Melinda Hernandez
Like Canadian Residential schools, Boarding Schools took Indigenous children, as young as two years of age, from homes, with threats, and by governmental force. Removed from parents and homes, children’s hair was cut, clothes burned, and language, traditions, and religion were forcefully forbidden for the purpose of assimilation of Native Peoples with the use of English and Christian only policy. In a speech delivered in 1892, Capt. Richard H. Pratt articulated US policy toward the Indigenous population when he stated: “Kill the Indian and Save the Man.” There are two ways to conquer a people—kill them or destroy everything that defines them (Older than America, (2008), Boarding Schools were cheaper. The result of US Boarding School policy was a holocaust robbing generations of their physical and emotional health, family, language, traditions, and sovereignty. As Boarding Schools have shaped the way Indigenous people see American education, and it is important that educators understand this US policy, how it was administered, and its impact on the Indigenous population.
Link to Recording
