American Indian boarding schools were boarding schools established in the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s to educate Native American children and assimulate them into European-American culture. They were first established by Christian missionaries of various denominations, who often started schools on reservations and founded boarding schools to provide opportunities for children who did not have schools nearby, especially in the lightly populated areas of the West.
The government paid religious societies to provide education to Native American children on reservations. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) founded additional boarding schools based on the assimilation model of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Children were usually immersed in European-American culture through appearance changes with haircuts and clothing. The children were forbidden to speak their native languages, and traditional names were replaced by new European-American names (to both “civilize” and “Christianize”).
The experience of the schools was often harsh, especially for the younger children. In numerous ways, they were encouraged or forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.
The number of Native American children in the boarding schools reached a peak in the 1970s, with an estimated enrollment of 60,000 in 1973. Investigations of the later twentieth century have revealed many documented cases of sexual, manual, physical and mental abuse occurring at such schools.
Graduates of these government schools often married former classmates, found employment in the Indian Service, migrated to urban areas, or returned to their reservations and entered tribal politics.
The Tohono O’odham children were required to attend Indian boarding schools, designed to teach them the English language and assimilate them to the mainstream European-American ways. According to historian David Leighton, of the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, the boarding school the Tohono O’odham attended was the Tucson Indian School.
Hampton Institute, began accepting Native students in 1878.
White’s Manual Labor Institute, West Branch, Iowa, open 1881–87.
White’s Manual Labor Institute, Wabash, Indiana Open 187]–95 and operated by the Quakers.
Thomas Indian School, near Irving, New York.
Stewart Indian School, Carson City, Nevada.
Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, 1893–1934.
Mount Edgecumbe High School, Sitka, Alaska, established as a BIA school, now operated by the State of Alaska.
Morris Industrial School for Indians, Morris, Minnesota, open 1887–1909. Pipestone Indian School, Pipestone, Minnesota.
Ignacio Boarding School, Colorado.
Hayward Indian School, Hayward, Wisconsin. Oneida Indian School, Wisconsin. Wittenberg Indian School, Wittenberg, Wisconsin.
Haskell Indian Industrial Training School, Lawrence, Kansas, opened in 1884. STILL IN OPERATION.
Genoa Indian Industrial School, Genoa, Nebraska.
Fort Bidwell School, Fort Bidwell, California. St. Boniface Indian School, Banning, California.
Circle of Nations Indian School, Wahpeton, North Dakota. Fort Totten Indian Industrial School, Fort Totten, North Dakota. Boarding and Indian Industrial School in 1891–1935. Became a Community and Day School from 1940 to 1959. Now a Historic Site run by the State Historic Society of North Dakota. Wahpeton Indian School, Wahpeton, North Dakota, 1904–93. In […]
Chinle Boarding School, Many Farms, Arizona. Holbrook Indian School, Holbrook, Arizona. Many Farms High School, near Many Farms, Arizona. Phoenix Indian School, Phoenix, Arizona. Pinon Boarding School, Pinon, Arizona. Theodore Roosevelt Indian Boarding School, founded in 1923 in buildings of the U.S. Army’s closed Fort Apache, Arizona. As of 2016 still in operation as a […]
Chemawa Indian School, Salem, Oregon.
Chamberlain Indian School, Chamberlain, South Dakota. Flandreau Indian School, South Dakota. Pierre Indian School, Pierre, South Dakota. Pine Ridge Boarding School, Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Rapid City Indian School, Rapid City, South Dakota. Springfield Indian School, Springfield, South Dakota.
Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was open from 1879–1918. Also known as the Carlisle Residential School, it was the first boarding school for native American children, and served as a model for many boarding schools to come after.
Bond’s Mission School or Montana Industrial School for Indians, run by Unitarians, Crow Indian Reservation near Custer Station, Montana, 1886–97. Fort Shaw Indian School, Fort Shaw, Montana.
Asbury Manual Labor School, near Fort Mitchell, Alabama open 1822–30, run by the United Methodist Missions.
Anadarko Boarding School, Anadarko, Oklahoma open 1911–33. Bacone College, Muscogee, Oklahoma, 1881–present. Bloomfield Female Academy, originally near Achille, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Opened in 1848 but relocated to Ardmore, Oklahoma around 1917 and in 1934 was renamed Carter Seminary. Carter Seminary, Ardmore, Oklahoma 1917-2004 when the facility moved to Kingston, Oklahoma and was renamed the […]
There were five American Indian boarding schools in the state of New Mexico.
The first Indian Territory Boarding Schools opened in 1872, and some are still in operation at present. Learn about the history of American Indian boarding schools.