AMERICANIZATION OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
By Meghan
Person
Cultural Genocide Through American Educational Policies
Questions
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How has Native American culture been affected by
European settlers?
How has the United States government treated
Native Americans?
What policies were aimed at destroying Native
American culture?
How have Native Americans dealt with the cultural
genocide of their people?
Connections to the Text
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“The Search Engine” Harlan Atwater’s poems discuss the
search for Indian culture and Corliss actively seeks a
connection to her tribe
“Can I Get A Witness?” See the juxtaposition between
Native American culture and American patriotism
“What You Will Pawn I Will Redeem” Jackson Jackson’s loss
of his heritage and alcoholism
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“Homeless Indians are everywhere in Seattle. We’re common and
boring, and you walk right on by us, with maybe a look of anger
or disgust or even sadness at the terrible fate of the noble
savage” (Alexie 170).
Why is Jackson Jackson in his position? And why are many other
Native Americans?
Definition of Genocide
“The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) defines
genocide (article 2) as ‘any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in
part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…’ including:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
All such acts are violations of human rights, and may also be crimes against humanity or war
crimes, depending on the context in which they were committed. The Convention confirms that
genocide, whether committed in time of peace or war, is a crime under international law which
parties to the Convention undertake “to prevent and to punish” (article 1). Because it is a part
of international customary law the Convention is considered applicable in all countries,
irrespective of whether they have signed or ratified it.
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--From UN.org, emphasis added (http://www.un.org/preventgenocide/adviser/genocide.shtml)
Destructive European-Indian Relations
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Europeans brought diseases that wiped out whole tribes
Destruction of Native Americans through military campaigns
and colonial expansion
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“Manifest Destiny” and breaking of treaties
Reservations led to
death of Indians and
destruction of native
culture
 Boarding schools and
education to “take the
Indian out of the Indian”
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Genocide through Education
Civilization policy—Reform
as solution to “Indian Problem”
 Mission schools established
late 1700s
 1879 Carlisle Indian School
created by Captain Richard
Henry Pratt (“Kill the Indian and save the man”) run by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
 Within 30 years, 500 schools in U.S. (460 run by churches with
government funding), continued until 1934
 Attendance enforced—often children forcibly taken
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Genocide through Education, cont.
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“School staff sheared children’s hair, banned traditional
clothing and customs, and forced children to worship as
Christians. Eliminating Native languages…was a top priority,
and teachers devised an extensive repertoire of punishments
for uncooperative children.”
“‘I was forced to eat an entire bar of soap for speaking my
language,’ says AIUSA activist Byron Wesley (Navajo).”
Learn trades, English, dress and
values of “white men” so can
assimilate into society, often
assigned English names
Physical and sexual abuse
common and often ignored by
officials
Incredibly small budgets led to
deaths from starvation and
disease, children forced to work
to raise funds and often rented
out in the summers for work
Posters given to Native American
children at school
1.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10.
Let Jesus save you.
Come out of your blanket, cut your hair, and dress like a white man.
Have a Christian family with one wife for life.
Live in a house like your white brother, work hard and wash often.
Learn the value of a hard earned dollar. Do not waste your money on
giveaways. Be punctual.
Believe that property and wealth are signs of divine approval.
Keep away from saloons and strong spirits.
Speak the language of your white brother. Send your children to school
to do likewise.
Go to church often and regularly.
Do not go to Indian dances or to medicine men.
Christianization, education and instilling of private property were basis of
civilizing policies
Short-Term Effects of Boarding Schools
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Deaths of Native American children
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Population dropped from 500,000 in 1880’s to 250,000 in 1934
Internalized oppression—Belief in inferiority
Suicides, homicides, alcoholism, depression, and sexual
abuse, among other problems began increasing
Loss of much of Native American culture and identity,
including land
Destruction of Native American families
Loss of language—North America has around 161 nearly
extinct languages
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Example: CA—Originally 80 different languages, now only 50,
most speakers over 60 years of age, only 5 have more than 10
speakers
Effects Continuing to Today
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High rates of depression, suicide, homicide, domestic violence, child
abuse and sexual abuse continue to this day
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Teenage suicide rate150% higher than the U.S national average
Life expectancy is 6 years below U.S. average
“National Indian Health Service (IHS) statistics reveal that the ageadjusted alcoholism death rate is 5.5 times the national average”
Native Americans have the 2nd largest incarceration rate in the U.S.
Children without culture do not have the positive self-esteem or sense
of belonging
“Survivor’s-child complex”—Anxiety, depression, isolation, guilt,
elevated mortality rates, and perceived obligation to share in
ancestral pain, among other things
Parents are still pressured by professionals to give away their
children to white middle-class homes at a higher rate than any
group