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Native American Residential Schools in the United States
Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was the first Native American Residential School in the United States. The school was founded by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, a self-proclaimed Christian who wanted to “save” Native American children through cultural genocide. Across the United States and parts of Canada, over 400 additional boarding schools carried out this systematic “cleansing” of the Native American cultures.
There was a deeply religious component of this, which required the involvement of the local churches. With a goal of “kill the Indian, save the man,” children were punished for speaking their own languages or attempting any cultural traditions under penalty of physical or sexual abuse, starvation, and more. At least 13 denominations were involved, including Catholic, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian.
From 1819-1969, Native American children were forcibly taken from their homes and brought to the boarding schools. Upon arrival, their sacred long hair was cut short, they were dressed alike in plain clothes and forced to do manual labor at the school. This “assimilation into American culture” was deadly: hundreds of children never came home.
A formal investigation was launched in 2021, led by New Mexico Congresswoman-turned Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna), with the purpose of locating and identifying those children who died, and returning their remains back to their homeland. This was personal for her, as Secretary Haaland’s great-grandfather was a residential student at Carlisle.
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I Am Not A Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer
Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David A. Robertson (graphic novel, based on a true story)
Dad, I Miss You by Nadia Sammurtok
Indian Residential School and Christian Mission by David Gyeong Han
The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir by Joseph Auguste Merasty with David Carpenter
This book is a memoir from a Canadian residential school survivor, but the message is the same.