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Assimilation Of Native Americans In The 1920's

1444 Words6 Pages

Starting as early as 1790, the United States launched an assimilation effort to transform the indigenous American Indian culture to European-American culture. This effort lasted around one-hundred years, ending approximately in the 1920’s. The “Americanization” policies were built around the idea that when indigenous people learned about American customs and values, they would be able to join peacefully with the rest of American society. This effort went on for over 100 years, ending around 1920.What effects did the assimilation effort have on the American Indian people and their culture? Near the beginning of George Washington’s first term as President, he declared that a fair Indian policy was one of his most valued objectives. Washington …show more content…

The Dawes Act tried to abolish the tribal and communal rights of American Indians force them to assimilate into American society.7 the American model of individual ownership of land and subsistence farming was viewed as a vital step to the “civilization” process. The act also stated that the government could classify the lands remaining after allotments as "excess", and sell those lands. Non-American Indians were able to purchase this “excess” land. The first major impact of the Dawes Act was the depletion of American Indian land. After only 3 years after the Dawes Act was put into place, American Indians lost almost half of their land to “excess”, which was then sold to settlers, railroad companies, and other large …show more content…

government forced tens of thousands of American Indian children to attend “assimilation” boarding schools. These boarding schools forbid American Indian children from using their own languages and names, as well as from practicing their religion and culture. They were given new Anglo-American names, clothes, and haircuts, and told they must abandon their native way of life.9 In 1928, the Meriam Report assessed that the schools were underfunded and understaffed, too heavily institutionalized, and run too rigidly. Many events in the 1960’s and 1970’s led to the eventual closing of many American Indian boarding schools in the 80’s and 90’s. One of these events include the introduction of The National Indian Education Study, which is designed to describe the status of education for American Indian

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