Founded in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the first off-reservation boarding school designed to force indigenous children to adopt the language, customs, and culture of white American society. Tens of thousands of Indian children from over 140 Native tribes who attended the Carlisle School had to cut their hair, wear European-style clothing, speak English, and abandon many of their cultural traditions. Forced assimilation policies caused lasting harm to many Native American families, languages, and cultures.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How did westward expansion impact those who were already there?
Standards
Instructional Snapshot
Class begins with the teacher defining assimilation: the process by which individuals or minority groups adopt the culture, customs, language, and social norms of a dominant host society.
Next, students work in pairs to analyze Source A using the prompts on the graphic organizer to compare and contrast photographs of Tom Torlino before and after he went to the Carlisle Indian School. Then, together the class reads Source B, which describes the goal of the Carlisle Indian School, noting that the ideas in the source are those of the author. Guided by the teacher, students then identify evidence from the photographs that demonstrates the impact the Carlisle Indian School had on children.
Having completed this analysis together as a class, students move to explore the Library of Congress’s collection individually, and assess the impact the Carlisle Indian School had on Indian children, recording their observations on the graphic organizer.
Formative Tasks
PRODUCE: Compare and contrast photographs of Tom Torlino before and after he went to the Carlisle Indian School.
COLLABORATE: Identify evidence from the photographs that demonstrates the impact the Carlisle Indian School had on children.
DELIBERATE: Assess the impact the Carlisle Indian School had on Indian children via the Library of Congress website.
Sources
Source A: Tom Torlino 1882-1885 Portraits, Library of Congress
Source B: Capt. Richard H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans, Library of Congress
Source C: Library of Congress collection of images of the Carlisle Indian School, Library of Congress
Summative Performance Task
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Taking Informed Action
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