Introduction
During the mid to late 19th century, the boarding school system was introduced as a part of the American government policy. The new approach was intended to promote civilization by forcefully taking children of Native Americans to schools to teach them about the new Euro-American culture.
Discussion
The government mainly built boarding schools in the Western part of the country, while a few were spread across other regions. The federal government, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and religious organizations such as the Catholic Church, operated many of these schools. In particular, the BIA helped the government to develop and implement the boarding school policy. The agency also helped to manage the links between the federal government and Native American tribes. It appointed government agents who were tasked with removing and taking away children from their homes and communities using extreme power. Some would mislead and coerce parents into enrolling their children.
The boarding school system aimed to strip students of their Native American cultural identity and force them to adopt the norms and values of white American culture. This would be effected by removing the students from their families and villages, forbidding them from speaking their native language or following their cultural traditions, and coercing them into becoming Christians. As a result, the youngsters were subjected to severe physical and emotional abuse.
Conclusion
The educational system was also centered on manual labor and vocational training instead of conventional academic learning to prepare the children for a life of manual labor. The system’s operation was detrimental to the Indigenous people as many survivors and descendants struggled to reclaim their cultural heritage and heal from the trauma.