Native American Boarding Schools

This is a before and after image of Thomas Moore, an Indigenous boy who attended Regina Industrial School in Canada. These images were taken a few years apart. The image on the left was when Thomas arrived at the school, and the image on the right was taken around when he finished his time at the school. Notice the differences in his outfit, hair, and background.

The Regina Indian Industrial School was open from 1891 until 1910 and was one of many “Indian boarding schools” that operated between 1869 and the 1960s. In a boarding school, students live at the school, not with their families. Because Maine is so close to the border, Wabanaki children were sent to schools in both America and Canada.

While some Indigenous children attended the school voluntarily, many others were forced. They were taken from their families and brought to these schools where they were often not allowed to speak their native language, wear traditional Indigenous clothing, or act in other ways that reflected their culture. When students broke these rules, it was common for them to be severely punished.

These images of Thomas Moore were taken by government officials at the Department of Indian Affairs and were widely distributed as propaganda to show the benefits of Indigenous children attending these boarding schools.

This image shows the student body at Carlisle Indian School. It was taken in 1884 by John N. Choate. Carlisle Indian School, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was the first off-reservation “Indian boarding school” in the United States that was federally run. At a boarding school, students live at the school, not with their families.

During its years of operation (1879 to 1918), around ten thousand Indigenous children attended the Carlisle school. They came from over 100 tribal nations, including the Wabanaki nations. Families in Maine today have memories of relatives attending Carlisle.

Many of the students were forced to attend the school while others attended voluntarily. The school had a particular interest in recruiting the children of tribal leaders so that other parents would cooperate.

There are about 375 students in the image. Note what the children are wearing, how old they look, and how they are positioned. Like many other Native American boarding schools, students at Carlisle Indian School had to wear Anglo-American clothes, cut their hair, speak English instead of their native languages, change their names, and conform to White American culture. Children were punished if they did not follow the rules.

This is part of a speech by Captain Richard H. Pratt, the founder of the Carlisle Indian School. He delivered the speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1892. Carlisle Indian School was first federally run, off-reservation “Indian boarding school.” At a boarding school, students live at the school, not with their families.

Richard ran the school for 25 years. He was in favor of forced assimilation of Native Americans into white American culture. “Cultural assimilation” is when people’s native culture is replaced by the dominant culture. So, in this case, replacing Native American culture with white American culture. Richard said, “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”

This didn’t literally mean killing someone, it meant killing their cultural identity. Making them more “Americanized” and “civilized” was supposed to help them succeed. Richard believed that Carlisle Indian School was saving children.

Looking back, there is evidence that these schools did a lot of harm to Native children and communities. There were strict rules at these schools about students acting in ways that reflected their culture. This included, but was not limited to, not being allowed to wear the traditional clothing of their tribes, speak their native languages, or practice their own spiritual traditions. This training, and the fact that students were far away from their families and communities, contributed to a major loss of culture and identity.

Mikhu Paul grew up near the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation near Old Town, Maine and is a member of the Kingsclear First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada. Her story is about her grandfather’s time in a residential school and its impact on her family. “Residential school” is another name for “boarding school.”

Because Maine is close to the border, the children of Wabanaki families were sometimes taken to schools in America, like Carlisle Indian School, and sometimes to schools in Canada. Many Wabanaki families had relatives in both countries and moved freely across the border. After all, the border didn’t exist for much of their history.

Why was Mikhu interviewed? She was one of many people who shared their stories to help people understand the impact of child-welfare practices on Native families. Generations of children like Mikhu’s grandfather have been sent to boarding schools, foster care, or put up for adoption. Stories like this help explain the long-term impacts on families and communities.

More about the project:
“The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission led a truth-seeking process from February 2013 to June 2015 to uncover the truth about child-welfare practice with Maine’s Native people. The Commission and its staff traveled thousands of miles to the villages and communities of Maine to hear people’s testimonies. They reviewed state documents and interviewed over 150 people. They sought to create opportunities for people to heal and learn from what they discovered.” – www.mainewabanakireach.org

These photographs show Indigenous students from Carlisle Indian School working on a farm. Farm work was part of the school’s Outing System. After being a student at the school for at least two years, some children sent to live with a white family. The boys would do farm work, while the girls would help in the household.

The students were also enrolled in the local public school. The goal of the program was to fully integrate students into White American culture and learn how to be “civilized,” while also learning valuable skills for life after school.

Pay close attention to the caption at the bottom of the image.

When the program was first created, Captain Richard Pratt, the head of Carlisle Indian School, had to beg families to take in his students because people were afraid of them. However, after a few years, the school began receiving many requests from families who wanted students to work for them. In 1903, there were 948 students in the Outing System.