School Reform

"If the Great Spirit had desired me
to be a white man
he would have made me so
in the first place.
He put in your heart
certain wishes and plans;
in my heart he put
other and different desires.
Each man is good
In the sight of the Great Spirit.
It is not necessary,
That eagles should be crows."
..Sitting Bull (Teton Sioux)

Our country prides itself on the high variety of people that makes up an underlying foundation that we’re proud to call the melting pot. However, when it comes to school reform we seem to have trouble learning from the past and thus repeat our errors. Achieving a cross-cultural proficiency of schooling in this country lacks perspective. The last 100 years seems to be riddled with like mistakes.

I had the opportunity to live within close proximity of one of the new school reforms intending to Americanize our citizens. My brother-in-law worked for the Carlisle Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and is well versed on the subject of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and provided me with a wealth of behind-the-scenes information most of which is absolutely heart breaking. The mission of the school was to shape identity. The question was whose identity? The first class was recruited in the late 1800’s; January 27, 2002 brought the passing of the last known surviving alumnus of the school. The intention of the school was to take American Indians off the reservations and turn them into civilized American brothers and sisters. The founder of the school, Richard Henry Pratt, operated under the premise of taking Indian children off the reservations. This removed them from tribal influences. They were then transported far away to Pennsylvania. The school would transform them. He influenced the tribe leaders by convincing them that if their people had been able to read the white man’s words, treaties would have been better understood and violations might not have occurred.
The first group of 82 children arrived October 6, 1879. Thus began the process of assimilation and reform through education. The children’s hair was cut, they were issued uniforms, moccasins were taken, shoes were required, they marched to and from classes and no one could speak their native language. Academics were taught half the school day and trades were taught the other half. During the summer months, children were not returned to their tribes. They were hired out with non-Indian families through an Outing Program. Some children remained with the families and were then sent to public schools. This was seen as an ultimate means of acculturation. The process was to make the Indian become an imitation of the white man. When it was all said and done, over 10,000 Indian children passed through the school during its 39 years of existence. The majority returned to their reservation. There are 192 Native American Indian children buried on the grounds of the school (now the Army War College) from 36 nations. The Apache tribe has the greatest number of markers.

Before we continue forward with school reforms and assimilation, we ought to look back. Recreating the same mislead effort in a new fashion will not create new outcomes. There are other examples such as the 110,000 Japanese Americans/nationals during WWII sent to internment camps. Let’s look back, re-evaluate, plan and institute school reform plans that might work instead of attempting to reinvent the wheel under the anticipation that it might work this time.