Native American Boarding Schools

A broadly based historical survey, this book examines Native American boarding schools in the United States from Puritan times to the present day.

Hundreds of thousands of Native Americans are estimated to have attended Native American boarding schools during the course of over a century. Today, many of the off-reservation Native American boarding schools have closed, and those that remain are in danger of losing critical federal funding. Ironically, some Native Americans want to preserve them.

This book provides a much-needed historical survey of Native American boarding schools that examines all of these educational institutions across the United States and presents a balanced view of many personal boarding school experiences—both positive and negative. Author Mary A. Stout, an expert in American Indian subjects, places Native American boarding schools in context with other American historical and educational movements, discussing not only individual facilities but also the specific outcomes of this educational paradigm.

• Draws upon actual student letters and documents relating to boarding school experiences
• Presents biographical profiles of such key figures as Col. Richard Pratt, founder of Carlisle Indian School; and Jim Thorpe, American athlete and Carlisle graduate
• Provides a chronology of Native American boarding schools in the United States from the 1600s to the present
• Supplies an annotated bibliography of key research resources on Native American boarding schools
• Includes a glossary defining hundreds of terms relating to Indian culture and history