Kill The Indian & Save the Man (1870-1930)

From the earliest days of colonization in North America , and particularly in the United States , American Indians have been subjected to an enormous amount of mistreatment and marginalization . Not only were they the victims of treaties that continually deprived them of land they were also victims of those who claimed to have their best interests at heart . It is the latter group , and their efforts to `help ' the American Indians , that will serve as the focal point of this

During the late 1800s , various groups had formed with the goal of reforming

the policies that had been implemented with regard to the American Indians . These groups claimed they wanted to end the mistreatment of American Indians , but in reality , many were only committed to one thing : remaking the American Indian according to the standards of white America

To accomplish this goal , two methods were used : herding all the various tribes onto reservations , and assimilation of the children through the use of boarding schools . The former was abandoned in the late 1880s when it became apparent that the goal behind the reservations was failing They were meant to be places where the American Indians would abandon their old ways , but instead , the old ways continued to flourish Therefore , the reformers turned to the latter , using education as a way to Americanize the American Indian children

In 1877 , the assimilation-by-education plan began to be implemented The U .S . Congress initially set aside 20 ,000 for the plan , ultimately reaching to about...