Education for Extinction (PB) [Paperback]

David Wallace Adams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0700608389 | ISBN-13: 978-0700608386 | Publication Date: March 1997

The last "Indian War" was fought against Native American children in the dormitories and classrooms of government boarding schools. Only by removing Indian children from their homes for extended periods of time, policymakers reasoned, could white "civilization" take root while childhood memories of "savagism" gradually faded to the point of extinction. In the words of one official: "Kill the Indian and save the man."

Education for Extinction offers the first comprehensive account of this dispiriting effort. Much more than a study of federal Indian policy, this book vividly details the day-to-day experiences of Indian youth living in a "total institution" designed to reconstruct them both psychologically and culturally. The assault on identity came in many forms: the shearing off of braids, the assignment of new names, uniformed drill routines, humiliating punishments, relentless attacks on native religious beliefs, patriotic indoctrinations, suppression of tribal languages, Victorian gender rituals, football contests, and industrial training.

Especially poignant is Adams's description of the ways in which students resisted or accommodated themselves to forced assimilation. Many converted to varying degrees, but others plotted escapes, committed arson, and devised ingenious strategies of passive resistance. Adams also argues that many of those who seemingly cooperated with the system were more than passive players in this drama, that the response of accommodation was not synonymous with cultural surrender. This is especially apparent in his analysis of students who returned to the reservation. He reveals the various ways in which graduates struggled to make sense of their lives and selectively drew upon their school experience in negotiating personal and tribal survival in a world increasingly dominated by white men.

The discussion comes full circle when Adams reviews the government's gradual retreat from the assimilationist vision. Partly because of persistent student resistence, but also partly because of a complex and sometimes contradictory set of progressive, humanitarian, and racist motivations, policymakers did eventually come to view boarding schools less enthusiastically.

Based upon extensive use of government archives, Indian and teacher autobiographies, and school newspapers, Adams's moving account is essential reading for scholars and general readers alike interested in Western history, Native American studies, American race relations, education history, and multiculturalism.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Education for Extinction delivers on the promise of its title. This is a thorough and thoughtful study of the federal government's Indian education program that was explicitly aimed at extinguishing a culture. That it failed testifies to a deficient understanding of cultural dynamics as well as to the durability of Indian culture. An important contribution to the literature of Indian-white relations."--Robert M. Utley, author of The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull

"Adams has achieved something remarkable here: he offers a great deal of information on an important and difficult historical topic while never losing sight of its human dimension. Persuasive and moving, his book is full of good stories that should appeal to the general public."--Brian Dippie, author of The Vanishing American: White Attitudes and U.S. Indian Policy

"An outstanding contribution to the field of Indian history and the history of Indian education."--Robert Trennert, author of The Phoenix Indian School: Forced Assimilation in Arizona, 1891-1988

About the Author

David Adams is associate professor of education at Cleveland State University and the author of chapters in Leonard Dinnerstein and Kenneth Jackson's American Vistas: 1877 to the Present and Philip Weeks's Native American Experience.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700608389
• ISBN-13: 978-0700608386
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frightening lessons taught and learnt at these 'schools', October 1, 2005

By 

Robin Orlowski "political activist" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Education for Extinction (PB) (Paperback)

This all too true account of the reeducation process which American government officials euphemistically had Indian children go through is very chilling. It is maddening to believe there were people in Washington who actually considered such treatment of kids to be 'good policy'.

While reading through this book, I was gennuinely driven to tears. The tactics which were used on the kids were what was 'savage'. Ethnocentrism and racism kept the United States government and its representatives from seeing the Indians as a civilized and advanced society.

The primary and secondary sources which David Wallace Adams cites emphasize that the 'pupils' were not naive and passive victims of these abuses. Predating the American Indian Movement of the 1960's and 1970's, they resisted the 'education' which these schools were trying to shove down their own throats.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curriculum, April 28, 2003

By 

"edukate2000" (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Education for Extinction (PB) (Paperback)

I chose to read this text for a special assignment for a graduate level curriculum overview course. This book takes one through the historical journey of how American Indians came to be apart of the U.S. colossal education system. American Indian education is the only Federal education system model that exits. With the push for more Federal leadership in schools due to No Child Left Behind legislation, this book can help future (and current) educators scrutinize how successful the federal government has been in the past and present in implementing a standardized education system.

Whether your interest is due to academic reasons or personal interests, I highly recommend this book. The book is divided into four parts: Civilization; Education; Response; and Causatum. Chapter five entitled "Classroom" describes the evolution of the 'standard' curriculum that was decided to be the best/most successful for American Indian children. This curriculum mainly had its birth at the Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Carlisle, PA. That school became a model for the several off reservation boarding schools that were to follow.

Adams' research for his text is extremely thorough. Many times American Indians are currently worried when they see texts that have an anthropology 'feel' about them. This text uses many primary sources such as actual letters from the students at schools and excerpts from actual conversations between teachers and children, their parents, and school administrators. Such as this excerpt from Irene Stewart, "...By the time I graduated from the sixth grade I was a well-trained worker...By evening I was too tired to play and just fell asleep wherever I sat down. I think this is why the boys and girls ran away from school; why some became ill; why it was so hard to learn. We were too tired to study." (p. 153). What is great about his writing is that one is not lost in a lot of elitist research style prose. He is able to incorporate his research in a way to make it easily readable and almost in a story like fashion. Lastly, I really appreciated how he tried to incorporate a balanced portrayal of Indian Education when appropriate. By this I mean to say, that Adams is sure to include vignettes and commentaries to show that not all Non-Indians of the time wished to eradicate the 'Indians' and, like today, many Non-Indians have an earnest interest in the true success - however it may be defined - for American Indian children.

I hope you find this book as helpful and interesting as I did.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating "Education", July 3, 2003

By 

Dale W. Boyer (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Education for Extinction (PB) (Paperback)

A fascinating -- and heartbreaking -- look at the cultural devastation ensuing from the efforts of many well-meaning educators intent on "civilizing" Native Americans. Beautifully written, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, this book is a splendid and welcome examination of one of our contry's most shameful episodes.