Education
It was believed that the best tool to “civilize” Native Americans and assimilate them to Western culture was through education. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs indicated that it cost almost a million dollars to fight wars with the Native Americans, but it only cost $1,200 dollars to educate a Native American child for eight years. Thus, the Department of War began the Indian boarding school system.
At these schools, children were taught to pray, speak, write, and read English. The children’s studies emphasized vocational training. The boys focused on trade jobs such as shoemaking, and the girls focused on domestic arts such as sewing.
Student labor was necessary to fully operate these schools and keep costs down. Phoenix Indian School, Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, Genoa Indian Industrial School, and Stewart Indian School used student labor for numerous projects. The children would operate farmlands so the schools could provide food for the students; they raised stock to produce eggs and milk. On campus, students did cooking, cleaning, and laundry.
The “Outing Program” was introduced and varied from school to school to give students practical experience in these fields. During the summers and holidays, students served as domestic workers in local homes and on the farm. The students were responsible for negotiating their own pay; if they were paid for their work, the school would receive the money directly and put it in the student's savings account. They were able to spend small amounts of their money.
The Outing Program was meant to be a reflection of civilization and help immerse Native Americans into this environment. Specifically, it placed American Indians in lower economic sectors of society. This program was dangerous in many ways due to the lack of security at the schools and strangers being able to come and check out children to do manual labor.
The meaning of education is different in today's world. These children were forced into an education system that taught them how to become carpenters, cook, and clean, rather than learn about science and arts.
