The Indian To-day: The Past and Future of the First American — John Shaqi
The Indian To-day: The Past and Future of the First AmericanEastman, Charles A.
History
The Indian To-day: The Past and Future of the First American
Eastman, Charles A.
Indians of North America
The Presbyterian Church conducts two successful boarding and a number of
day schools; and the Congregationalists have concentrated their efforts
upon a large training-school at Santee, Nebraska, under the veteran
missionary teacher, Rev. Alfred L. Riggs. At Santee the Indian boys and
girls are given a practical education developed to fit their peculiar
needs--its goal the training of teachers, preachers, and leaders in
every walk of life. Here I received my first impulse toward a career in
1875-6. In all these schools, even those where the material equipment is
insufficient, there is more emphasis upon character-building, more of
permanence and in general higher qualifications in the teaching force
than under Government.
VIRTUES AND DEFECTS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM
There has been nearly $90,000,000 appropriated by Congress since 1876
for Indian education. The appropriation for 1915 was over $4,500,000.
Yet even more is needed. The Indian Bureau estimates 77,000 Indian
children of school age; of these about 27,000 are provided for in
Government schools, 4,000 in mission and 25,000 in public schools,
leaving about 20,000 entirely neglected, besides an estimated 7,000 sick
and defective children, who need hospital schools or some form of
special care.
The present system includes day and boarding schools on the
reservations, as well as the large industrial schools off the
reservations. In 1913 there were reported two hundred and twenty-three
day schools and seventy-six reservation boarding-schools. The training
in the former is elementary; and the most advanced goes little beyond
the eighth grammar grade in the public school, though at Carlisle and a
few others there are short normal and business courses. In 1882 a
superintendent was appointed to inspect and correlate these widely
scattered institutions, and a few years later a corps of supervisors was
put in the field. Since 1891 there have been institutes and summer
schools conducted for the benefit of the teachers.
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