The Conflicted Process of Native American Assimilation

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Western expansion during the 18th and early 19th centuries caused the displacement of the Native American People. Nomadic by tradition, the tribes were kicked off of ancestral land and shuffled back and forth between government allotted areas. The settlers coming into the area were not satisfied with this solution though. Controversy arose as how to properly handle these so called savages. Some felt total annihilation was necessary to fully settle the west, while others felt that Native Americans needed to be put on a Christian path. The latter option was put into place by good hearted individuals. Their energy was invested in destroying the traditions of the Native Americans and to saturate every part of their being with Christian morals and civility. The best way to bring about these changes was thought to be missionary work and the education of young Native Americas. Boarding school were set up to aid in the assimilation process. The culture of the children and the one they were entering at the boarding schools were so different, that this transition was not an easy one. The Native American culture was so deeply embedded in the children at a young age, the cultural assimilation of Native Americans was hindered by the culture shock forced upon them at boarding schools.

The Native American culture is deep rooted in traditions and the surrounding environment. Nature provides everything for the Native Americans of the Great Plains and they became masters of their surroundings. Hunting and gathering provided them with the food needed to survive. Besides relying on nature for survival, the Native Americans created communities based upon generosity. Despite the horrid wars between different tribes, they still focused their lives off of generosity and the idea that earth was a gift to share with all.

These concepts carried into their idea of child rearing. Children were seen as precious gifts and were treated as such. From birth the children are spoken to as any other person. While breastfeeding, mothers will tell stories and news of the day to their child. When the children grow older, they are never scolded, rather they are spoken and guided. These techniques put Native American children in touch with their culture at a very young age.

Boarding schools were created for creation of "civil" Native Americans. Schools, like the Carlisle Indian School, focused on instilling white European skills, appearance and other such civil behaviors. Lifestyle in these institutions was completely different than life on the Plains. Here strict rules and regulations are upheld at all times. Children are not allowed to grow into their mistakes here, rather than the good behavior that is required at all times at the schools. In School Days of an Indian Girl, Zitkala tells how she was forced into strict protocols for breakfast. Since she was new to the school, she had not been told the rules. Yet when she makes the slightest of mistakes at breakfast , she is subjected to the disgusted looks of the white adults responsible for her.

The nurturing environment of which the Native Americans are brought into caused adjustment into the "civil" white world to be difficult. Assimilation is possible for the Native Americans. It is just a long process which ultimately leaves them in between two worlds. Richard Pratt writes " It is a great mistake to think that the Indian is born an inevitable savage. He is born a blank, like the rest of us." If every being is born blank, then they have to absorb everything around them to become their individual self. The Native American people insure, from the very moment the child is first suckled, that the child is filled with tradition and culture. Transferring children to these schools, even at a young age, and expecting them to blend into civility, will prove to be difficult. They already have been exposed to their traditions. School Days of an Indian Girl shows the struggle between tradition and new Europeanized ideals. The girl is still young yet she holds tightly onto her people. The only way for them to completely become part of the white American culture is to destroy the Native American one. That is one step that requires much more than schooling.

sources:

textbook

YouTube video viewed in class

"Kill the Indian...and Save the Man," 1892- Richard Pratt

School Days of an Indian Girl- Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlisle_Indian_Industrial_School