Collins & Wightman, Copyright Claimant. Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School. United States Michigan Mount Pleasant, ca. 1910. Photograph. The Library of Congress. Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/item/2007662291
This photograph is a stark reminder of the assimilation practices promoted by religious and government institutions in the United States and Canada. The young girls in the photo are depicted in matching white dresses in front of stately buildings, with all culture and heritage stripped from the students. Viewing primary source photos from the time period allows students to envision clearly what life must have been like and what harms were perpetuated in the name of assimilation.
The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, was established by an act of the United States Congress in 1891. Native American children from Michigan, Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York were forced to attend the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. It had an average enrollment of more than 300 students annually. The coursework included basic academic instruction and focused on religious education and English. Students were not allowed to practice their own beliefs or speak their native language. There are rumors of extreme abuse occurring, and records confirm the deaths of 227 children. The school closed on June 6, 1934, and became a facility for mentally handicapped, abused, and juvenile-convicted young men; it functioned as the Mount Pleasant Branch of the Michigan Home and Training School until it closed permanently in 2008. The facility is now the property of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation, and they intend to convert it into a museum.
Cultural assimilation was the foundation of the Americanization policies that outlawed the practice of traditional religious ceremonies and Indigenous practices. The United States government established Native American boarding schools that children were required to attend. In these schools they were forced to speak English, study standard subjects, attend church, and leave tribal traditions behind.
- What’s happening in this image?
- Who do you think was the audience for this image?
- Why do you think this image was created?
- How might the individuals in the image have depicted themselves differently if they had created the image?
- Why was assimilation so integral to American policy?
- What are the lasting effects of removing language and culture from a group of people?
- P1.2: Interpret primary and secondary source documents for point of view, context, bias, and frame of reference or perspective.
- Students can investigate documents in the curated primary source set (linked in an alternative or complementary primary source section) for point of view and bias and discuss which viewpoints are missing and what biases are present in the texts. As an introduction, students can analyze this photograph for point of view, context, and the implications of this photo both then and now.
- P3.1: Clearly state an issue as a question of public policy, gather and interpret information about that issue, analyze various perspectives, and generate and evaluate possible alternative resolutions.
- Students can draft a public policy statement on assimilation practices, using this photograph as a starting point in their investigation. How might various cultures and entities become part of the fabric of the United States without being forced to abandon their cultural norms?
- P4.2: Assess options for individual and collective action to advance views on matters of public policy and to address local, regional, or global problems.
- Students can investigate the history of the Indian industrial boarding schools and debate reparations that currently exist and their effectiveness in addressing the legacy of the schools.
- In a literature course, the inclusion of primary sources related to Indian Industrial Boarding Schools will help students see the lives of Native American children beyond the stories of the reservation depicted in media and literature. This study could be paired with Tommy Orange’s There, There, Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, or the film Smoke Signals, all pieces that are often parts of American literature courses.
- In a culture studies course, students can explore the history and impact of sports mascots of pieces of Native American culture. One such school—Central Michigan University—has a sports team called the “Chippewas.” Although the use of the tribal name is used with support and agreement by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Central Michigan University is located less than a mile from the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School grounds. The University began using Chippewa as their mascot in 1942, less than a decade after the Indian Industrial School closed.
- In an American history course, the use of primary sources when studying the assimilation practices and the treatment of Native Americans is critical to understanding the inherent racism and cruelty of the treatment of Native Americans in United States history.
It can be difficult to find accounts in which students and parents describe their experiences of the boarding schools without interference by non-Native writers or editors, perpetuating stereotypes and racism. Descriptions and depictions of the schools and their students from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century are rife with patronizing language and racist caricatures. In addition, discussing race and the racist assimilation practices perpetuated by the United States government and religious institutions can challenge nationalist and religious pride and beliefs.
- Native American Boarding Schools | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress: a curated primary source set on Native American Boarding Schools at the Library of Congress, complete with lesson plan and guiding questions.
- Exploring the Stories Behind Native American Boarding Schools | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress: a lesson plan asking students to explore the Chronicling America collection of historic newspapers, research individual stories, and thoughtfully respond.
- News article on Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School and records of student deaths: Indian boarding school investigation faces hurdles in missing records, legal questions
- The official website of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe: Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
- The official website of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways: Ziibiwing- Home Page
- A New York Times Interactive on Native American Boarding Schools: Native American Boarding Schools Took Children's Culture, and Hundreds Died
- A video from the New York Times series “A Conversation on Race”: Opinion | A Conversation with Native Americans on Race