Talk:American Indian boarding schools/Archives/2023/June

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Comments

I deleted the article on "American Indian Assimilation" and move the one paragraph to this article. I deleted that article because it had only one paragraph, and that paragraph was on boarding schools, and it seems more appropriate here. I leave it to editors of this article to figure out how best to incorporate the paragraph I placed at the bottom of the article. Slrubenstein | Talk 17:09, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

List of schools

This is very long and might be better as an associated page to the article. At a minimum, it would be useful to show which schools are still operating, as well as which are (and were) on reservations, if that data can be found.Parkwells (talk) 02:44, 6 July 2011 (UTC)


The link incorrectly states that Thomas Indian School was near Irvington, NY. It was actually near Irving, NY. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.169.226.167 (talk) 12:28, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

POV

While the history of NA boarding schools is a sad one, there should be some recognition that founders often had good intentions, if operating under misguided assumptions about their own cultural superiority. In addition, it may be useful to compare problems with those in other Catholic schools (problems inherent in institutions where power is all one-sided?), and with the cruelties and hazards of prep schools and other types of boarding schools in the US and Great Britain. It appears that the situations that developed weren't only because of misguided or discriminatory policies toward American Indians and their children.Parkwells (talk) 02:44, 6 July 2011 (UTC)


Sure and let's make sure and create a more balanced approach to the Holocaust. I am sure there were any number of Germans who were well intentioned in their attempts to eliminate the Jewish culture via forced assimilation and slave labor. Yep, good idea Parkwells. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.170.230.126 (talk) 05:10, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved to American Indian boarding schools. —Darkwind (talk) 20:34, 11 October 2013 (UTC)



Native American boarding schoolsIndian boarding schools – As far as I can see, everything in the article supports that these places were known as "Indian boarding schools"; Native American name controversy indicates that the term "Native American" didn't come into widespread use until the 1960s, decades after these schools were established. While it makes sense that this article should use modern-day language and refer to the people who attended the schools as Native Americans, I don't see why the article's title should suggest these schools were known by a name different than what was actually used. Theoldsparkle (talk) 15:08, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

  • Oppose proposed title fails WP:CRITERIA. Anyone seeing the proposed title would expect it to be about boarding schools in India a la WP:COMMONNAME. Titles don't have to be historically authentic if they are descriptions in small case, not actually names. In ictu oculi (talk) 15:23, 24 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Oppose per IIO. The nominator is essentially right on all points, but we simply can't refer to indigenous peoples of the Americas as "Indians" alone on a global encyclopedia. --BDD (talk) 16:38, 24 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Comment How about "American Indian boarding schools"? PatGallacher (talk) 17:32, 24 September 2013 (UTC)
User:AjaxSmack, are you sure it's an anachronism if it's in small case? Firstly some of these 1870- 1933 schools continued into the era where "Native American" was used - according to the article still operating in 2007. Secondly Google Books results shows in line copy such as Frank A. Salamone - 2012 "The stories of Ned Crutcher and the Stewart Indian School shed light on the Native American boarding school sports and the assimilation process" - why is a small case description an anachronism in 2012, that is how people in 2012 describe the Stewart Indian School (Title case, name). In ictu oculi (talk) 02:32, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
I would never argue that no source relies on anachronisms. However, if most of the sources for the article eschew them, Wikipedia should, too.  AjaxSmack  01:34, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Comment United States Indian boarding schools to match the Canadian article which is "residential" instead of "boarding" -- 65.92.181.39 (talk) 03:23, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Strong Oppose - Policy is to use the most common ethnic term NOW, and insisting on ethnic terms from the 19th century, many of which were offensive, would be a move backwards away from progress, but a good reminder to us that yes, there really are people still out there who pine for those days! Til Eulenspiegel /talk/ 14:32, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Strong support, though American Indian boarding schools would be even better. Policy is not to make up names for things unless there's no other choice. And of course, one of the groups that "pines for those days" is the American Indian Movement. The assumption that "Indian" is necessarily offensive in this context is wrong. 168.12.253.66 (talk) 14:45, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Oppose per In ictu oculi, to avoid confusion with boarding schools in India. bd2412 T 16:39, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Support move to American Indian boarding schools. "Indian" is not a pejorative, not considered by a large number of people to be a pejorative and still commonly used both by Indians and non-Indians, particularly when referring to events that predate the invention of the term "Native American". Policy is not to use the most common ethnic name now at all; it is simply to use the most common name. -- Necrothesp (talk) 18:06, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
  • Oppose. Neither term is going to make everyone happy, but "Native American boarding schools" is a commonly used term and accurately conveys the subject of the article without confusion. -Uyvsdi (talk) 20:56, 28 September 2013 (UTC)Uyvsdi
  • Oppose. The proposed name would be inaccurate, misleading, confusing. India is on the other side of the planet and the naming of Native Americans as Indians derives from 15th century errors. Any reference to historic names "Indian" are only correct if presented in a past tense, which the proposed title does not. --SmokeyJoe (talk) 04:09, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
    • Then why do many American Indians still call themselves Indians? Are they wrong? Are they backward? Are they insulting their own people? Or do they just refuse to be 'guided' by politically correct non-Indians "for their own good"? -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:28, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
That's beside the point for our purposes. If I'm talking to someone who says he's an Indian, I can probably tell whether his ancestors are from the Americas or South Asia. But Indian boarding schools as a Wikipedia title is not so clear, and WP:CRITERIA says titles should be recognizable. A reader searching for this subject will recognize either title. A reader searching for boarding schools of India will be misled by the proposed title, but not by the current one. --BDD (talk) 18:46, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
Which is why I said above it should be moved to American Indian boarding schools...SmokeyJoe appeared to be objecting to use of the term "Indian"! -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:28, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
I can see how you read that. Sorry. "Indian" alone is inaccurate to anyone who first thinks of India (probably that majority of speakers of English, all in India). "American Indian" can't be reasonably mislead as Indian people. --SmokeyJoe (talk) 13:45, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
No objections to this. Only an unqualified "Indian" is unacceptable. --BDD (talk) 18:37, 5 October 2013 (UTC)
Agree. No objection to American Indian boarding schools. --SmokeyJoe (talk) 09:34, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Contested closure

I did not see the consensus for the move. Til Eulenspiegel /talk/ 00:32, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Please see User talk:Darkwind/Archive 7#Native American boarding schools move czar  00:47, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Four "supports" and six "opposes" is a consensus of support???! —Uyvsdi (talk) 13:42, 12 October 2013 (UTC)Uyvsdi

Yes, this move was certainly unprocedural. The closer used some specious and "original arguments" to convert several "oppose, keep current title" votes into "Go ahead and move, the other title is better" votes. Now how do we appeal? Til Eulenspiegel /talk/ 15:25, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
Per process at Wikipedia:Move review, first discuss on the closer's talk page and at a stalemate, bring it to MR. czar  17:49, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
  • Comment: Usually what we see, especially in highly contentious move proposals like this, is wait for the original proposal to fail, and then open up a separate move request to a third proposed title - not try to divine support for that title from comments of people opposing the failed proposal. If "American Indian" really has consensus as a better title than "Native American", that question should be put on the table for separate consideration. What would be called basic parliamentary procedure as normally observed has been jumped. Til Eulenspiegel /talk/ 19:06, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
That's simply false. Many, many requested moves end up with a different title than what was originally proposed. The process values collaboration and compromise and closing admins use their best judgement. And of course it is certainly *not* acceptable for a user to unilaterally move a page to their preferred title when there's been a formal discussion. The page needs to be moved back where the closer put it immediately.--Cúchullain t/c
  • I also oppose moving to American Indian. Native American is lexicologically correct and is also less ambiguous. Pass a Method talk 19:20, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
  • For what it matters, I noticed a DYK hook on the main page today uses "Indian boarding schools". —  AjaxSmack  15:36, 2 November 2013 (UTC)
I wrote the article. It's a book I'm reading. The author refers to the 25 boarding schools as Indian boarding schools. This isn't to say the author's book and this article have the same scope. I'll also note for anyone who didn't notice the tag above, the move decision is under review at Wikipedia:Move_review/Log/2013_October#Native_American_boarding_schools. czar  18:45, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Indians have always known them as Indian Boarding Schools. My Grandmother did not go to a Native School, she went to an Indian School. Popular culture i.e. Hollywood movies have always referred to them as Indian Boarding Schools. Historically, White culture and governmental agencies have always referred to them as Indian Boarding Schools. Just because a few scholars have arbitrarily declared that that we should now be called Native Americans does not make the term correct, it is actually very disrespectful towards us. Technically anyone born here is a "native". Yes, given the international scope of wiki there is unfortunate confusion with the people of India, however this is easily solved by using the qualifying prefix American. In the view of many Indians, calling us Natives is just another subtle form of genocide -- of making us disappear. If you want to be truly proper you ought to call us The First Peoples, which signifies and affirms that we were here first. Ah Nee — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.47.4.32 (talk) 06:14, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

Very disappointed by the WhiteWash of Physical and Sexual Abuse

I have not looked at this article in a long time. An early version of this article had a significant amount of information about how Indians had been abused. I remember fighting for it's inclusion when certain people kept trying to hide the truth and tell their lies about what happened. And now today I came here thinking to add a link to an article and what do I find? Everything is gone again, it has all been reduced to a single sentence saying that if the children did not finish their work on time they were hit with a strap. This so completely understates the case that is might as well be a lie. I am very disappointed in the wiki community for allowing this to happen. So let me tell you a story that was told to me by an elder woman.

Sometimes I would get a chance to see my brother and we could talk a little bit. One day my brother told me that he had been moved to another dorm room. This room had no heat and there were sick people in it. He was afraid that he would get sick too. They took away his blanket and forced him to sleep in an unheated room, they deliberately exposed him to other sick people. My brother died there. I slept in the girls dorm. Every night a nun would come for one of us. We all lay there in our beds praying that it wouldn't be our turn to be taken away for the night. After they took the girl away, then you would hear the screams... it was very hard to sleep with all those screams.

These are the words of a beloved elder, she never actually talked directly about the sexual abuse that occurred when you were taken away for the night, but she made her meaning clear. I also know two elder men, they both told me that they had been sexually abused as boys.

I can't speak about other schools, but what I can tell you is that these people all went to Chemawa, I assume that all the schools were pretty similar, but certainly there would be some variation even at the same school depending on who was in charge at any given time. Few of the survivors are willing to talk about these things even in private, but there are still plenty of accounts that have been written about in various books on the subject to make it clear that this was a widespread problem.

Here is that article that I was going to add, but I see no place to add it: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/10/29/aside-us-governments-attempt-genocide-what-has-caused-most-egregious-cultural-harm-psyche

There are plenty of unmarked graves at those schools and families who never heard from their children again and were always left to wonder what happened to them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.47.4.32 (talk) 06:52, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

There are a few options here. (1) You could pull the link to the earlier version of the page through the "history" tab up top and we can see how the info was sourced and where it went. (2) You could find a reliable, secondary source (ideally a book) that highlights the extent of abuse and we can work it in with due weight. Let me know how I can help. czar  14:54, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

Hi Czar, thanks for the response. The edit history won't help, the original version of this article got deleted a long time ago. but after thinking about it, the previous content, I had added, may have been to a different page on Indians. Anyway, there is a book on boarding schools whose name I don't recall that talks about some of the abuse, I will try to find it. Meanwhile I am currently reading "Indian School" by Michael Cooper. Keep in mind that abuse/trauma survivors rarely are inclined to talk about what happened to them, and that a lot of people have an interest in suppressing that information. Do you know for instance that Oregon (the place where Chemawa is located) passed a law saying that all Indians who were off the reservation without an escort were to be shot on sight? Or that Boston, only recently, finally, repealed a law that said any Indian within the city limits was to be arrested on sight? This country has a very much repressed and hidden, long and horrible history of abuses of Indians. Thankfully most of this is in the past, but you would be surprised how much of it is still on-going. Ever heard anything about the uprising at Wounded Knee in 1973? Oh, here is a quote for you, I was just now flipping randomly through the "Indian School" book and on page 94 it says:

After Pratt left, Carlisle had two weak superintendents. Under their administrations there were scandals involving drunken students, pregnant coeds, and pampered athletes. After an eighteen-year-old girl was held by two matrons while a male teacher beat her, some 250 students signed a petition asking Congress to investigate conditions at the school. The investigators found widespread abuse and mismanagement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.47.4.32 (talk) 01:14, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

I was going to add a reference for that quote but I'm not sure where it'd go. There's currently one line that mentions abuses. Once the article is built up a bit more, there will be due room on physical/emotional treatment in the boarding schools. I read Education for Extinction recently so I think I have a good idea of where this article can go—just don't have time to work on it now, myself. czar  04:58, 27 November 2013 (UTC)
Not sure what happened to that material, either, as I recall that. The abuse has been documented; we need to use sources that relate to this school - not generalize based on material from other schools.Parkwells (talk) 21:56, 27 November 2013 (UTC)
Cooper's book is for high school students - we need to do better than that.

Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875-1928, by David Wallace Adams, is published by Kansas University Press - better choice.Parkwells (talk) 22:00, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

response to immediate above

what i personally have found is that books intended for pre*college level are often more detailed more honest and less liable to bias than even scholarly works * and because of the targeted readership presentation is much more direct * i myself on my own website used a grade school book as a source * which had covered the history of genocide and assimilation from a very broadly inclusive standpoint in less than a hundred pages * if books intended for kids seem well referenced and well written there is no need to disparage them * 74.78.15.101 (talk) 20:45, 11 June 2014 (UTC)grumpy

Classic wikipedia

I love going on wikipedia and seeing articles glorifying and trying to put a positive spin on attempted cultural genocide. Keep up the good work wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.202.78.181 (talk) 05:23, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

Is there any evidence of "slavery within the campuses"?

Several months ago, an anonymous editor added some information about "slavery within the campuses" of Native American boarding schools. Did slavery ever occur on these campuses, and are there any reliable sources that can verify this? Jarble (talk) 18:33, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

You're right, that was weird, we must have just missed that edit. I tossed it, thanks for pointing it out. Montanabw(talk) 22:44, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
Wow, never saw that edit. Thanks to both of you for fixing it. While several of the tribes had slaves in the 19th century, and there is evidence of both segregated and non-segregated schools, those were clearly done away with mostly at the turn of the century and clearly after federal desegregation in the 1960s. I seriously doubt any declines in 2007 had to do with slavery in any way shape or form. ;) SusunW (talk) 23:00, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

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Reunions

|Seems like the Industrial Schools were taking after Richard Pratt, but Ely S. Parker luckily fixed this. Given the sense of superiority the U.S. has over Indians it is not unlikely that people like Pratt must of had some hidden perceptions about technology in general; for instance, the Egyptians, Moors (Arabs), Romans, Greeks, Persians, Chinese, etc, all used force to convey superiority -- not specifically to Europeans but not without them either. Unfortunately, the greatest sharing of technology didn't come from the people who made it: after the Mongolian defeat of China, Russia, Iraq, Northern India, etc, their Shamanistic religion (nature) allowed other religions to flourish and many engine-designs were assimilated by the world. 208.96.66.213 (talk) 17:44, 20 July 2017 (UTC) Parkwells (talk) 22:33, 1 August 2021 (UTC):The video is unavailable and the assertion about Parker needs expansion. His WP article has nothing about his role in Indian education.

List of people of self-identified Cherokee ancestry

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of people of self-identified Cherokee ancestry. Yuchitown (talk) 18:03, 20 December 2018 (UTC)Yuchitown

List organization

Would the list of schools be better organized by state, perhaps? Dleit Ḵaa (talk) 09:44, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

Closure of schools

The article claims (without a citation) that the last school closed in 1973. How is this defined, especially when some schools like Chemawa became Indian-run and remain boarding schools to this day?

On a related note, there is nothing in the article summarizing the schools' decline. I am under the impression that this started in the late 1920s and continued no matter what the government policy towards Indians was (despite wildly varying views, all saw Indian boarding schools as a problem), but of course citations will have to be dug up. --Eldomtom2 (talk) 17:54, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

I have now removed it after seeing someone use the 1973 date in an argument on social media. --Eldomtom2 (talk) 22:13, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

St. Joseph's Indian School for the Lakota

Do you have this school listed? I have a friend who is a strong supporter of it. Thanks, --Krok6kola (talk) 12:31, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

St. Joseph's Indian School is a private Catholic school; its teaching order purchased the facility in 1927, so it does not fall into this category of federally supported schools. While it was founded as part of a mission to South Dakota by Priests of the Sacred Heart, it is not limited to Lakota students.Parkwells (talk) 20:09, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

Scope of this article and potential American Indian school articles

There is some discussion at Talk:St. Joseph's Indian School which might be of interest and where I also mentioned this article. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 21:09, 28 June 2021 (UTC)

Well, to summarize, the discussion was on potential new articles in this area. And I pointed out the existence of this article. The title of this article is immensely broad, so broad that any contemplated new article would likely overlap with the title. But ~99% of the actual content of this article is about the government funded government-driven schools (with heavily assimilation focused mission and mandates) in the 1800's and first part of the 1900's. So I guess that one issue is that the title of this article does not match it's current content. In talking about potential titles and scopes, one noteworthy thing is that for the era which this was about, American Indian schools were pretty much all boarding schools and so this article isn't harmed much by any artificial distinction induced by the "boarding" word. So one idea would be to expand this article's content to match it's title. But for more modern history IMO that distinction becomes artificial/ awkward. So I briefly thought about an "American Indian schools" title, but that would probably get flooded with current-time material. So the idea occurred to me of renaming this article to History of American Indian schools where current times would just have a moderate-sized place. It could become a stellar and much needed article, including all of the great content that is in this current article plus expand the content to include the mid-later 1900's and recent history. And include the changes that occurred during that evolution . What do y'all think? North8000 (talk) 13:23, 1 July 2021 (UTC)
OK, I'm going to do it.North8000 (talk) 11:55, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
I did it. North8000 (talk) 12:00, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Only just seeing this now. North has a history of POV pushing and trying to whitewash out accounts of abuse at the boarding schools. Yes, do read the history at the St. Joseph's article, where North ignored comments with sources about abuse by priests and either didn't read sources or was trying to gaslight other participants, claiming sources about Lakota children undergoing abuse at a school didn't have content on that topic. I have no confidence whatsoever that this use can or should write a "stellar" article on this topic and oppose this move. The fact no one weighed in is not consensus. - CorbieVreccan 21:02, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

@North8000: You should have put the template up top to allow for adequate discussion. Four days - three of which fall on a major national holiday weekend in the US - with just a mention on talk is insufficient. I strongly suggest you revert and follow procedure as indicated here: Wikipedia:Requested moves#Request all associated moves explicitly. - CorbieVreccan 21:11, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

CorbieVreccan, as I warned you before, quit your false statements about me. Next, you are implying policies that don't exist. What you linked is instructions for people who want to have somebody move pages for them, and not only that even that is in the multiple page moves section. Finally, even if it WAS applicable, it describes what I already did. Regarding the name, let's just discuss it here (and I'll put a note at Talk:St. Joseph's Indian School and then go with whatever editors think. Old name, new name or whatever.North8000 (talk) 00:01, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

I agree with the move and there's no policy against moving a page (WP:BOLD) especially since this will improve the quality of the article by defining the scope in a way that can include more about boarding schools. I can contribute, as will others, so there's no reason to revert it back to the former name because of potential POV pushing by one editor (tbh I see it happening on "both sides" of this topic).  oncamera  (talk page) 23:58, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

  • Oppose Current Rename "Residential" or "Boarding" needs to be in the title to distinguish the residential schools run by outside groups from those run by Native communities themselves. - CorbieVreccan 00:15, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
If exclude non-boarding schools, then we couldn't cover evolutions and transitions. Also, I don't think the boarding vs. non-boarding defines the distinction that you seek. Your statement presumes that there are no boarding schools run by American Indians, and that there are no non-boarding schools run by outsiders.North8000 (talk) 00:24, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
  • Support rename For the reasons described above. By North8000
  • Oppose rename The schools, for the most part, were called Indian Boarding Schools or Indian Industrial Schools in the United States. American Indian Schools, one would think, would also include contemporary schools on reservations run by the communities, not the historical schools that removed children from their homes. You might want to also peruse Indian Education in the American Colonies, 1607-1783 by Margaret Szasz, because there were schools that predated boarding/industrial schools. Indigenous girl (talk) 01:27, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
  • Oppose rename It is good and proper for there to be an article on the full history of Western-style/influenced schools and schooling in the US, but I also firmly believe that the history of boarding and residential schools is of particular significance. Given that this history has had an enormous impact upon the histories of Indigenous American peoples, with impacts that still deeply reverberate today, I think it is best for it to have a dedicated article. Pliny the Elderberry (talk) 01:27, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

Requested move 5 July 2021

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved to American Indian boarding schools. per discussion consensus and status quo. It is absolutely up to you, the involved editors, to execute the tasks of splitting this or refocusing it etc, to fit the title. But I assess this discussion as stale, and favoring the status quo consensus as described, so I will execute the move back to the old name. (closed by non-admin page mover) — Shibbolethink ( ) 20:19, 28 August 2021 (UTC)


History of American Indian schoolsHistory of American Indian residential schoolsETA: OR, preferably, just moving back to old title: American Indian boarding schools. Without "residential" or "boarding" in title, it is unclear these are the church-run schools that focused on assimilation, and could be confused with schools run by American Indians. This is a crucial distinction. Procedurally: Move was done BOLDLY but without discussion, only four days after a mention on talk, over three day US holiday weekend when many were not online, in a section that does not have move or rename in the header. - CorbieVreccan 00:43, 5 July 2021 (UTC)— Relisting. Colonestarrice (talk) 18:59, 4 August 2021 (UTC) — Relisting. Muhibm0307 (talk) 01:42, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

I don't agree with the impression of the procedural description. This is detailed below. North8000 (talk) 11:40, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
Comment - I would also be fine on just reverting this whole mess and going back to the established name we had before the rename/move. - CorbieVreccan 01:43, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
  • Oppose I think the article with the current "new" title can include information about schools ran by tribes in the modern era since they have evolved from some of the situations involved with the lack of tribal sovereignty and the creation of boarding schools. It would be great to expand this article to include 200 years of history and show how things are derived from and connected to each other and the effects of it today.  oncamera  (talk page) 07:35, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
If the article is expanded we would cover more than 200 years, education began at St. Augustine in 1593 (though some put the date in the 1570s) so we're looking at 400. I know some folks were surprised to discover that there will be an investigation under Haaland (it's about time). No where in the article as current does it mention that many, if not most of these schools did not return deceased children back to their communities, which is of import. While the article as it stand mentions disease, it attributes it to over-crowding with no mention of lack of nutrition. There is no mention of government sponsored experiments performed on the children without parental notification or consent because the IHS was considered the acting legal guardian even though guardianship had not been relinquished by the parents E.g. http://archive.gao.gov/f0402/100493.pdf. There is so much pertinent information already missing. I would like to see the article improved prior to expansion.Indigenous girl (talk) 15:11, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
Fulfilling your suggestions is article expansion. Under the current title, the early schools that you described could be included whether or not they were boarding. Under any title with "boarding" or "residential" in, that would exclude coverage of any that weren't boarding. North8000 (talk) 17:33, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
It just seems that it will make for an extremely long article. I am simply trying to make folks aware that this will cover 400 years and far more evidence based data needs to be included. With regard to the term residential school, this title has historically only been used in Canada. It's only really since the TRC in Canada that it started being used here. Have I used it inaccurately, for sure irl, probably here in discussions. My community is from Canada so that's what's in my head when discussing the boarding institutions.Indigenous girl (talk) 18:14, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

Comment Are we planing on focusing on the boarding school era? If so, the name should either be (History of)(American?)Indian Boarding Schools or (History of)(American?)Indian Industrial Schools. If the article is being expanded to include the colonial era forward as well as the current system of community run schools then History of American Indian schools works but will require over 200 years of content to be added. As far as the use of residential schools, the title has only been used recently to describe the boarding school system in the United States. I kind of feel like things are becoming much more complicated in regard to this article. The use of American preceding Indian was not used by the institutions so it looks/feels out of place and weird. Indigenous girl (talk) 01:58, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

I am not attached to the specific wording of the title, only that these issues we've both raised be covered in the wording. I was going to change the wording of the proposal, but I think the bots have already logged it. - CorbieVreccan 02:06, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
Oppose - title referring to 'Indian Residential Schools', as this has not been the term in the US.Parkwells (talk) 15:39, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

This whole thing arose out of the need for a broad article, and various problems that this current article's title and scope create regarding that. I explained this in my post above. I'm also not married to any particular wording for this article. But the previous wording and the proposed revision of the new wording both perpetuate the problem. A comprehensive article needs to cover both boarding and non-boarding schools, and also the evolution between eras. This article is 99% about (vaguely speaking) 1850's - 1930's boarding schools. If somebody wants to keep it that way, fine, but rename it accordingly to make way for a new broader article. This proposal (as written) to rename the rename perpetuates that problem and roadblock to a broader article and so I oppose it. CorbieVreccan, you said "only that these issues we've both raised be covered in the wording." I assume that "in the wording" you meant in the article, as a title does not cover issues. Assuming that, I agree 100% and that is the clear intent of everybody that has been engaging in discussions for the article as I renamed it. North8000 (talk) 03:37, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

  • Oppose. There is no good reason to leave out 19th c. school run by tribes, which included both boarding and day schools. Some of the assimationalist schools were church-run, others were government-run (BIA). The current wording is fine, since it's the broadest scope. Yuchitown (talk) 18:16, 5 July 2021 (UTC)Yuchitown

Comment - This is a confusing proposal. However, as I understand it, the Bold Move should not have been done without a LOT more discussion, especially in relation the timing of all the news articles recently published on some of these boarding schools. Given the circumstances, I believe that the move was premature and should be undone, therefore (if I'm correctly understanding all the implications here) I Support a move back to old title, "American Indian boarding schools" for now. Netherzone (talk) 21:52, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

Let's just decide on a title and go with it. So far the three discussed are:

  • History of American Indian Schools
  • History of American Indian residential schools
  • American Indian boarding schools

Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 23:09, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

So I guess that means a procedural Oppose on this specific proposal, without ruling the proposed name out as a result of further discussion. North8000 (talk) 23:37, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Today, schools on the Navajo Nation consist of state-run public schools, Bureau of Indian Education operated schools, tribally-controlled contract and grant schools; private schools; and charter schools. The public schools date to 1958, clearly long enough to be historical; the tribally-controlled schools are of interest as a major change in control beginning in the 1970s; other types, especially the BIE (formerly only BIA) have a longer history, which has been of intense interest here and in articles on individual boarding schools. Other tribal nations may have histories of equally complex educational programs. This is my concern for an article on "History of American Indian Schools" - that the scope is so broad it will be difficult to cover.Parkwells (talk) 15:39, 25 July 2021 (UTC)
  • Support move back to former title This page was moved, against consensus, to the new title and with a new scope. This should be reversed. Unfortunately, moving back isn't so simple, since in the meantime the scope of the text has been drastically changed to instead fit the new title. I would recommend the change is reverted and the new text is rolled back, but with no prejudice against including in a separate page or elsewhere.--Yaksar (let's chat) 21:28, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
  • Outside of procedural reasons I agree with that outcome for content reasons. The history of American Indian Schools as a broader topic may be perfectly reasonable to include, but it makes zero sense to determine we should not have a page on the very notable subject of the boarding schools.--Yaksar (let's chat) 21:33, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
  • Also as a note to the closing admin (who I do not envy) -- if there is no consensus in this discussion, it appears that the move should still be made (or rather, the initial move should be reverted) unless there is a strong consensus against, given it was the previous stable version before the undiscussed move. Also pinging User:Pliny the Elderberry, the one participant who weighed in during the previous discussion but has not yet here.--Yaksar (let's chat) 21:33, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

Saying that the July 4th title change "against consensus" is absolutely incorrect. It was floated for 4 days with zero objections here before the move and discussed at the St Joseph's article for an additional 8 days before that which was am (admittedly limited) 100% consensus for the move at the time of the move. All with zero objections. Of course, that is not a big or broad discussion and it is fine to open a discussion on possibly reversing that mini-consensus. The July 4th title change solved a large amount of scope and coverage problems, and the discussion has been open for over a month on a "please suggest a viable plan/ name that also solves those problems" basis with no alternate ideas presented. An immense amount of important information endemic to this topic transcends any artificial distinction distinction between boarding and non-boarding. The is reflected in both the old version of the article (with a scope which conflicted with the old title) and also the current article with the new content. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 02:09, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Yaksar, for pinging me on this. I think it is an excellent idea to create a broader article on Western-style education in Indigenous American contexts, for all the reasons highlighted by North8000 and others. In the case of this specific article, however, my thoughts keep returning to a matter of pragmatism. I believe that most people who have searched the previous title (Indian Boarding Schools) were interested in learning about the system and era of assimilationist boarding-style schools (religiously run or otherwise) that have left such a deep impact on Native America. For the sake of being simple and direct, I still think it is best that this article retain its previous title and relatively targeted focus. The alternative, of course, is that it be sandwiched into the middle of a far more expansive article, which might make access harder and incentivize editors to be less expansive in their coverage so as not to eat up too much space. Accordingly, I would like to see a reversion of the changes to this article AND the creation of a new article with a much broader focus (and links to more expansive articles on specific education topics). This has definitely been a tricky one, but thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute! Pliny the Elderberry (talk) 04:56, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
@Pliny the Elderberry: My own opinion is basically "anything that works". And "works" means some kind of a path towards developing 1 or 2 quality articles covering this area. As you pointed out, one common meaning/ impression for the Indian boarding school term is assimilationist-era schools. But that meaning conflicts with the reality of the old title. Because.....there were assimilationist-era / oriented schools which were not boarding schools, and there are Indian boarding schools which are not assimilation-era nor assimilationist. Which made the old article conflated and confusing. In short, there is a conflict between the common-impression/meaning that you referred to and the old title leaving editors no viable path forward for development. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 11:02, 5 August 2021 (UTC)


The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Project: History of American Indian schools (first portion copied from St. Joseph's Indian School)

For the large project proposed by North8000, the 1969 Kennedy Report of the Senate Committee on Indian education, led by Senator Robert Kennedy, should have extensive information as a starting point for assessing the history and scale. I believe it is available online. My reluctance is related to the scale of the project - so complex across tribes, reservations, states, and changes in Federal policy, but the brief outline by North8000 is good. There is a need to get beyond the boarding schools being established into the early 1900s.Parkwells (talk) 19:52, 1 July 2021 (UTC)
Here is the Kennedy Report https://narf.org/nill/resources/education/reports/kennedy/toc.html Indigenous girl (talk) 05:09, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
And it's all current! <https://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2021/07/01/enduring-trauma-arizonas-indigenous-boarding-schools-will-be-investigated-interior-announces> Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative announced Tuesday by Debra Haaland, Sec'y of the Dept of Interior. The department intends to identify boarding school facilities and burial sites across the US and to review enrollment lists. Tucson Weekly.Parkwells (talk) 23:39, 3 July 2021 (UTC)
Also on this topic, The Atlantic [1] said that “about one-third of the 357 known Indian boarding schools were managed by various Christian denominations” under the Civilization Fund Act of 1819. Parkwells (talk) 23:39, 3 July 2021 (UTC)
Well, this being Wikipedia, we don't have to finish it, we just have to start it.  :-) Also, it can be done so that it can be in OK state throughout the process. One way or another we need to acknowledge or address that American Indian boarding schools exists. And currently there, the content doesn't match the title. I made a proposal there (and explained the rationale) to rename it to History of American Indian schools. IMO that would be the best way and place to do what we are discussi9ng. North8000 (talk) 00:25, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
Apparently the Catholic and other mission schools were given land on reservations by the federal government but were not supported financially. (The government was obligated by treaties to provide education to tribes, but did not build schools on every reservation.) The Catholics sometimes charged tuition, and got the cash-poor Native Americans to sign over rights to leasing fees for their lands, by annual petitions to the BIA and a Catholic organization. [2].Parkwells (talk) 02:34, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

There is a discussion about the naming at History of American Indian schools. Everyone, PLEASE participate. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 00:16, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

As I stated in the discussion, if the name History of American Indian Schools is used then we need to include the colonial schools as well as the histories of contemporary schools run by communities. This means an additional 200+ years of content. Indigenous girl (talk) 01:46, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
Agree 100%. My only note was that the inclusion of "history" in the title was to keep material on current schools from flooding the article. Modern schools would still be mentioned but the "history" in the title would keep that part from getting too huge. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 03:55, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
The first tribally run school,Rough Rock Demonstration School, opened in 1966 in Arizona. AIM Survival School, later named the Heart of the Earth opened in 1971 (I think) in Minneapolis. Rather than being tribally, government or church operated it was an inter-tribal, Indian-controlled community school. The Red School House opened in 1972 in St Paul under the same premise. There was also a community school in Boston during this time as well as other areas. So, in order to give a fair and clear representation from 1593 in St. Augustine, Florida and the St. Francis mission school to whenever you feel the cut-off is for 'history' is, it's going to be long. Indigenous girl (talk) 04:39, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
IMO "history" includes up to the present day. But putting "history" in the title limits coverage of present-day to a moderate amount, Without that small amount of focus, the article would get flooded with a huge amount of present-day material. North8000 (talk) 05:04, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
Do you propose beginning with St Augustine or Jamestown?Indigenous girl (talk) 05:16, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
My opinion would be to go with wherever and whenever they started. North8000 (talk) 13:28, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

This discussion should be taking place at the relevant page, so people who want to contribute are aware it is happening. I suggest one of you do a cut and past to move it there. - CorbieVreccan 18:43, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

Good idea. I'll do that. I'll copy it and then try to close this section. Everyone, please don't add any more to the section. Instead go to History of American Indian schools. North8000 (talk) 18:56, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
Done

'- - - - - End of copied material - - - - - . North8000 (talk) 18:59, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

How to resolve this

Well the good news is that despite all of this procedural, perceptual and personality complexity, I don't think that there are underlying disagreements. There is a important structural preface which is that the title of this article (if taken literally) is broader than it's actual content. It's title encompasses any American Indian school that does boarding, but the content is basically defined by a common meaning of that term which (vaguely speaking) is the assimilation-focused schools from the mid-1800's to the 1930's. The impetus for all of this coming up was a need and opportunity for an article with broader coverage, in essence a "History of American Indian Schools" article. A scope which heavily overlaps with the literal meaning of the previous title of this article. The current approach to that was renaming this article to that from "Americian Indian boarding schools" and then do that expansion. The procedural, perceptual and personality complexities aside, the only underlying disagreement I see is folks who like to retain a (this) article focused on the mid-1800's - 1930's assimilation-focused boarding schools. My question/ request to those folks is to decide if you REALLY want that. If so, please say so....if at least a couple people say so, then let's understand that that's what this article is, and clarify that in talk and a preface at the beginning and then we'd go back to the old title at this article, with possible later consideration of renaming to match it's actual scope. The would pave the way for creation of a broader "History of American Indian schools" article, if that initiative doesn't die from the weight of all of this. North8000 (talk) 12:02, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

I apologize, @North8000, for not being involved in this discussion more. It was a difficult week. I trust the community and the decisions you all will make in the direction of the article. I think, despite the complexities mentioned, we have fundamentally agreed on the expansion of the article content. I do share in the fear of some that the article will become too broad and the sheer volume of 400 years of content may cause the article to become too large but I also think everyone here is experienced and intelligent enough to work through any issues that may arise and produce a great article. I'll help as I can once we determine which direction it needs to go in. --ARoseWolf 14:43, 6 July 2021 (UTC)
IMHO we could do a pretty good job with only a modest expansion of this article. The "History" aspect of the title would keep modern-day stuff down to a reasonable size and maybe just an overview. I think that the pre-1850's stuff will not be voluminous. An addition / expansion of the evolutions that happened in the 1930's-on (both the legal and governmental framework and the nature of the schools themselves) would be an addition but I think not a voluminous one.North8000 (talk) 16:52, 6 July 2021 (UTC)
I think the title and scope are too large, unless you immediately define it strictly as the history of government-controlled/funded schools, maybe from post-Civil War years and later, or post-Indian Wars, as that is when the primary expansion began, both on and off reservations. But that leaves out private religious mission schools that were founded independently of the government, and, in terms of 20th and 21st-c. claims of abuses in the schools, they have also been the subject of numerous lawsuits. It will be hard enough to cover if only the American Indian boarding schools (under gov't control/funding) are written about. The history has to include that there were more than 350 such schools at the height of the program, and tens of thousands of Indian children in those schools, still, in the mid-20th century, so this article can't just go through the 1930s. The dates should be defined at the beginning - say, maybe 1879 (Pratt's founding of Carlisle, which became the model of what most people think of as Indian boarding schools) to 1975 - passage of the federal law that resulted in many tribes afterward contracting with BIA to run their own schools (but still under BIA funding.) That's history - nearly 50 years ago. Many of the issues that are current today (including the numerous lawsuits and claims related to sexual and other abuse in the schools) arose in that 20th c. postwar period of expansion of the numbers of children in school, but much writing is still focused only on late 19th-early 20th c. This article, for instance, doesn't get much past Pratt.Parkwells (talk) 16:11, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
To keep this article more focused, I think it would be better to treat the Native Americans' own formal educational efforts in a separate article - some of the Southeast nations founded their own boarding academies in the 19th c., for instance, including a Cherokee seminary for girls. The growth in these nations' taking control of schools on their reservations and developing new ones since the 1970s were the result of their successful lobbying for changes to federal law. They have undertaken control of numerous former gov't schools, plus established their own in their communities. Have been trying to do background reading and understand more about developments in the later 20th c. In some areas, Native American children on reservations do have access to public schools, but sometimes these are too distant. Then the tribes are dealing with rules set up at public school district/state/county levels. It is complex.Parkwells (talk) 16:11, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
To give an idea of the scope of American Indian schools today,the Navajo Nation has state-run public schools, Bureau of Indian Education operated schools, tribally-controlled contract and grant schools; private schools; and charter schools. The public schools date to 1958, clearly long enough to be historical; the tribally-controlled schools are of interest as a major change in control beginning in the 1970s; other types, especially the BIE (formerly only BIA) have a longer history, especially those established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which have been of intense interest here and in articles on individual boarding schools. Other tribal nations may have histories of equally complex educational programs. Parkwells (talk) 15:44, 25 July 2021 (UTC)
@Parkwells: What specifically would you suggest? Most importantly to have the title(s) match the scope of the article(s). "History" would tend to reduce the volume of modern stuff. "Boarding schools" would include a lot of that modern stuff. North8000 (talk) 19:41, 25 July 2021 (UTC)
@Parkwells: My own idea would be an overview type top-level article with the current title. And it would cover that evolution, which I think is something which is needed and missing from Wikipedia's coverage. Stick to very high level, except retain the assimilation-era depth that this article has unless/until that is spun off into it's own article per the following sentence. If you look for divisions within that, probably the only semi-cohesive one (which is also one of interest) is is the schools officially created for and with official missions of assimilation purposes. I think that those were all boarding schools and such is 90% the content of this current article. But the other foray into the other 10% is very confusing and even misleading. So maybe an idea #2 would be to more clearly define this article as being about the "official mission of assimilation" (boarding) schools (in essence ending in the 1930's) and then better cover the evolution that ended that in this article.
So here's a distillation of possibilities within that:
  1. Top level article with current title; avoid great depth except until/when assimilation-era schools gets it's own article keep the current assimilation-era depth and content. Maybe later create a separate assimilation-era school article.
  2. Acknowledge and clarify that this article is is about assimilation-era schools, which would cover the evolution that ended that. Maybe by going back to the previous title and adding clarification, or via creation of a new title. Remove any conflation with more "modern" era schools that did not / don't have that as their mission.
North8000 (talk) 13:46, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

@North8000: Could you please clarify, "If you look for divisions within that, probably the only semi-cohesive one (which is also one of interest) is is the schools officially created for and with official missions of assimilation purposes. I think that those were all boarding schools and such is 90% the content of this current article." Are you stating that government run Day Schools during the assimilation era were exempt from the assimilation process? If so could you please cite where you found this information? The research that I have found, along with testimony of survivors states the opposite. Thank you. Indigenous girl (talk) 15:00, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

@Indigenous girl: No, I was (apparently mistakenly) assuming that the official-assimilation-mission era schools were generally all of the boarding type. North8000 (talk) 15:08, 26 July 2021 (UTC)
Here are several links to day school content. I will add more soon, unless there is a consensus to not include them.

https://collections.si.edu/search/gallery.htm?og=native-americans&p=native-american-boarding-and-day-schools https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/bia-guide/schools https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/075.html#75.19.87 https://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/fallon-indian-day-school http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_hist_boardingschools Indigenous girl (talk) 15:20, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

Started- I incorporated the 1st and 4th ones.North8000 (talk) 12:53, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
I incorporated most of them. North8000 (talk) 13:10, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Some additional sources

ProPublica's article on problems with modern native schools linked to a report or book chapter on the issues though I don't know what year it is from. WhisperToMe (talk) 04:32, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Yesterday the New York Times (19 July 2021) ran this feature: Lost Lives, Lost Culture: The Forgotten History of Indigenous Boarding Schools. Netherzone (talk) 19:31, 20 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for these articles. The ProPublica article is quite damning on decades of BIE education, including since the late 20th century, especially with its comparison (as best could be done lacking most federal data) to the state public schools that most Native American children now attend. In another article I had read that tribally controlled schools, like the BIE schools, also face staffing shortages in the more isolated locations where some of their schools are located.Parkwells (talk) 16:02, 25 July 2021 (UTC)
The NARF link above (thru the ProPublica article) was to an excerpt from what became known as the "Kennedy Report of 1969", as the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (before his assassination in 1968) had been a chairman of the Senate Special Subcommittee on Indian Education that conducted hearings beginning in 1967 and contracted for a study of Federal Indian education. Here is the link to the full report online: Indian Education: A National Tragedy--A National Challenge. 1969 Report of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, Made by Its Special Subcommittee on Indian Education. Sen. Ted Kennedy was chair of the subcommittee when this was completed and published. Here is the link to the full report online. <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED034625.pdf> It gives extensive discussion about the state of Indian education, and said that the BIA still had mostly assimilationist curriculum in the 1960s, with little effort to introduce material about Native American cultures, as had been requested by parents. It also talked about the dramatic increase in Native American student population and the failure of the BIA to keep up with school construction, exacerbating problems with the boarding schools. I haven't seen material that suggests the 1930s as a kind of turning point to differences in federal Indian education.Parkwells (talk) 21:46, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
In the material that I added there was a prominent study in 1928 and two relevant laws passed in 1934. Most likely they were merely the beginning of a ~4 decade transition. BTW, feel free to expand/improve any of that new material that I added. Sincerely,North8000 (talk) 22:02, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Popular culture Peter La Farge

Peter La Farge write a great song about someone taught in one of these schools. It's called Drums and was first sung by Johnny Cash. La Farge's version is here[3] which also links to others. Lyrics are here[4] and the first lines (to give you a feel for the song) are: "From the Indian reservation to the governmental school, Well, they're goin' to educate me to the white man's Golden Rule, And I'm learning very quickly for I've learned to be ashamed, And I come when they call Billy, though I've got an Indian name."

I think this deserves a mention. Several reliable sources mention the song without detail, this one [5] (a religious press book covering Cash's theology) says "La Farge’s song “Drums” recounts the sad history of the Native American boarding schools, the colonial attempt to “civilize” the pagan savages. As a 2008 NPR report describes them, the reserva-" Doug Weller talk 13:25, 22 August 2021 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea North8000 (talk) 13:39, 22 August 2021 (UTC)
Please no. Usually "pop culture" sections run afoul with wp:trivia. There are innumerable books written about Indian boarding schools; why not pull quotes from those? Especially ones written by survivors instead? Reading about pop song by non-Native musicians doesn't lead to better a understanding of the topic. Yuchitown (talk) 23:19, 23 August 2021 (UTC)Yuchitown
Then I guess I'm neutral on the topic. But just clarifying, nobody is talking about starting a pop culture section. Those are always wp:coatracks. North8000 (talk) 00:44, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
I understand the lack of a desire to include non-Native points of view on experiences faced by Native peoples at the hands of non-Natives but I think we should, at the very least, keep an open mind to anything that would tell the story so long as it can be properly sourced. Song's can be powerful tools to express a message that may otherwise be overlooked. I agree that we don't need to venture far off the path and into pop culture surrounding the subject. I also agree that adding details and quotes from survivors is a great idea. What I try to keep in mind is that we aren't developing this article just for Native people but for all people. We want the story to be told as accurately as the sources can tell it. The ones that went through this and had both good and bad experiences deserve to have their voices be heard. It's difficult enough sometimes to find sources for the experiences of Native people and their lives, especially in history. When we get the opportunity to write about something notable and sourced then we should do everything we can to tell the story in a way that would interest as many people as possible while presenting only what can be sourced. If including a few lines from a notable song could pull in one person and help them realize that the atrocities these individuals experienced in assimilation schools was very real then I say its worth it. There are always new generations needing to be taught the good as well as the ugly truth found in the past. --ARoseWolf 12:07, 24 August 2021 (UTC)

Close on name change

I don't agree with the non-admin close on the name change but I'm taking it off my worry list. Not even to the point of requiring an admin close. Now we have a title which conflicts with both the old and new content and I see no path forward. It can no longer really encompass the topic of assimilation-era schools because many of them were non-boarding. And now it needs to cover modern boarding schools (e.g. tribally run). And all of the assimilation-era legal and regulatory stuff (which applies to both boarding and non-boarding, and some of it's earliest instances covering only non-boarding) goes where? And so now we have an article which lumps assimilation era and modern tribal-run boarding schools together, and excludes much coverage of assimilation era schools. I'm ready to continue help in this area but right now I really don't want to have a frustrating mess (caused by the title) where there is no real path forward on my "to do" list. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 01:44, 29 August 2021 (UTC)North8000 (talk) 19:07, 24 September 2021 (UTC)

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NYTimes article May 11, 2022, re: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's investigation

Today's NYT article May 11, 2022, re: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's investigation - may be a useful source. Report Catalogs Abuse of Native American Children at Former Government Schools. Netherzone (talk) 22:18, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

The report itself has been added to the external links. [6] Szmenderowiecki (talk) 22:27, 11 May 2022 (UTC)
Perfect! Thank you. Netherzone (talk) 22:31, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

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