Education for Extinction
American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928
Published on 30. October 1995
Book
Paperback/Softback
396 pages
978-0-7006-0838-6 (ISBN)
Description
The last "Indian War" was fought against Native American children in the dormitories and classrooms of government boarding schools. Only by removing Indian children from their homes for extended periods of time, policymakers reasoned, could white "civilization" take root while childhood memories of "savagism" gradually faded to the point of extinction. In the words of one official: "Kill the Indian and save the man."
Education for Extinction offers the first comprehensive account of this dispiriting effort. Much more than a study of federal Indian policy, this book vividly details the day-to-day experiences of Indian youth living in a "total institution" designed to reconstruct them both psychologically and culturally. The assault on identity came in many forms: the shearing off of braids, the assignment of new names, uniformed drill routines, humiliating punishments, relentless attacks on native religious beliefs, patriotic indoctrinations, suppression of tribal languages, Victorian gender rituals, football contests, and industrial training.
Especially poignant is Adams's description of the ways in which students resisted or accommodated themselves to forced assimilation. Many converted to varying degrees, but others plotted escapes, committed arson, and devised ingenious strategies of passive resistance. Adams also argues that many of those who seemingly cooperated with the system were more than passive players in this drama, that the response of accommodation was not synonymous with cultural surrender. This is especially apparent in his analysis of students who returned to the reservation. He reveals the various ways in which graduates struggled to make sense of their lives and selectively drew upon their school experience in negotiating personal and tribal survival in a world increasingly dominated by white men.
The discussion comes full circle when Adams reviews the government's gradual retreat from the assimilationist vision. Partly because of persistent student resistance, but also partly because of a complex and sometimes contradictory set of progressive, humanitarian, and racist motivations, policymakers did eventually come to view boarding schools less enthusiastically.
Based upon extensive use of government archives, Indian and teacher autobiographies, and school newspapers, Adams's moving account is essential reading for scholars and general readers alike interested in Western history, Native American studies, American race relations, education history, and multiculturalism.
Education for Extinction offers the first comprehensive account of this dispiriting effort. Much more than a study of federal Indian policy, this book vividly details the day-to-day experiences of Indian youth living in a "total institution" designed to reconstruct them both psychologically and culturally. The assault on identity came in many forms: the shearing off of braids, the assignment of new names, uniformed drill routines, humiliating punishments, relentless attacks on native religious beliefs, patriotic indoctrinations, suppression of tribal languages, Victorian gender rituals, football contests, and industrial training.
Especially poignant is Adams's description of the ways in which students resisted or accommodated themselves to forced assimilation. Many converted to varying degrees, but others plotted escapes, committed arson, and devised ingenious strategies of passive resistance. Adams also argues that many of those who seemingly cooperated with the system were more than passive players in this drama, that the response of accommodation was not synonymous with cultural surrender. This is especially apparent in his analysis of students who returned to the reservation. He reveals the various ways in which graduates struggled to make sense of their lives and selectively drew upon their school experience in negotiating personal and tribal survival in a world increasingly dominated by white men.
The discussion comes full circle when Adams reviews the government's gradual retreat from the assimilationist vision. Partly because of persistent student resistance, but also partly because of a complex and sometimes contradictory set of progressive, humanitarian, and racist motivations, policymakers did eventually come to view boarding schools less enthusiastically.
Based upon extensive use of government archives, Indian and teacher autobiographies, and school newspapers, Adams's moving account is essential reading for scholars and general readers alike interested in Western history, Native American studies, American race relations, education history, and multiculturalism.
Reviews / Votes
This is, quite simply, a wonderful book. In lively prose, Adams tells the poignant story of the relentless war against American Indian children. It is a tale about policy makers who sought to use boarding schools as an instrument for transforming Indian youth to 'American' ways of thinking, doing, and living. Adams demonstrates convincingly that Native American students were anything but passive recipients of the 'curriculum of civilization.'" -Choice"A story worth reading and remembering, one that reveals the use of education as a weapon of war, a method of domination, a strong lesson in the potential for education to become part of a political and cultural arsenal." -American Journal of Education
"Remarkable for its synthesis of detail, its scope, and especially its sophisticated analysis and sound reasoning about the multiple conflicting motivations of both whites and Indians." -American Historical Review
"A poignant and heartbreaking book that chronicles the infamous history of the U.S. government's efforts to indoctrinate, deculturalize, and 'Americanize' Native peoples through the use of boarding schools. . . . This is a must-read book for all educators, especially for those who wish to work with students of color. As this book powerfully reminds us, education is an encounter, not a discovery." -Harvard Educational Review
"Adams's contribution to the literature in this field will be valued by students of the Native American experience as a comprehensive source that reveals many of the complexities and ambiguities of the boarding school era."-History of Education Quarterly
"Well researched, well conceptualized, and extremely well written." -Western Historical Quarterly
"Education for Extinction delivers on the promise of its title. This is a thorough and thoughtful study of the federal government's Indian education program that was explicitly aimed at extinguishing a culture. That it failed testifies to a deficient understanding of cultural dynamics as well as to the durability of Indian culture. An important contribution to the literature of Indian-white relations." -Robert M. Utley, author of The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull
"Adams has achieved something remarkable here: he offers a great deal of information on an important and difficult historical topic while never losing sight of its human dimension. Persuasive and moving, his book is full of good stories that should appeal to the general public." -Brian Dippie, author of The Vanishing American: White Attitudes and U.S. Indian Policy
"An outstanding contribution to the field of Indian history and the history of Indian education." -Robert Trennert, author of The Phoenix Indian School: Forced Assimilation in Arizona, 1891-1988
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Kansas
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
27 photographs
Weight
555 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7006-0838-6 (9780700608386)
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Schweitzer Classification