#4: Chickasaw, Choctaw & Creek

The call for orphanages for the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek paralleled the stories of the Seneca and Cherokee – Civil War, forced removal, and disease.  Each nation, considered members of the Five Civilized Tribes, found that they were not immune to the government’s compulsory removal from their native lands.  Determined as a nation, each tribe made it their business to tend to their own orphaned children.  If a family member could not care for the orphaned, half-orphaned, or destitute child the institutional orphanages would. 
                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                           http://www.therestorationmovement.com/images/Askew01.JPG

The nature of the orphanages were the same as most others in the nation during that time.  The curriculum focused on an English speaking emphasis that supported reading, writing, arithmetic, sciences and vocational trades.  Most children, if not adopted or taken in by a family member “graduated” from the orphanages.  Girls left at the age of 16 and boys left at the age of 18. 

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fed-indian-policy/images/application-page-03.gif

Through the Dawes Act individuals who were eligible for the allocation of property were awarded land, this included orphaned children.   Allotment rolls were made public, and for the shysters, they turned their attention to find the orphaned children and then become their court-appointed guardian. Most of these children did get the opportunity to be equal owners of their estates, in most events; the children were seen as a link to a valuable commodity leading to financial gain rather than be cared for by a loving adult.   

                                                     http://redriverhistorian.com/sitebuilder/images/wheelock_unknown_soul-420x309.jpg

It would be hard pressed to not admit the sadness that I felt as I read the accounts of orphaned children being used by adults for monetary gain.  The children, relying so heavily upon those around them – to care and to love them, but instead finding themselves being neglected and in some cases treated as indentured servants upon their own property.

Foundations: Announcements

There are several announcements to be shared:

1.)  There we be NO CLASS on April 12th since we watch the 3rd School video in its entirety on Friday.  If you did not attend class the video can be accessed from either Jenn DeCoteau or Rhonda Breuer.  The note sheet and video are on my desk.  Please do not remove the movie from the Education Building - it may be watched in the Teacher Education lab.  Please have this made up by Wednesday (April 14th).

2.) School Board meeting report and agenda are due at the end of the month - April 30th.

Image from http://www.languageconnections.com/newsletter_content/October_2009/thumbnails/Announcements_clip_image002.gif
3.)  The Educational Innovator presentations dates are as follows:

Wednesday, April 28th
Loreli - Horace Mann
Memoree - John Dewey
Kara - Booker T. Washington

Friday, April 30th
Ro - Catherine Beecher
Yvonne - Linda Brown Thompson
Shyanne - Jose Angel Gutierrez
Nevada - Deborah Meier

Lastly, everyone should be working on their fourth personal posting of their Native American boarding school blog.  When we get back together as a class next week Wednesday we will again share through our book talk conversations.  Please check in with the UTTC librarian regarding your library book, some of you may need to renew.

Have a great weekend and see you all on Wednesday!

Third Posting - Orphans Among Us: Cherokee

In 1871 the Cherokee Orphan Asylum was funded with $4,000 appropriated by the National Council of the Cherokee. A building was provided but the materials and necessities of its inhabitants were few and of poor quality. The educational system was undeveloped and learning a second language (English) determined if you “graduated” from the institution – although it was not a boarding school.
The institution was headed by William Ross, principal chief, who pushed for the education of the orphanage’s children. The institution was overseen by the Cherokee Board of Education. The board handled established schools within the nation; day or neighborhood schools, boarding schools, and the orphan asylum. The board, in its duties, hired and fired teachers and administrators, organized the school districts, and evaluated the schools.

Image to the right was found at picasaweb.google.com/.../ARu_IwrP1dE_vEGHSNkmgw

The orphanage was the first of its kind in the Cherokee Nation. As one of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokee realized that through their years of contact with whites, the removal from tribal homelands, rebuilding in a new geographical region, illnesses, and the American Civil War that orphanages were the best solution to ensure that their children were to be cared for by their people. Therefore, they adopted and implemented the educational, political, and religious ways of the white culture and brought these practices forth into the orphanage system.

Unique to other institutions of its kind during that time the children of Cherokee Orphan Asylum were able to retain their cultural identity. Only Cherokee children were permitted to reside within its walls and youngsters were not placed in white homes to work and live. In addition, the children were not indentured to white adults as laborers or apprentices. Their teachers and administrators for the most part where Cherokee. In fact, it may have been rare for a child to see a “white face” during a days’ time.
In the early 1900s tribal disbanding and the General Allotment Act (Dawes Act) meant that educational systems that were ran by the Five Civilized Tribes were being slowly taking apart. The federal government held the fate of how monies were to be spent to educate Native children. Doors began to permanently close. However; the Cherokee orphanage held strong and placed the institution under the jurisdiction of the Indian Bureau.

Image above from picasaweb.google.com/.../PY4fuQtcOGNzu6CzuRfAng

The First Solution: Seneca

The Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children was the first of its kind in the nation as it housed Indian-only orphans.  Construction of the first building began in 1855 and its walls became filled with children and personnel within the year.  The 100 acres that would house the facility was located on the Cattaraugus Reservation in the far western side of the state of New York.  

The need for the orphanage sprang from the death of one man – a man who in his passing left a large family with a great deal of extreme need.  Supported by missionaries, philanthropists, the state of New York and Senecas the institution adopted the common school agenda.  The agenda, itself, meant that there would be education for all with the goal in mind of creating a national identify.  With this in mind, the notion set forth that through these diverse backgrounds had to develop a shared set of attitudes and values – to be Americanized!

A myth sprung to the forefront – immigrants wanted to be Americanized.  This, as the book explains, is far from the truth.  In the 1830s and 1840 immigrants held tightly to their traditional ways especially in the areas of language and religion.  They lived in neighbors both in urban and rural settings to maintain the ethnic customs.  It was only in the late 1800s when immigrant parents decided that they had to relinquish aspects of their cultural identity in order for their children to be successful in American schools. 

With this said, the book goes on to explain that Native American experiences paralleled the immigrants but in reverse chronology.  The author states that in the early 1800s most Indian groups accepted, or at least accommodated to education that aimed to assimilate and acculturate.  As time went on, the attitude changed.  Why?  Due to the disruptiveness of cultural cohesiveness of the late 1800s.  Children and families were faced with the trauma of removal.  Children were being taking away from their homes to be forced to become Americans – it no longer was a choice it was a demand.

The orphanage was highly cared for by hired personnel.  Unlike the boarding schools of that time that were in the practice of having the children assist in maintaining the campus grounds and cleanliness of the indoor environment.  In fact, the ratio of adult-to-child in 1855 was 1:7 compared to other orphanages whose rations could sometimes exceed to 1:100. 

Nonetheless the discipline of the orphanage was harsh as it followed a military style of routine and consequences.  All facilities that housed children, immigrants and Native Americans, used military policies.  Haircuts were the very first event that took place to those who arrived.  The reason, health and hygiene would be the expected response.  The overall fear of head lice spreading throughout a facility was ended when haircuts were performed.  This was not the only thing that was terminated – so was the identity and individuality of the child. 

Records show that children who attended the orphanage had both positive and negative recollections.  For the most part, in the earlier years the institution was quite enjoyable.  As time passed a few negative memoirs surfaced.  Events and special occasions were the most often mentioned when it came to the good times.  Discipline and illness were noted as the negative. 

The doors of the orphanage were closed in 1955 with great fight.  The Senecas had hopes that it could be turned into a vocational high school or an Indian college along the same lines of Haskell but their attempts failed.  However, it is noted that many of the orphans who attended Thomas went on to go to off-reservation boarding schools such as Haskell, Carlisle, and the Hampton Institute in Virginia.

Lunch Anyone?

Please note that we will be meeting at the Fortune Cookie for class this Wednesday, March 24th at 12:30 pm.  We will have a "book talk" class meeting, so be prepared to talk about your first reading section of boarding school book.


In addition, please make sure that you are getting into your blogs and posting both your personal and peer responses.  We are just getting started on our second blog so I encourage you to stay with the deadlines for each week, we all know how stressful it can get when we fall behind.


Image from http://www.streamys.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/time-is-ticking.jpg

Post One: Indian Orphanages

I began my journey of Native American orphanages through the extensive research of author Marilyn Irvin Holt.  As I turned past the table of contents I found myself feeling a sense of anticipation accompanied with disinclination.  What information will I gain from the pages that follow and what emotions will be tied to the overarching subject of the book itself? 

So I pressed forward and gingerly began to read.

In the U.S. it was apparent that the definition of care for an orphan differed between two distinct cultures, European and Native American.  Although practices varied among the tribes concerning children who lost one or both of their biological parents it is clearly understood that one common practice was shared, no child was left uncared for in their communities.  Orphaned children were often brought into the homes of their grandparents, older siblings, relatives, and family acquaintances.  Whereas European children, who were orphaned, rarely had the opportunity to be cared for by another family member let alone by an individual within their community.  The social norms brought over from their European homelands followed them and these children were placed in institutions called orphanages. 

Dramatic changes in the United States greatly increased the immigration population.  Events such as the Industrial Revolution, California Gold Rush, and land opportunity in the West generated more chances for financial security but also affected the nature of the family.  Immigrant children paid the price.  These children fell within one of these three categories:

• Orphaned – a minor child without living parents.  
• Half-orphaned – a minor child who has lost one parent, yet the one living parent cannot care for them.
• Destitute – a minor child having both parents, living, but who cannot care for them.

Native American people honorably held tight to their child-rearing practices but could not escape the pressures of the dominant culture.  Keeping the family together was challenged through conflicts, encroachment of hunting grounds, disease, and forced assimilation.   As the native population began to decrease so did the tradition of orphaned children being cared for within their tribal communities.  Resembling their immigration counterparts, Native American children began to be placed in orphanages. 

Marilyn Irvin Holt’s research focuses upon the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations The intent of her work was to not focus upon the Five Civilized Tribes, however; the extent of her data was retrieved from institutions in which documents could be retrieved.  Additional orphanage accounts include the Seneca, Cherokee, Oklahoma, Ojibway and Sioux. 

Image from http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/images/holind.jpg

Second Blogging Assignment

Greetings!

We will begin our second blog assignment.  The dates listed below are the due dates for both your personal post and your response to your peers.  As we had done so for our first blog you will be graded each week based on your timely submissions and a final grade will be given for your overall blog.  Use the rubric provided by your instructor to guide you through the assignment.

I am highly anticipating the opportunity to also contribute to the blog postings as I will be blogging on my chosen book as well.

Dates for Blog Submissions	Personal Post (Mondays) 5PM	Peer Response (Wednesdays) 5PM
First	March 22	March 24
Second	March 29	March 31
Third	April 5	April 7
Fourth	April 12	April 14
Fifth	April 19	April 21

Please note the following:

Please return your Chilocco book if you have not yet relinquished it to your instructor.

Also, make sure that you check out your current book with the UTTC librarian if you have not done so already.  You will be required to renew your book as you will be using the it until April 21^st.