Federal policies in the schools of the Eastern Cherokees, 1892-1932

Federal policies in the schools of the Eastern Cherokees, 1892-1932

Cherokee Indians -- Education

Cherokee Indians -- Government relations

Indigenous peoples of North America -- Education

Indigenous peoples of North America -- Government relations

Greene, Joan

1986

McKinney, Gordon B., 1943-

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This study traces the development of the Eastern Cherokee educational system from 1892 to 1932 as it was controlled by the federal government's policies on Indian education. The Eastern Cherokees occupied a position different from that of western Indians primarily because the land of the Eastern Cherokees had not been allotted and also because of their unique legal status. The federal government, however, made no distinctions in its Indian educational policies, and the Eastern Cherokees were included in the government's general policies on Indian education. These were aimed at the goal of assimilating all Native Americans into the dominant white society, and education was the primary means by which this goal was to be accomplished. The federal government's Indian educational system had evolved from an early system wherein missionaries had carried the educational process to Indians throughout the United States. But by the mid-1800s the federal government was becoming increasingly more involved in the policy making and by the late nineteenth century had assumed almost complete control of Indian schools. The Eastern Cherokees were absorbed into the federal government's Indian educational system in 1892 when the Quakers, who had established the first successful system of schools on the Qualla Boundary, withdrew from Cherokee affairs. With the federal government's assumption of control over the Eastern Cherokee schools, the policies which had developed throughout the nineteenth century were instituted in the Cherokee educational system. The Cherokee educational experience consisted of on-reservation boarding and day schools and off-reservation industrial training schools. The course of study in all of these schools was formulated by the federal government and concentrated on the acculturation and ultimate assimilation of Cherokee students. The teachers in the school system were predominantly white, and every effort was made to obliterate all traces of Indianness in the students. Whereas prior to 1905 school attendance had been voluntary, the passage in that year of a compulsory school law for Cherokee students compelled parents to send their children to school. But the early 1900s was a time for governmental economizing measures, and funds for Indian education were limited. This resulted in facilities which were inadequate to meet the needs of increased enrollment. With the growing concern for human welfare, changing educational philosophy, and increasing influence of reform groups that followed World War I, the 1920s witnessed a governmental response to demands for change in the Indian educational system. By the close of this period this was evidenced in increased appropriations for Indian education, the hiring of more qualified personnel, and revisions in the course of study. But despite policy changes, the government's goal of assimilation accomplished through a nation-wide system of schools remained constant throughout this period.

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