Past, Present, and Future:

Research by Melina H., Sierra M., and Arlin W.
 

Special thanks to: Genoa Indian Boarding School, Rudi Mitchell, and Tami Maldonado for assisting us with our research.

Today’s education for Native Americans has been easier, but there are difficulties too. For urban Natives, there are programs to help them stay in high school, get scholarships, and go to college. For an example in Omaha the program here is called the Native Indian Centered Education (N.I.C.E. program).

On the reservation, it is completely different. Native students learn their traditions and general education as well. Reservation schools also have programs so the students can get scholarships.

Some urban Natives face problems outside of school. One of the problems sometimes faced is getting in with the wrong crowd. A big problem reservation schools have is that students can go to school as much or as little they want. If a student misses half a year they have to repeat that grade.

The thing that both urban and reservation Natives have is education. The fact that they are getting help with their education is what is most important. In the future they will be well-educated and have amazing careers.

Photo Below:  N.I.C.E Students at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, learning the art of film making to preserve their own oral tradition.

Imagine being taken from home and sent off to a new life where you had to learn a new language, wear new clothes, and be a part of a new culture. This is how it was in 1884 when Native Americans were forced out of their homes and sent to boarding schools.

A specific boarding school was Genoa US Indian School in Genoa, Nebraska. It was the fourth federal Indian boarding school in the U.S. in 1884. It was in operation until 1934 and hosted 46 different tribal nations. Genoa took kids from 10 different states across the U.S. The school enrolled 599 students in the year of 1932. When the kids arrived at the school, their hair was cut, they couldn’t speak own language, and officials took their traditional native dress code and forced them to wear more American type clothes. In each class, the age ranged from 4 years old to 21 years. Boys were taught blacksmithing, harness making, and shoe repairing. The girls were taught cooking, nursing, and sewing. Other activities were boys and girls basketball, football, track, and baseball.

Genoa U.S. Indian school was another way that the dominate American culture tried to strip away Native American traditions and way of life. The U.S. thought that it was a helping the Native Americans by adapting them to U.S. culture, but in actuality many Natives believed their rights and traditions were taken away.

Before European settlers forced Native Americans into boarding schools, they had their own education system. Their education system revolved around traditions. These traditions were passed down in the form of oral storytelling. They learned their place in the tribe.

When a girl got her first period, she would go with the older women in her family, and they would teach her the ways of womanhood. She learned how to cook, clean, and raise a family. The girl’s family would create a beaded ball for her. She would then throw the ball over her shoulder as a part of the tradition. This ceremony is still used today.

The boys learned to hunt and clean out animals from older male tribal members. It was important for the boys to learn how to use every part of the buffalo. They also learned how to protect their tribe, build earthlodges and teepees, and how to plant and harvest crops.
 

Their education system was important to their culture. It revolved around land, family and resources. Their ceremonies and traditions were also very important to them.

Photo Below:  These artifacts are used in Native American traditions and ceremonies.

Native American Education through a Western lens has been an ongoing struggle. United States government officials worked to “Americanize” Native Americans during the late nineteenth century. Anchored by Western-style boarding schools, this system sought to improve the “uncivilized” Native Americans in a way similar to Progressive settlement houses that worked to Americanize new European immigrants. Indian Industrial Schools like those in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Genoa, Nebraska forced its Indigenous students to give up their cultural traditions and adapt Western ways including hair style, dress, and language.