Chapter 2 - 2.3.3
Chapter 2: The Indian reservation today
2.3.3. Education, culture and tribal language
The US government continue a policy whose objective has been to formally end the structures of the tribal chief system and to absorb the American Indian culture for many years. A lot of steps had been taken to make this plan real. Several of these measures are: missionary work to convert the “wild pagans” to Christianity, bans on ritual dance, worship and Indian clothes, and the separation of the American Indian children from their tribes as soon as possible and their education in special boarding schools (American Indians today/Contemporary education and culture 2010). For many years the American Indians’ customs, song and myths have been passed on by oral tradition. The Europeans decided to destroy the Native culture by depriving them of their language. They had founded a lot of boarding schools throughout the nineteen century, in which the American Indian children were taught in English and should adopt the European and Christian manners and customs. What is more, they were forced to live in separation from their tribes and families for several years without any visits. We can imagine that the daily life must have been a torture to the young American Indians. As far as we know, they had been harshly punished if they had talked in a tribal language, for example, corporal and psychological punishment were considered normal. It was generally a very bad treatment: they got only one pair of shoes a year, they had to work and there was often no money for servants and they also became victims of psychological and sexual abuse. To sum up, American Indians have gotten to know the European culture from its darkest side (American Indians today/Education & tribal language 2010). The 20th century is the time until which the boarding schools existed. The number of American Indians who were still speaking their Native language had become smaller. American Indians wanted to preserve their language from dying out and they set up schools where young American Indians should be taught by Native Americans or specially trained teachers rather than by Whites and get in touch with their culture again. In the late 1960’s they have opened the first American Indian school. What is more, the American Indians reservations run schools of their own and in some cases they offer language courses for adults. We can also noticed American Indian colleges and universities, for example, Fort Peck Community College in Montana or the Haskell Indian Nations University Kansas. The younger American Indians have also a possibility to achieve a secondary education connected with their own cultural values. The most American Indians have a contact with the new Native schools from childhood and if someone wants to attend higher education have to leave reservations to earn more money. During the last 20 years the number of American Indians enrolling for college or university has increased by 80 percent. There are lead the lessons in their tribal language what helped to protect 175 American Indian dialects and thanks to this situation, about one third of the children over five years talk in their mother tongue at home. All these developments mark important steps of independence and success. In these days, Native American children have the possibility to learn without leaving their families and giving up their Indian language and identity (American Indians today/Education & tribal language 2010).