Student Page

Do you consider yourself civilized? What does it mean to be civilized? America was struggling with these questions as it tried to solve the "Indian problem." At the end of the nineteenth and early in the twentieth century, the American government supported American Indian boarding schools. Native American children were often removed from their families, placed in government-run boarding schools and trained in "white man's ways." One of the first to try this experiment was Captain R.H. Pratt. He founded the first off-reservation Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1879.

The Task

The challenge is to imagine what life was like for people who lived during this period of time. Learn more about the teachers, school administrators, the children who attended the schools, and Native American leaders as you study photographs and life stories.

Lesson 1

Discover the ways people who connected with American Indian boarding schools left clues that help us learn more about their lives.

• What Are Primary Sources? Look at different types of primary sources that relate to the time period.
• What Do You See? Examine and interpret two photographs of Chiricahua Indian youth.
• How Does It Read? Analyze the writing of two American Indian boarding school students.

Lesson 2

Complete the Student Research Sheet to better understand why boarding schools were established.

Lesson 3

Step 1

In this exercise you will examine and compare photographs from one of the three categories below. In each gallery compare "Native Ways," a sample of photographs of life before boarding school, and "Boarding School Ways," photos of life at school. Click on the gallery of your choice and follow the directions at the top of the page.

Step 2

Create a gallery of pictures that best illustrates how Indians' lives were expected to change after attending a boarding school. Use the "My Gallery" activity sheet.

Lesson 4

Use the Resources for Journal Page. Research individuals or groups of individuals who were associated with the schools. Select one person or group of people for closer examination. Record the language, opinions, and beliefs of that person using the "My character believed..." worksheet.

Lesson 5

In this exercise you will use photographs and written documents to learn about people connected with the boarding schools.

Step 1

Resources for Journal Page.

Step 2

Complete research for Exchange Journals Page.