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By Pam Nelson as featured in Volume 14
of In Focus.
The history of the American West in the 19th century is
the story of Manifest Destiny. As America’s borders were expanded west to
the Pacific, the indigenous Indian tribes were, one by one, conquered and
resettled on government reservation land. By the late 1800s, there was
increased public awareness in America of the problems these Indian tribes
were facing, especially in the area of education. Many tribal members
themselves began laying plans to help improve the quality of life for
their people. One of these visionaries was Sarah Winnemucca. Sarah, a
self-educated woman of the Northern Paiute people, was one of the original
woman activists in America. It was her belief and mission to create an
Indian school taught by Indians where their children would not be
separated from their culture, families, and languages.
However, in the later years of Sarah Winnemucca’s work,
she felt that she could only help her people by helping them to assimilate
into the prevailing white society. To this end, she advocated teaching
English to the children and giving them a good, basic education grounded
in the “three R’s.” Sarah said:
These are the days of civilization. We must all be
good, sober and industrious and follow the example of our white
brothers. We must become educated, and give our children an education so
that they may become farmers, mechanics and business men. We must build
houses and earn an honest living.(1)
Sarah Winnemucca’s dream was partially realized when the
Dawes Act was passed by Congress in Februrary, 1887. The act contained
several provisions allocating land to tribal members, and laid the
foundation for Indian public school education. The Act established a
system of Indian boarding schools, which, in retrospect, might be viewed
as implementing Sarah’s vision that Indian children receive an education
following the example of the “white brother.” However, the Dawes Act also
had its nightmarish underside in that many of the boarding schools
established by the Act were engaged in an effort to stamp out all native
cultural remnants.
Under the Dawes Act, 160 acres were
allotted to the head of an Indian family, but the land was not to
be sold for 25 years. If it was held on to for the 25 years, then the
family would receive the title to their land and their American
citizenship. During the 25 year waiting period, assimilation was expected
to take place, as Indians were believed capable of conforming to the white
culture. This act was strongly supported by the Protestant churches, who
were actively involved in missionary work among the Indians, the Indian
Rights Association, and the liberal wing of the Republican Party.
On September 19, 1890, the 160 acre parcels were alloted
to the heads of the Indian families. In Nevada, on December 12, 1890, a
treaty was established between the United States Indian Service and the
“Pah-Ute” Indians, located at Stillwater, Churchill County, State of
Nevada. The treaty officially conveyed the parcels alloted under the Act.
Unfortunately, a short time later, it was decided that these parcels were
too big for the families to put into cultivation. The original treaty was
amended and a second treaty went into effect, giving the heads of the
household ten acres of water-righted land on which to farm.
In addition to land allotments, the Dawes Act required
Indian children to be educated in English speaking schools, primarily day
schools and boarding schools. The goal of Indian education from the 1880s
through the 1920s was to assimilate Indian people into the melting pot of
America by placing them in institutions where traditional ways could be
replaced by those sanctioned by the government. In this way, the policy
makers believed, young people would be immersed in the values and
practical knowledge of the dominant American society while being kept away
from any influences imparted by their traditionally-minded relatives.
The problem was that the education was mandated for Indian
children with or without parental permission. The establishment of
boarding schools away from the children’s reservations cut off contact
with their families. At the school, the children’s native language was
forbidden to be spoken. Denial of certain intangible educational and
cultural rights became an acceptable part of governmental policy. This
action eventually brought conflict between government policy and Indian
culture.
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