Indigenous Languages of Washington State
Language Suppression
Language suppression
Although extinguishing Indigenous languages was not the explicit, stated goal of the U.S. government’s policy toward Native Americans, it was a predictable consequence of a racist ideology that sought to "civilize" the Indigenous peoples of the United States.
One of the more notorious tools for enforcing white ideas of civilization on Native Americans was the Indian boarding school. In operation from the 1860s to the 1970s, these schools were usually operated by religious groups. Native students were forcibly separated from their families at an early age and any attempts by the children to speak their native languages were harshly punished.
Articles and websites about Native American boarding schools
Featured Articles
Articles and websites about Native American boarding schools
- Boarding schoolsFrom Northern Plains Reservation Aid.
- A century of trauma at U.S. boarding schools for Native American children,A 2021 article from National Geographic.
- Indian boarding schools' traumatic legacy, and the fight to get Native ancestors backA 2021 article from NPR
- A primer on American Indian boarding schoolsFrom NABS (the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition)
- UW Digital Collections: Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the Pacific NorthwestEssay by anthropologist and librarian Carolyn J. Marr that provides an overview of Indian boarding schools in the Pacific Northwest.
- Washington State acknowledges government’s role in Indian boarding school abuseA 2020 article at the Last Real Indians site.
- The long-term effects of forcible assimilation policy: The case of Indian boarding schoolsA 2016 journal article from The Canadian Journal of Economics (you must be logged into the TCC college portal to view this article).
- Of linguicide and resistance: Children and English instruction in nineteenth-century Indian boarding schools in CanadaA 2017 journal article from Pedagogica Historia (you must be logged into the TCC college portal to view this article).
Library e-books
Featured Books
The education of Augie Merasty: A residential school memoir by Call Number: OnlinePublication Date: 2015
A knock on the door: The essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by Call Number: OnlinePublication Date: 2015
Boarding school blues: Revisiting American Indian educational experiences by Call Number: OnlinePublication Date: 2006
They called It prairie light: The story of Chilocco Indian School by Call Number: OnlinePublication Date: 1994
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