M3 Federal Indian Policy Boarding School Plan

The History Class Plan for Middle/High school: Federal Indian Policy

I reviewed the school plan for middle/high school students regarding Native Americans and how the Euro-Americans dealt with the Natives while expanding out west.

I was very interested in seeing how middle and high schools treat the Indian “issue”. Would they gloss over the atrocities? Upon reading the entire school plan, it’s very easy to see we were not taught all of the historical facts. The perspective of the reading did surprise me a little bit because it did mention the fact that the US didn’t always live up to their promises (in the treaties); I expected it to fully support the US’s exploits. It also mentioned that Native Americans were expected to fully assimilate into “American life” and that they weren’t given a choice.

However, it mentions that treaties and policies were created to “define relations between the federal government and the Indian nations”. It certainly did define relations and I say that facetiously. Another reason given for treaties and policies was to “to eliminate the Indian "threat" to "peaceful" westward expansion of white settlers”. Statements like this insinuate that the Indians were an ominous threat to innocent people looking to move west.

I think this site was included in our web resources to specifically point out that kids in school today are not provided with all of the facts. This site is a quality academic website since it is straight from the schools (The Wild Rivers Teaching American History Project). I am surprised that the project did include as much information as it did regarding the destruction of the Indians, however, for me it still contained a little bit of “let’s get rid of the savages” mentality. Not a lot, but enough. I would’ve been more satisfied had I read the specific trials and tribulations of tribe members; I feel that would’ve allowed students to really empathize and understand what the Native Americans experienced. Instead the focus of the class plan was to explain the federal laws and treaties which can be used as an excuse for the behavior of the US.

This school plan only solidifies my belief that people today are not told of the atrocities the Natives experienced and knowing this made me feel even more empathy for them. In a way, it made me feel that the project plan states that yes, the  Natives endured hardship but hey, some of their tribes remain and their culture lives on. “With the progression of the twentieth century, this survival mode helped to revitalize many Indian nations as they continued their resistance to becoming assimilated and to celebrating their spiritual, cultural, economic, and political traditions.” For me, this belittles their plight by trying to make it seem like everything turned out relatively okay in the end.

Works Cited:

“Federal Indian Policy: Historical Roots & 19th Century Policies.” The Wild Rivers Teaching American History Project.http://americanindiantah.com/lesson_plans/FederalIndianPolicy.html.