The Shadows of Assimilation: Narratives and Legacies of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School 1879-1918 ______
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THE SHADOWS OF ASSIMILATION: NARRATIVES AND LEGACIES OF THE CARLISLE INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL 1879-1918 ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton ____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in American Studies ____________________________________ By Susan Hamilton Mitchell Thesis Committee Approval: Susie Woo, Department of American Studies, Chair Adam Golub, Department of American Studies Michael Steiner, Department of American Studies Summer, 2017 ABSTRACT The Shadows of Assimilation: Narratives and Legacies of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, 1879-1918, investigates the United States policy for assimilating Native Americans into the American national identity by using education as it means. Indian children were removed from their families to the Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Pennsylvania. Forbidden to speak their native language, they were regimented and disciplined in the civilizing traits esteemed by the white, Protestant middle-class. This assimilation process required the destruction of their Indian identity. Although primary and secondary sources of the official narratives of Carlisle are readily available, researching the children’s narratives of their experiences at Carlisle is more difficult. Student records, letters, and other primary sources reveal the agency of their resistance, defiance, and accommodation strategies to the prison-like environment they experienced at Carlisle. Uncovered in this research is evidence of violent beatings and abuse by the Carlisle staff; the consequences of which not only caused suffering for the children but also for their descendants in the form of intergenerational trauma. By analyzing the stories and experiences of the children, a richer narrative is exposed of what happened and how the misguided assimilation policy still inflicts consequences on Indian communities. It is through the traditional storytelling in tribes that healing is taking place and their ancestors who attended Carlisle are being honored. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Background ........................................................................................................... 1 Change Over Time, the Scholarship about Indian Boarding Schools .................. 7 Researching and Uncovering Indian Narratives ................................................... 13 2. THE ASSIMILATION POLICY FOR INDIAN CHILDREN............................. 20 United States Government Policy ......................................................................... 22 Creating the American Identity............................................................................. 26 Friends of the Indian Reformers ........................................................................... 33 Richard Henry Pratt, Superintendent of Carlisle .................................................. 41 Removal of Indian Children ................................................................................. 43 3. THE DARKER SIDE OF THE CARLISLE EXPERIENCE ............................... 51 Destruction of Indian Identity ............................................................................... 53 Laboring for Self-Sufficiency ............................................................................... 58 Pratt’s Military Discipline .................................................................................... 62 Surveillance and Control Methods ................................................................ 64 Regimentation ................................................................................................ 67 The Shadows of Violence ..................................................................................... 68 Congressional Hearings Uncover Violent Abuse ................................................. 72 4. THE CHILDREN’S STORIES ............................................................................. 84 Uncovering the Stories.......................................................................................... 87 Self-Determination, Defiance, and Resistance ..................................................... 89 Continued Student and Family Agency in Confronting Officials ........................ 100 Self-Identity and Accommodation ........................................................................ 106 Luther Standing Bear’s Transformation ............................................................... 107 iii 5. THE CARLISLE LEGACY: TRAUMA AND HEALING ................................. 113 Trauma and the Boarding School Experience ...................................................... 114 Challenges of Returning Students ........................................................................ 117 Ambiguity of the Carlisle Experience .................................................................. 120 Narratives of Violence and Abuse ........................................................................ 121 Outcomes of Violence .......................................................................................... 123 Failure of the Boarding School Assimilation Policy ............................................ 124 Intergeneration Trauma......................................................................................... 126 The Lost Ones ....................................................................................................... 128 Healing and Reclaiming Sacred Space on Carlisle Grounds ................................ 131 6. CONCLUSION: TELLING THE STORIES ........................................................ 133 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 138 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am most fortunate to have outstanding professors who guided this thesis from its inception to completion with solid scholarship, constructive feedback, and important discussions. Susie Woo, Chair, Adam Golub, and Mike Steiner, you are the dream team. Leila Zenderland, Chair of the American Studies department, was always available with smart ideas while engaging in fascinating conversations. My adult children, Woody, Sarah, Patrick, and Rebecca always supported my master’s degree endeavor. You have taught me so much. I am so lucky to be your mom and I am so proud of who you are in this world. My grandchildren, Lilliana and Cypress, were wonderful distractions along the way. I love all of you. Al Germani planted the seed years ago for graduate school. My sister, Nancie, and my friends Pam, Irene, Alejandra, and Donna rallied joyfully and cheered me on. Thank you so much. Henry Rodriguez (Luiseno) and Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams (Muskogee Creek) have walked on to the other side but their stories are still carried in my heart and on the breezes of the wind. I am grateful for their friendship. To the native children who attended Carlisle, I have walked those grounds and felt your presence. I honor your stories with this thesis. v 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background As a middle school educator in San Diego County my passion for teaching United States history was intertwined with my commitment for learning about Native American history and cultures. I wanted to better inform my students about the indigenous peoples who resided on the land before colonization and what effects became evident as Euro- Americans began to physically and politically dominate the continent. This exploration led me on a rich, unexpected journey of meeting and interacting with Native peoples, being invited to sacred ceremonies such as sweat lodges and Sun Dances, researching Native American Indian diplomatic delegations to the White House with fellowship funding from the White House Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, and receiving a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to examine the history and culture of the Luiseno, a northern San Diego tribe. In conjunction with tribal elders I wrote a curriculum on the Luiseno now used in San Diego County schools. When I first heard about the Carlisle Indian Boarding School located in Pennsylvania, all I knew was Indian children were sent there. I did not know the reasons why or its purpose but thought as I continued to read and learn about Native America the information would appear. It never did. Decades later when I decided to examine the 2 Carlisle Indian Boarding School for this master’s thesis I remembered dormant snippets of conversations with various tribal elders about their experiences at government run boarding schools, although none had attended Carlisle. The common responses from the elders were that they hated the experience or had run away. At that time, I never thought to ask why they ran away or what their school experiences were. Since they have passed on, I realize I lost an opportunity to know their thoughts and experiences about their boarding school education. For me, it became an unsettling question of why this story about these Native American children was absent in the public’s general knowledge and so little known except