By 1902, the Carlisle method of instruction was the curriculum for the 26 Indian schools established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. By 1910, it had become the national standard. In addition to federally funded schools, religious organizations soon established their own institutions. These private schools employed a combination of faith based methodology and the Carlisle curriculum. On the surface, all of this seemed to represent a positive step for American Indian policy.
Behind the Veil
Under the veneer of respectability, however, lay a deeper secret. Children returned to their homes altered—speaking English over their native language and answering only to white names. Many returned with their heads shaved and their traditional clothing replaced by coarse tweed fabrics. Some children even showed the signs of malnutrition and wore the scars of harsh disciplinary methods. Native parents were confused and outraged, but their complaints went largely unheeded. Gradually, however, the federal government took notice of the apparent failure of Carlisle’s assimilation efforts. In 1916, Congress ordered a full investigation of the school and its practices.
Investigating Carlisle
Allegations of corruption among the administrators and abuse by teachers sealed Carlisle’s fate in the eye of Congress. The most explosive revelation came in the form of testimony by several former students. More than a dozen witnesses came forward to tell the story of a method of punishment frequently employed at Carlisle. Truculent students were forced to swallow lie for a simple act of defiance such as refusing to abandon their mother tongue. This alone was enough to condemn the school. In 1918, Carlisle Indian School was closed. Within five years, other federally funded institutions were either closed or forced to change their methods.
Beginning of the End
The drive to reform assimilation did not end with the closure of Carlisle and some of her sister schools. In 1926, a detailed investigation revealed much more than educational mismanagement. Cracking the surface, this exposé would eventually reveal the true impact of assimilation as national policy. Seeking to examine the impact of federal Indian policy, Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work commissioned a survey of existing programs. Work was suspicious of the long-term effects of assimilation as a government mandate. Believing that conditions on reservations and within Indian schools were detrimental to native culture, Secretary Work requested the assistance of the Institute for Government Research.
The Meriam Commission
The IGR appointed Dr. Lewis Meriam as director of the investigation and empowered him to seek out a team of specialists. Meriam, a veteran government analyst, immediately assembled experts from a variety of administrative and educational fields to examine all aspects of federal Indian policy. What they discovered would shock the established order. Visiting 23 states and 95 reservations, the commission examined the state of education, health, culture, and economy among native tribes. After two years of intense research, the Meriam Commission ruled that federal Indian policy had been terribly mismanaged.
The End of Assimilation
Meriam’s final analysis was released in 1928. Titled The Problem of Indian Administration, the report underscored the failure of federal Indian policy. The commission came to the conclusion that the American effort to isolate and assimilate native tribes was inherently destructive to the tribe and counter-intuitive to assimilation. The report further claimed that the overall assault on Indian culture that assimilation represented was having a destabilizing effect on individual native communities throughout the nation. The commission recommended a total change of policy. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover requested additional funding to support native tribes and provide adequate clothing and food for the remaining Indian schools. In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Indian Reorganization Act, authorizing native tribes to form their own governments and ending nearly 50 years of legalized oppression. A new day had dawned.
Sources:
Lars Anderson, Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle. (New York; Random House, 2007).
Mark C. Carnes, Ed., U.S. History. (New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1996).
Peter Matthiessen, Ed., George Catlin: North American Indians. (New York: Penguin Books, 1989).
Carl Waldman, The North American Indian. (New York: Checkmark Books, 2000.)
Carl Waldman, Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. (New York: Checkmark Books, 2006).
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