white people. It is commonly known that mission schools, private contract schools, federal boarding and day schools, public schools, and recently Indian controlled schools, have all had their hand at educating Indian children. This paper will describe the historical development of federal Indian education policy, and the manner in which it has been implemented, in order to understand what precedents were established and what antecedents led to present circumstances.

Education for American Indians is reflective of the nature of the relationship between the federal government and the original inhabitants of this land. It must, therefore, be discussed within the context of the political, economic, and social aspects of that relationship. The entire fabric of Indian life has been affected by federal policies which have attempted to either assimilate or isolate Indian people. This attitude has discouraged, at least, and negated, at worst, Indian community development and cultural survival. The educational practices supported by the federal government to achieve this end began with the early missionary efforts (to Christianize the Natives); led to the establishment of manual-labor boarding schools (to remove them from the influences of their communities and tribal ways of life); through the development of federal schools on and off the reservations (to inculcate them with the habits of Western life); and eventually to integration into the public school system (to assure their exposure to and acceptance of white middle-class society and values).

For the purposes of this work, "policy" will be defined as an overarching rule of conduct decided upon by a government to guide its activities with respect to a certain issue. Federal policy towards American Indians is seen in missionary-supported civilization efforts, removal, treaty-making, settlement on reservations, granting of United States citizenship, and termination. Each of these policies represents a period of time when the United States Government defined its formal dealings with Indian people to hasten the achievement of their goals for them.

While policy can be considered a formal guiding principle, it is through the practices and procedures designed with relation to the policy, that it is actually implemented. Here, the term "practices” will be used to denote the actual performance or method for carrying out a policy. In conjunction with the practices, there are numerous bureaucratic procedures, rules and regulations which exert an additional influence on the implementation of a policy or law. Taken together, these three levels determine the day-to-day activity of the government.2

This report makes several basic assumptions, which should be understood at the outset. First, the policy of the federal government with respect to the education of American Indians has had two major goals, which, although contradictory, have often been in operation simultaneously. These goals are assimilation and isolation. Second, there has been and is a distinction between the Congressional and the Administrative policies, as reflected in the intent of legislation and the administrative construction and implementation of the law. Third, there are articulated and unarticulated policies, in the sense that the

2A similar framework for analyzing federal policy is used by S. Lyman Tyler, in his book "A History of Indian Policy," (Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973), p. 2.

official documents represent what has been determined to be the course of action, whereas the staff interpretation of that decision is subject to the perceptions and philosophies of those who actually perform the administrative activities and shape the services. Fourth, it is a basic right of all Americans to have control over the education of their children. Fifth, whoever controls the financial resources and disbursement of funds often determines how those funds will be used, in terms of allocation, accountability, and priorities for use.

This report defines "education" to mean a formal system or institution established to transmit knowledge, skills and/or values. While such a definition is necessary, it must be recognized that it is merely one way of understanding education for the American Indian. The report does not attempt to define education in terms of survivalcultural or individual. The purposes of education are many and always changing, but they are contingent on the surrounding culture in which an individual must learn to live. In the case of the American Indian, the federal government has largely prepared him to live in a competitive, technology-oriented society, often very different from his own. Such a system has not stressed the perpetuation of his cultural identity nor his traditional customs and values.

The special relationship of the federal government with American Indians has developed over the years to include those tribes and groups for whom the government has maintained a trust responsibility through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Only recently has the government acknowledged that there are Indian people who have no formal tribal organization or who lack federal recognition as such, but who, by virtue of their cultural heritage and Indian identity, are American Indians. To some extent, the presence or lack of a formal federal relationship has been determined by the nature of the initial contact between the United States Government and the tribes, as well as their georgraphical location within the early United States. The evolution of the population presently receiving federal services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs thus has developed historically and so the focus of this study of federal policy will be directed to this group.

Finally, this analysis will illustrate the methods and types of education institutions used by the federal government for Indian education. Several of these had their roots in colonial times, and all major ones are still in existence today. These early educational practices were the seeds from which federal educational policy for American Indians grew. It appears that education has been used, to a great extent, as a means for rationalizing, organizing, and implementing the policies of the federal government in its relationship with Indian people.

B. FEDERAL INDIAN POLICY

Pre-Colonial and Colonial Period

During the Age of Discovery and Exploration, the four major European powers-England, France, Spain, and the Netherlandsembarked upon the continent of North America. In their quest for colonies and the material wealth of the New World, they had to deal directly with the native inhabitants they encountered. They undertook whatever activities would further their economic advantages and political prowess relative to the other nations competing for the resources of the New World. Several goals motivated early European exploration, such as fervor to spread Christianity, acquisition of colonies, and desire for national wealth and power. These resulted to a significant degree in the exploitation of the Indians. Once it was established that the Indians had certain rights of occupancy and that they were unique cultural and political groups, the European powers developed programs which, while different in method, were guided by similar goals of civilizing and Christianizing the Natives to insure economic gain and political supremacy. Distinct patterns of interaction and practices evolved between the tribes and their European conquerors which reflected the culture and political nature of the European immigrants as well as the distinct character of tribes encountered in different regions. These early practices profoundly influenced the way the United States came to deal with its Indian neighbors. Over four hundred years of trial and error formed the basis of the relationship between the United States Government and the tribes within and contiguous to its borders.

Formal education for the Indian of North America has its roots in the missionary efforts of the European powers. During the period of exploration and colonization, zeal to spread Christianity was at a high. Many religious orders received support from their governments to assist them in their conversion work, not only because it was believed to be the "will of God," but perhaps more significantly, because it facilitated their economic and political goals. The objective from the outset seems to have been to coerce the Indian to accommodate the presence of the white man. Thus, the educational practices of the colonial powers were more often rigidly pragmatic and less frequently adaptable to Indian ways.

The Spanish and French programs reflect a strong Catholic influence since their missionary efforts were largely performed by the Franciscans and the Jesuits. The Spanish influence can be seen mostly in the Southwest, and it was here that the Franciscans labored most extensively. They came to the continent to convert the Natives and so established communities centered around missions which taught the Indians religion and the agricultural way of life. There was less

3S. Lyman Tyler, "A History of Indian Policy" (Washington, D.C.. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973), p. 2. Hereinafter cited as Tyler, "Indian Policy."

emphasis on learning strictly academic subjects than on acquiring skills conducive to becoming a farmer, and they attempted to integrate Indian language and customs, as these facilitated the teaching-learning process. The Spanish had a lasting influence on the Indians of the Southwest particularly because they provided the tools and domesticated animals, as well as the instruction needed to establish self-sustaining communities.

The French program was carried out mainly in the Great Lakes region, the Mississippi valley, and along the St. Lawrence River. Since the French interest in the continent was basically in the fur trade, their approach to the Indians was quite different from the Spanish. Instead of looking to change Indians (they wanted to secure their cooperation in order to enlist them as allies against the English and to assist them in trapping and hunting. The French were not adverse to assimilating into and with the Indian tribes and so were much more successful in gaining the friendship and cooperation of the Indians. The Jesuits conducted much of the missionary work and were most influential in keeping peace between the Indians and the French. They emphasized religious training more than formal academic instruction, even though one of the objectives of Louis XIV had been to "educate the children of the Indians in the French manner." 4 One very important reason for this was that continual fighting between the British and the French in the New World often interrupted any continuous educational endeavor. Nevertheless, the French were very successful in dealing with the Indians-perhaps because their economic goals (i.e., hunting and trading) were more affirmative of the Indian way, and they did not try so much to change the Indian as other colonial powers did. Thus, they were able to solidify their Christianizing efforts and gain many Indian allies against the British. The Dutch, until their conquest by the English, basically maintained strict economic dealings with the Natives, ignoring conversion efforts and avoiding integration with the Indians. Trade and land acquisition were the major advantages they sought, and they pursued a policy of negotiating with the Indians in a most conciliatory manner in order to avoid conflicts.5

The English program has perhaps been the most influential on the development of federal policy since it was the English colonies which eventually became the original thirteen states. Many of the religious groups which started missionary work among the Indians within and near the English settlements were the same groups which later utilized the federal support of the Civilization Fund to continue and expand their efforts: The Presbyterians, Moravians, Lutherans, Quakers. Puritans and Anglicans. Since religious groups were generally supported by the political structure within their colony and since education held high priority to many of the English colonists, education was often a cooperative endeavor of both church and state. Instruction was often given in the industrial arts in order to teach the Indian youths the habits of civilized life. But, also, in consonance with the

4U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Special Subcommittee on Indian Education, the "Education of the American Indians, a Survey of the Literature," compiled by Brewton Berry. Committee Print, 91st Cong., 1st Sess., 1969, p. 7. Hereinafter cited as Berry. "Survey of the Literature."

5 Tyler, "Indian Policy." supra, note 1, p. 27.

prevailing course of studies of the upper classes in England, more academic and philosophical subjects were taught, especially at the private schools and institutions of higher learning. Education took place at any location where concerned individuals or groups could persuade Indian youths to attend, including colonial homes and abroad, in boarding and day schools, in institutions of higher learning, and in a few Indian communities organized in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania."

Several humanitarian individuals also independently took up the call to civilize and convert the Natives, and these interested persons, both religiously-affiliated and not, contributed their time and energy to teach the Indians. Many of these early efforts were assisted by the British Crown as well as by English lords and ladies who were independently wealthy, it being fashionable at the time to contribute to the cause of Christianizing the savages.

The earliest formal attempt by any of the British colonies to promote higher education for the Indians was started in the Virginia Colony by a directive of King James I to establish "some churches and schools for ye education of ye children of these Barbarians in Virginia." The Virginia Company attempted to further this objective by establishing a fund to support Indian youths to be boarded in the homes of colonists and taught the rudiments of civilized life. The Company had also set aside a piece of land at Henrico on which to erect an Indian College, which was to be supported by contributions from philanthropic individuals and groups in England. Another tract of land was selected for an Indian school near Charles City, to be supported by the East India Company. These attempts, however, never prospered because of the Indian uprising in 1622 and the revocation of the Virginia charter in 1624.8 From that time, until the founding of the College of William and Mary in 1691,9 there were no formal efforts to educate the Indian in Virginia, but several individuals were sent to England to be educated, with the hope that they would return to convert and civilize their brethren.

In New England, the Puritans made significant efforts at educating the Indians. The Reverends Thomas Mayhew and John Eliot worked dauntlessly to convert the New England Natives. Whenever they could, they tried to convince the Indians to take up their cause and become preachers and teachers. In 1644, several sachems who visited Governor John Winthrop agreed to accept instruction in Christianity. The following year, the Court of the Colony asked the Church elders to formulate a plan for civilizing and converting the Indians. A year later, the court provided for the annual election of two clergymen to

Evelyn C. Adams, "American Indian Education: Government Schools and Economic Progress" (New York; King's Crown Press, 1946), p. 15. 7 Ibid., p. 33. And Berry, "Survey of the Literature." supra note 2. p. 8.

8 Samuel Eliot Morison, "Founding of Harvard College" (Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard University Press, 1935), pp. 412-414. Hereinafter cited as Morison, "Founding of Harvard."

A bequest was made by the late Honorable Robert Boyd of Virginia to propagate the Christian faith among the western Indians. The money was assigned to William and Mary College to provide schooling for Indian boys in the area of reading, writing, arithmetic and catechism and to supply them with the fittings and furnishings necessary during the period they were being educated. However, few Indian children took advantage of the opportunity.