1902 memo......

If a haircut could fix all those problems back then, we need a new haircut order for the chit that's going on nowadays. (I wish!)
 
Those of us who were raised in the eastern U.S. often know very little of the history of how the American Indian people were treated by our government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs did things that we would find to be abhorrent today.

Indian children were forcibly removed from their parents and relocated to distant "Indian Schools" where they were to be educated, trained, and "made into Americans". These children were strongly discouraged from speaking their native language or following their native customs. Thus the discouragement from long hair and body painting.


From Wikipedia article on "Native American boarding schools":

"In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) founded additional boarding schools based on the assimilation model of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. [Located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania]

Children were usually immersed in European-American culture through appearance changes with haircuts, were forbidden to speak their native languages, and traditional names were replaced by new European-American names. The experience of the schools was often harsh, especially for the younger children who were separated from their families. In numerous ways, they were encouraged or forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.[2] The number of Native American children in the boarding schools reached a peak in the 1970s, with an estimated enrollment of 60,000 in 1973. Especially through investigations of the later twentieth century, there have been many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse occurring at such schools.[3] Since those years, tribal nations have increasingly insisted on community-based schools and have also founded numerous tribally controlled colleges."

Here's a link to the 1900 student body at the Carlisle Indian School: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carlisle_pupils.jpg

The faces of these children says it all.
 
Those of us who were raised in the eastern U.S. often know very little of the history of how the American Indian people were treated by our government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs did things that we would find to be abhorrent today.

Indian children were forcibly removed from their parents and relocated to distant "Indian Schools" where they were to be educated, trained, and "made into Americans". These children were strongly discouraged from speaking their native language or following their native customs. Thus the discouragement from long hair and body painting.


From Wikipedia article on "Native American boarding schools":

"In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) founded additional boarding schools based on the assimilation model of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. [Located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania]

Children were usually immersed in European-American culture through appearance changes with haircuts, were forbidden to speak their native languages, and traditional names were replaced by new European-American names. The experience of the schools was often harsh, especially for the younger children who were separated from their families. In numerous ways, they were encouraged or forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.[2] The number of Native American children in the boarding schools reached a peak in the 1970s, with an estimated enrollment of 60,000 in 1973. Especially through investigations of the later twentieth century, there have been many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse occurring at such schools.[3] Since those years, tribal nations have increasingly insisted on community-based schools and have also founded numerous tribally controlled colleges."

Here's a link to the 1900 student body at the Carlisle Indian School: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carlisle_pupils.jpg

The faces of these children says it all.

I agree it was a very incentive way to treat there children they were like concentration camps.
 
It wasn't until 50 years ago that First Nations were recognised as "people" and were given the right to vote. Prior to that, they didn't have access to the courts. They couldn't own land or serve as jurors. They couldn't own businesses or take out bank loans. They could appeal government decisions. Their treaties were sorely disregarded. Is it any wonder that there are land claims issues today?

This sordid history humbles me, but at the same time gives me hope. My son-in-law, who is a First Nations lawyer in Canada, said that giant steps forward in recognising First Nations rights have been taken in the past few years under the Harper government. Even so, there are still poorly informed Canadians who have no understanding of First Nations history and still live with their bigotted ideas.
 
Those of us who were raised in the eastern U.S. often know very little of the history of how the American Indian people were treated by our government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs did things that we would find to be abhorrent today.

Indian children were forcibly removed from their parents and relocated to distant "Indian Schools" where they were to be educated, trained, and "made into Americans". These children were strongly discouraged from speaking their native language or following their native customs. Thus the discouragement from long hair and body painting.


From Wikipedia article on "Native American boarding schools":

"In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) founded additional boarding schools based on the assimilation model of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. [Located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania]

Children were usually immersed in European-American culture through appearance changes with haircuts, were forbidden to speak their native languages, and traditional names were replaced by new European-American names. The experience of the schools was often harsh, especially for the younger children who were separated from their families. In numerous ways, they were encouraged or forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.[2] The number of Native American children in the boarding schools reached a peak in the 1970s, with an estimated enrollment of 60,000 in 1973. Especially through investigations of the later twentieth century, there have been many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse occurring at such schools.[3] Since those years, tribal nations have increasingly insisted on community-based schools and have also founded numerous tribally controlled colleges."

Here's a link to the 1900 student body at the Carlisle Indian School: File:Carlisle pupils.jpg - Wikipedia

The faces of these children says it all.
The tombstone bore the name of Wade Ayres, a Native American boy who died at a government-run boarding school in Pennsylvania more than a century ago and was thought to have been buried on the grounds of what is now a U.S. Army base.

But when the Army exhumed grave B-13 over on Saturday, intending to repatriate the boy's remains to the Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina, they did not match those of a male age 13 or 14. Instead, they belonged to a female age 15 to 20, the Army said in a statement.

Her remains were reburied in the same grave on Monday and marked unknown.

"The Army is committed to seeking more information in an effort to determine where the remains of Wade Ayres are buried so that he may be returned to his family and the Catawba nation," the Army said.

Messages were sent to Catawba and Army officials on Tuesday seeking more information about efforts to locate Wade. It was also unclear whether the Army is seeking to match the unidentified female to a tribe.
 

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