Category: education

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Rector Responds to the Catholic Boarding School Proposal, 1862

David G. Lewis, PhD

In 1862 the Catholic Church of the United States made a proposal to open boarding schools to serve all of the Indian reservations primarily served by their own Catholic Missionaries. This proposal would then have the church build boarding school facilities on the reservations under their ministry and then satisfy and unmet needs of the Indian bureau, to begin the formal education of native youth. Most tribes at reservations had treaties with education annuities, and yet the promised schools would normally only open for a few months when the money ran out. Education on the reservations was seen by Indian … Continue reading Rector Responds to the Catholic Boarding School Proposal, 1862

assimilation, education, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon indians, Personal History, Termination, treaties1 Comment

Development of Tribal Cultural Identity at the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation

David G. Lewis, PhD

A good number of people have over the years shown some confusion about the identity of the tribal members at the Grand Ronde tribe. Many natives and non-natives still do not understand the impact of the removal of the people from their lands, their assimilation to American society, and the somewhat unique situation of being terminated in 1954.  It is not that termination is unique to Grand Ronde, because 109 tribes were terminated nationally, but there are few other reservations that can claim 27 to 35 tribes and be terminated, leaving many people without federal status and related to so … Continue reading Development of Tribal Cultural Identity at the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation

education, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues, Oregon indians2 Comments

Two Schools at Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, 1863

David G. Lewis, PhD

There are a few reports that open the windows wide to a vision of the reservation, its changes, its struggles, and its peoples. In the 1863 Grand Ronde reports from the employees at the reservation there are great details about the two schools at the reservation. The schools were originally funded through treaty annuities, provisions guaranteed to provide services to the tribes on the reservations should they agree to sell their lands and remove to a permanent reservation. As I have noted in other essays, funding for all services was inconsistent and most services then were given for limited durations … Continue reading Two Schools at Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, 1863

education, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues, Oregon indians8 Comments

The 1867 Manual Labor School at Grand Ronde

David G. Lewis, PhD

In the 1860s the issue of education was at the fore of the duties of the Indian agents at Grand Ronde. Years of letters complained about irregular federal funding and support for this service to the tribes, a service supported by provisions in most of the ratified treaties. Still further Indian Agents were working to find ways to assimilate their Native charges, as this was the federal Indian policy of the time, but the agents did not have the federal support to have a sustained effort to get the natives converting to American culture. The school at Grand Ronde was … Continue reading The 1867 Manual Labor School at Grand Ronde

education, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Native Issues1 Comment

Enforced Assimilation in Tribal Correspondence about the Grand Ronde Boarding School

David G. Lewis, PhD

The natives at the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation underwent extreme hardships. Most of the early years they starved from lack of good effective administration by the federal employees and lack of funding from the federal government.  They had only one doctor and rare access to effective medicines. Many people died at an early age because of illnesses at the reservation. In 1872 the people got their first allotments, some 20 years after they had been removed to the reservation. These allotments of land were small, from 20 acres to 100 acres only. But by 1880 they had a grist mill, … Continue reading Enforced Assimilation in Tribal Correspondence about the Grand Ronde Boarding School