will be paid to dealing with varying public responses. A thorough investigation is required to fully identify the problems and provide any solutions. The issue of reparations is not singular to the current debates in the US. Both in other countries and in the US before, some semblance of reparations have transpired.

Slavery has been painful, nobody is able to see this and do something for it. Many wished to be a slave owner, this only applied to white people. Approximately, one-third of the population of the South was a slave. Being a slave was a constant suffering. At least some of the population should consider reparation as a good way of taking the pain of from the African Americans.

Source 2 shows an imaginary building, Reconciliation, under construction with a sign saying that its completion is still unknown. At the very bottom of the building, is a solid brick with the words “2008, Residential Schools Apology” written. This source tells about the reconciliation for the First Nations. Historically, First Nation children were compulsed to attend residential schools. This, though, aims to remove the Indian in the child, since Europeans thought that Indigenous people were less civilized, and therefore it is their responsibility to make them more civilized, according to their ethnocentric views. Because the children did not experience love and nurturing from their parents, and were treated rather harshly by the teachers in

Children were taken away from their homes and told everything they knew was wrong. They were sent to boarding schools to change their culture. These boarding schools were run by the United States government. The government's goal was to civilize Native Americans. They sent children to these schools against their will. Native American children were educated like Americans and they had to change their native ways to be more like whites (Cayton 266). Teachers abused their students and beat their native ways out of them. They were not allowed to see their families so they would try to escape, but their attempts were unsuccessful. The United States government’s Boarding Schools of the mid-late 1800s irreparably changed Native American culture.

Reparations for African American is something that is an increasingly more important topic of debate today. There are reasonable arguments from those who are for or against African Americans receiving reparations from the time of slavery and up until 100 years post slavery to include the racism and lack of government aide to prevent the actions of Anti-African American Groups. While there are compelling arguments from both sides I believe that Black Americans are owed reparations for the service they provided for the country to succeed today.