Towards the end of the 19th century, different missionaries and religious groups began to collaborate with the government to transform the quality of education available to the Native Americans. Those in leadership believed that such citizens were uncivilized and lacked quality education that could civilize them. These ideologies led to the establishment of the Indian boarding schools in different parts occupied by the natives. The common name for such institutions during the period was Indian Residential Schools. While these learning institutions managed to equip learners with different skills that could support and make it easier for them to have better careers, they played a significant role in disorienting and abusing the population’s culture. This paper uses the quotes by Henry Ward Beecher and Sitting Bull to support this argument.
Background
The experiences of different leaders and students revealed that the established educational system was inappropriate or in tandem with the demands of the population. The targeted children had to learn American ideas and even begin to embrace new cultural practices. The model was capable of disorienting their norms and making it impossible for them to pursue their traditional values. During the same period, it was evident that there were those who believed that such a system could empower more people to succeed in life (Townsend & Nicholas, 2012). Henry Ward Beecher presented this quote as a response to such education system: “The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to use are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an ox but the ox becomes a lion”. Many individuals were convinced that the educational model applied to the Native Americans was unjust and capable of destroying a culture forever. Sitting Bull applied his observations and experiences to present this quote: “If the Great Spirit had desire me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary, that eagles should be crows.”
Business and Activities of Indian Boarding Schools
While the business and activity of any given school is to address the educational needs of the targeted learners, Indian boarding schools became unconventional systems for forcing the natives to acquire new values and ways of life that revolved around the European-American culture. The individuals were forced to study in harsh or deadly environments without the support of their guardians or parents. They were compelled to embrace new identities and abandon their original ones. The missionaries and government officials forced them to embrace Christianity and acquire new English names (Townsend & Nicholas, 2012). They had to get new haircuts and stop practising their languages. These malpractices were abusing and made it impossible for members of this community to lead contented lives. Most of the studies and investigations completed several decades later revealed the seniors and teachers in such institutions abused most of the students mentally, verbally, and even physically.
In the above quote, it is evident that Beecher stands out as a reformist who opposed the establishment of these Indian boarding schools. This leader believed that all people were entitled to their civil liberties, including young children and those from minority groups. The quote outlined above views education as a powerful model or system that should be designed in such a way that it resonates with the demands of the entire country and not a specific group (Fear-Segal & Rose, 2016). He preferred a standardized system that resonated with the demands of all key stakeholders while at the same time upholding the rights and cultural freedoms of the people.
In his quote, Sitting Bull argues that God made him who he was without hesitation. With his position in the American society, he believed that he was in the right place. It was inappropriate for the existing government or religious institutions to force Native Americans to abandon their lives and pursue foreign ideas. He acknowledges that eagles and crows should be allowed to occupy their places without any form of coercion. This kind of analysis appears to relate to the issues surrounding the presence and promotion Indian boarding schools. Such institutions were making it impossible for more children of Native Americans to pursue their dreams while at the same abandoning their ways of life (Townsend & Nicholas, 2012). This malpractice was erroneous and led to the loss of privileges. The people should have been respected and allowed to follow their dreams freely (Townsend, 2019). The educational system was also inhuman since numerous cases of abuse and torture continued to be recorded in such institutions.
Beliefs and Life Experiences
The outlined quotes echo the lives, experiences, and beliefs of the above great thinkers. Having been born in a poor family, Beecher was unable to record most of his growth and development milestones. His teachers also identified as a stammer and a slow learner. They would punish him occasionally for his poor performance in class. His parents remained supportive and encouraged him to take life seriously (Fear-Segal & Rose, 2016). Prayers and storytelling were some of his family’s pastimes during his early childhood. He would later pursue theology and apply his new position to oppose some of the issues that he deemed wrong for years.
Throughout his ministerial work, Beecher remained controversial and radical since he believed that most of the actions pursued in different parts of the country were erroneous and incapable of meeting the needs of the poor. He categorically attacked the Indian boarding school systems because he viewed them as wrong and capable of brainwashing the affected children (Fear-Segal & Rose, 2016). He wanted a balanced country whereby education was utilized as a tool for empowering young people to focus on their goals diligently and eventually emerge successful. According to him, any effort to curtail the practice or pursuit of one’s religious and traditional values was malicious.
Similarly, Sitting Bull was a great leader who supported his people and encouraged them to stand strong against the policies of the government. Although he might have died before the beginning of the 20th century, his views and ideas remained timeless. He was against some of the decisions and concepts because they were capable of disorienting the fate of the Native Americans (Treuer, 2019). His past experiences as a child and a leader encouraged him to focus on what was right and capable of meeting the demands of his people. Bull believed that the natives had to stand up against any form of oppression and be ready to oppose every negative idea.
Because of his relentless and bravery, Bull managed to become a true leader who focused on the needs of the natives. He wanted to promote peace between the Native Americans and the foreigners. However, the whites failed to leave his native land. This was the reason why he mobilized his followers to fight against the Americans (Townsend & Nicholas, 2012). By 1869, Bull had been named the Lakota Sioux Nation’s supreme chief (Treuer, 2019). With such personal beliefs and experiences, this hero managed to present the above quote as a response to the abuses and views of the white man. He argued that his societal position was a gift from God even if he may have appeared a crow in the eyes of many. Similarly, he acknowledged that the implemented system of education was capable of undermining the rights of crows and considering new ways of enslaving them. He believed that a better system could be put in place to support all children equally without coercion or curtailment of natural freedoms and values. These personal experiences and views would guide more people in the future to re-examine the validity of such schools and their possible impacts on the lives of the natives.
Conclusion
The above discussion has identified the Indian boarding schools model as a wrong move that was informed by wrong concepts and biased policies. Those behind the idea ignored the liberties and rights of the natives as bona-fide members of the American community. The introduction of the Indian boarding schools was a terrible mistake that affected the future of many natives. These issues, therefore, explain why both Beecher and Bull remained opposed to different policies that treated Native Americans as second-class citizens.
References
Fear-Segal, J., & Rose, S. D. (Eds.). (2016). Carlisle Indian Industrial School: Indigenous histories, memories, & reclamations. Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.
Townsend, K. W. (2019). First Americans: A history of native peoples (2nd ed.). Pearson Higher Education.
Townsend, K. W., & Nicholas, M. A. (2012). First Americans: A history of native peoples. Pearson Higher Education.
Treuer, D. (2019). The heartbeat of wounded knee. Little Brown Boon Group.