NATIVE AMERICAN
BOARDING SCHOOLS
The Impact of Boarding Schools on the Native
Nations in Indian Country (also called
America)
Dr. Sandy Kewanhaptwa-Dixon
SETTLER COLONIALISM
❖A distinct type of colonialism that functions
through the replacement of Native
populations with an invasive settler society
that, overtime, develops a distinctive
identity and sovereignty.
❖EX. Canada, US. Australia, So. Africa
UNDERSTANDING SETTLER
COLONIALISM
• “Settler Colonialism makes sense
especially if it is understood globally, and
that we live in a settler colonial global
present” Lorenzo Veracini
• Consider: Kenya, Israel, Argentina
SETTLER COLONIALISM KEY FEATURES
1. Settler Colonizers “come to stay”: unlike colonial
agents such as traders, soldiers, governors, settler
collectives intend to permanently occupy and assert
sovereignty over indigenous lands.
2. Settler colonial invasions is a STRUCTURE, not an
event. Settler colonialism persists in the ongoing
elimination of Native populations, and the assertion of
state sovereignty and juridical control over lands.
CONTINUE
2. continued:Settler Colonial socieities do ot stop being
colonial when ppolitical allegiance to the founding
metropole is severed.
3. SC seeks its own end: unlike other types of colonialism
in which the goal is to maintain colonial structures and
imbalances in power between colonizer and colonized,
SC trends toward the ending of colonial differences in the
form of a supreme and unchallenged settler state and
people.
DOES THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS?
• To eliminate Natives themselves asserting false
narrative and structures of settler belonging.
• SC SOCIETIES AROUND THE GLOBE TEND TO
RELY ON REMARKABLY SIMILAR SPATIAL
CONSTRUCTS, POWER STRUCTURES, AND
SOCIAL NARRATIVES.
TERRA MULLIUS
• TERRA MULLIUS – perception that lands in longterm use by Natives are empty or unused.
• SC proceeds to carve up the lands into private
property. As settler collectives invest their
identity and material belonging in these
properties, they create or empower the state to
“defend” these properties from native peoples
and nations who are seen as inherenetly
threatening.
SC AND NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SCHOOLS
• Where do we see settler
colonialism constructs and
narratives in native American
boarding schools?
• DISCUSSION
IMPACT OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
▪
Abuses in U.S. and Canadian Boarding schools (including mission, church schools)
violated a number of human rights legal standards, including:
▪ International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (1976).
▪ The Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1994).
▪ The convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). (Smith, 2005)
IMPACT OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
• B.S. were established to change the Indian, not
educate the Indian. To make a “better” Indian be
forcing Indian children to assimilate into the white
man’s image.
• Today there are eight off-reservation boarding schools
and 52 federal BIA on-reservation boarding schools still
open.
• Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse was rampant.
The effects of these traumatic events continue in Native
American communities today.
IMPACT OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
CONT.
• In 1987, the FBI found that one teacher at the BIA-run Hopi day
school, in Arizona, John Boone, had sexually abused at least
142 boys, but the principal had never investigated any
allegations of the abuse.
• J.D. Todd had taught at a BIA school on the Navajo Reservation
for 21 yrs. Before 12 children came forward with allegations of
molestation against him.
• Read about Cindy Sohappy
• Despite the epidemic of sexual abuse, the BIA did not issue a
policy on reporting sexual abuse until 1987 and did not reinforce
background checks until 1989
Sexual & Physical abuse was
the disciplinary choice.
“I’ll be damned if you tell me to forget about the past
when it comes to the abuse of my family in those
schools.” Sandy Kewanhaptewa-Dixon (Hopi-Sun Clan)
CHILDREN SUFFER IN TO ADULTHOOD
•
The Indian Child Protection Act of 1990 was passed to provide a registry for sexual
offenders in Indian country, to mandate reporting systems, provide the BIA and HIS rigid
guidelines on reporting.
•
Native communities continue to suffer devastating effects as a result of policies (or no
policies).
Children were taken
from their family as
young as four years of
age.
KILL THE INDIAN…SAVE THE MAN
CONTINUE….
•
Thus, Native American people need to acknowledge the reality of:
• Internalized Colonization
• Insecurity
• Acceptance of the status quo. (Wilson, 2004)
• Recognize the psychological dilemma facing Native people.
BOARDING SCHOOL SYNDROME
SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS
(MIHESUAH, 2003).
• Apathy toward prejudice and
racism.
• Lack of issues facing Indigenous
people (sports mascots, ethnic
fraud, loss of treaty rights,
stereotypical movies and
literature.
• Abuse of self: drugs, alcohol,
poor diet.
• Ingrained feelings of inferiority.
• Playing the pathetic Indian game
and asking for handouts.
• Engage in discussions about
Native people as if they were all
ignorant.
• Ignoring & demeaning Native
activists, believing it easier to
bash an Indigenous person
rather than a more “superior”
member of the status quo.
• Gossiping and defaming other
Natives.
• Celebrating Indianness only
when it is convenient & only in
superficial ways that are usually
organized by whites.
MAJOR LOSSES DUE TO BOARDING
SCHOOLS
• Loss of the language.
• Loss of the role of Native Women
and Men.
• Loss of our Children
• Loss of Identity.
Personal Response Journal.
1. Read each article for the entire week carefully and be prepared to write on
each article.
2. You must refer to the articles author in you expose. Examples “Snipe (2003)
alludes to the …” or “Mihesuah (2003) discussed a similar issue in …” Also,
include the title of the article as your heading.
3. What do you write: A brief summary of the article: Tell me your thoughts
after we discussed the topic, viewed the power point. Tie everything in together
in your response. What information was new knowledge to you? Did you agree
or disagree with the intent of the topic article. How were you affected by the
topic.
4. Remember you are to analytically write on each topic. 4 paragraphs. A full
paragraph consists of 7 complete sentences at a minimum.
Government Boarding Schools
NATIVE AMERICAN
BOARDING SCHOOLS
The Impact of Boarding Schools on the Native
Nations in Indian Country (also called
America)
Dr. Sandy Kewanhaptwa-Dixon
SETTLER COLONIALISM
❖A distinct type of colonialism that functions
through the replacement of Native
populations with an invasive settler society
that, overtime, develops a distinctive
identity and sovereignty.
❖EX. Canada, US. Australia, So. Africa
UNDERSTANDING SETTLER
COLONIALISM
• “Settler Colonialism makes sense
especially if it is understood globally, and
that we live in a settler colonial global
present” Lorenzo Veracini
• Consider: Kenya, Israel, Argentina
SETTLER COLONIALISM KEY FEATURES
1. Settler Colonizers “come to stay”: unlike colonial
agents such as traders, soldiers, governors, settler
collectives intend to permanently occupy and assert
sovereignty over indigenous lands.
2. Settler colonial invasions is a STRUCTURE, not an
event. Settler colonialism persists in the ongoing
elimination of Native populations, and the assertion of
state sovereignty and juridical control over lands.
CONTINUE
2. continued:Settler Colonial socieities do ot stop being
colonial when ppolitical allegiance to the founding
metropole is severed.
3. SC seeks its own end: unlike other types of colonialism
in which the goal is to maintain colonial structures and
imbalances in power between colonizer and colonized,
SC trends toward the ending of colonial differences in the
form of a supreme and unchallenged settler state and
people.
DOES THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS?
• To eliminate Natives themselves asserting false
narrative and structures of settler belonging.
• SC SOCIETIES AROUND THE GLOBE TEND TO
RELY ON REMARKABLY SIMILAR SPATIAL
CONSTRUCTS, POWER STRUCTURES, AND
SOCIAL NARRATIVES.
TERRA MULLIUS
• TERRA MULLIUS – perception that lands in longterm use by Natives are empty or unused.
• SC proceeds to carve up the lands into private
property. As settler collectives invest their
identity and material belonging in these
properties, they create or empower the state to
“defend” these properties from native peoples
and nations who are seen as inherenetly
threatening.
SC AND NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SCHOOLS
• Where do we see settler
colonialism constructs and
narratives in native American
boarding schools?
• DISCUSSION
IMPACT OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
▪
Abuses in U.S. and Canadian Boarding schools (including mission, church schools)
violated a number of human rights legal standards, including:
▪ International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (1976).
▪ The Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1994).
▪ The convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). (Smith, 2005)
IMPACT OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
• B.S. were established to change the Indian, not
educate the Indian. To make a “better” Indian be
forcing Indian children to assimilate into the white
man’s image.
• Today there are eight off-reservation boarding schools
and 52 federal BIA on-reservation boarding schools still
open.
• Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse was rampant.
The effects of these traumatic events continue in Native
American communities today.
IMPACT OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
CONT.
• In 1987, the FBI found that one teacher at the BIA-run Hopi day
school, in Arizona, John Boone, had sexually abused at least
142 boys, but the principal had never investigated any
allegations of the abuse.
• J.D. Todd had taught at a BIA school on the Navajo Reservation
for 21 yrs. Before 12 children came forward with allegations of
molestation against him.
• Read about Cindy Sohappy
• Despite the epidemic of sexual abuse, the BIA did not issue a
policy on reporting sexual abuse until 1987 and did not reinforce
background checks until 1989
Sexual & Physical abuse was
the disciplinary choice.
“I’ll be damned if you tell me to forget about the past
when it comes to the abuse of my family in those
schools.” Sandy Kewanhaptewa-Dixon (Hopi-Sun Clan)
CHILDREN SUFFER IN TO ADULTHOOD
•
The Indian Child Protection Act of 1990 was passed to provide a registry for sexual
offenders in Indian country, to mandate reporting systems, provide the BIA and HIS rigid
guidelines on reporting.
•
Native communities continue to suffer devastating effects as a result of policies (or no
policies).
Children were taken
from their family as
young as four years of
age.
KILL THE INDIAN…SAVE THE MAN
CONTINUE….
•
Thus, Native American people need to acknowledge the reality of:
• Internalized Colonization
• Insecurity
• Acceptance of the status quo. (Wilson, 2004)
• Recognize the psychological dilemma facing Native people.
BOARDING SCHOOL SYNDROME
SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS
(MIHESUAH, 2003).
• Apathy toward prejudice and
racism.
• Lack of issues facing Indigenous
people (sports mascots, ethnic
fraud, loss of treaty rights,
stereotypical movies and
literature.
• Abuse of self: drugs, alcohol,
poor diet.
• Ingrained feelings of inferiority.
• Playing the pathetic Indian game
and asking for handouts.
• Engage in discussions about
Native people as if they were all
ignorant.
• Ignoring & demeaning Native
activists, believing it easier to
bash an Indigenous person
rather than a more “superior”
member of the status quo.
• Gossiping and defaming other
Natives.
• Celebrating Indianness only
when it is convenient & only in
superficial ways that are usually
organized by whites.
MAJOR LOSSES DUE TO BOARDING
SCHOOLS
• Loss of the language.
• Loss of the role of Native Women
and Men.
• Loss of our Children
• Loss of Identity.
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