Social issues NA

Question 1

What was the purpose of NA boarding schools?

Answer 1

• assimilate NA children by removing them from their culture and adopting US customs

Question 2

How did boarding schools impact NA?

Answer 2

• over 100,000 NA children in boarding schools between 1879 - 1930’s
• Speaking NA languages was banned and children were punished for practising traditions
• Many children suffered abuse, malnutrition and poor education

Question 3

How did the US gov suppress NA traditions?

Answer 3

• The Dance order 1923: banned tribal ceremonies, including the ghost dance
• Christian missionaries, both Catholic and protestant
• Indian Religious Crimes Code 1883: outlawed medicine men, traditional healing, and spiritual rituals.

Question 4

How did Christian missionaries pressure NA to abandon their spiritual practices?

Answer 4

• Missionary-run boarding schools forced NA children to convert to Christianity
• Many Christian churches were built on reservations to convert NA
• Converts were often rewarded with food, jobs , or education, which was rare due to the poverty and discrimination NA’s faced

Question 4

How did many NA resist this suppression

Answer 4

• many practised their traditions in secret
• many leaders of tribes performed underground ceremonies, passing tradition to the next gen
• The Native American Religious Freedom Act (1978): finally overturned restrictions on spiritual practices

Question 5

What did the Native American Religious Freedom Act do?

Answer 5

• 1978
• protected Native religious practices, allowing for the return of sacred lands, rituals, and burial items.