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Conversation focuses on education and assimilation of Native Americans

Published: May 30 2017
Conversation focuses on education and assimilation of Native Americans - Photo
Bismarck State College presents wraps up its ninth season of the Conversations at BSC series
on Sunday, June 4, with “‘Kill the Indian, Save the Man’ – Education and the Assimilation of Native Americans.”
 
The conversation between BSC President Dr. Larry C. Skogen and BSC humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson begins at 3 p.m. in the Bavendick Stateroom of the National Energy Center of Excellence on the BSC campus. Questions and comments from the audience will complete the conversation.
 
The standard Euro-American (white) view through most of the 19th century was that American Indians would either simply disappear or be assimilated into the larger white culture. Some white "reformers," including Richard Henry Pratt (1840-1924), believed that it was necessary to "kill the Indian" in order to "save the man." Indian boarding schools attempted to erase "Indianness" by cutting boys' hair, forcefully suppressing any use of indigenous languages, punishing native religious practices on all pupils, and preventing contact between young students and their families back on the reservations.
 
Sunday’s discussion will examine the history of assimilation policies, especially the Indian boarding school movement, and the conflicting views of reformers between advocating these off-reservation schools and day schools close to or on reservations.
 
In preparation, audience members are encouraged to reference “Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875-1928” by David Wallace Adams, “Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School” by Adam Fortunate Eagle, and “The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows” by Kent Nerburn.
 
Programs are unrehearsed and emphasize the 360-degree perspective of the humanities lens. Live video/audio streaming is available online. Audio alone is available on The Myx. Funding is provided by Bismarck State College and the BSC Foundation.