New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-05-31
THE INDIAN SCHOOLS OF THE PAST.

penence.
THE INDIAN SCHOOLS OF THE PAST.
HARVARD. DARTMOUTH, AND WILLIAM AND MARY
cotL.GEs ASSOCIATED IN THEIR ORIGIN WITH
INDIAN EDuCAuoN-THE FRUITLEss RESULTS
OF THE EXPERIMENTS.
rrRoM TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRlBUNf"I
WASHINGTON, May 20.-In the testimony De
fore the joint committee on the subject OF Tue
transfer of Indian management to the war Depart
ment during the last session of Congress- the
Secretary of the Interior philosopncally observed
that in the administration of affairs 1t Is wise ID DC
guided by the lessons of experience as recorded III
the history of the past; and he tIereupon quoteo III
length from historical documents to prove that the
management of Indian affairs should remain Where
it's
II may be cause for regret TO the Secretary, ~
well as 10 all Others interested in the welfare OF the
Indians that he has not paid the same attention 10
the history of the attempts that have been made to
ciyilize the Indians by taking few young
men and women from the wild tribes anu
educating them among the whites when nc
has devoted 10 study of the mistakes
in Indian administration by the military authorl-
ties in times past. Ii is quite probable that II lie
had he would not have approved the plan latey
adopted of taxing fifty young Indians from the
Sioux and other wild tribes of the Northwest, ana
nlacinC them at the Hampton Normal ana
Agricultural Institute of Virginia, with the
expectation that after being educated there
they will act as a lever 10 raiSe
their own people from barbarism to CIVILIZATION
I'm his annual report the Secretary says: The re-
suit of this interesting experiment. If IaVoraple'
NAV be destined to become an important factor IN
the advancement of civilization among the In
diansD As this interesting experiment" is by no
means original and will cost sOmebOty-the IN
dams or the Govcrnmsnt-SS.0 900 or $1,000
year it would have been wise to study the history
of similar experiments heretofore made, ana Dhu
out whether 1t was worth while to try this one.
If the lessons of experience are worth nothing
else in this regard they prove the uniform failure OF
such attempts in the past. Leaving out tue abor-
five attempt to establish an Indian college AT Hen
rico in Virginia after the settlement OF James
TOWN and the unsuccessful efforts of the
Jesuits in the seventeenth century to mani
tain an Indian school at Quebec to train In
dams for priests and missionaries, which
ended as Parkman says in the students running
wild in the woods. carrying with them as fruits
of their studies sutciency of prayers, Offices ana
chants learned by rote, together with feeble smat-
terng of Latin and rhetoric which they soon dropped
nv the wav,n there have been four other attempts
10 promote the civilization of the Indians by edu-
eating some of their number among the whites, each
of which. after being prosecuted for sufficient
length of time has proved failure and been aDan-
doned.
TWO TRIALS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.
First in order of time that ofthe Indian apostle
Eliot and the Society the Propagation of the Cos
mel in Massachusetts, begun about the middle of the
seventeenth century, and continued fifty years or
more Both BOYS and girls were placed IN schools
at Roxbury and Cambridge. They were fed,
clothed lodged, and nursed and doctored
in sickness. Some of the young men made
such progress in their studles that they
were admitted to Harvard College. One of the first
college buildings was the brick structure known as
the Indian College built about 1860, and described
by Gookin III 1914. as Large enough to receive
and accommodate about twenty scholars with con-
yenlent lodgings and studies. bat hitherto hath
been much improved for the ends intended
by reason of the death and failing
OF Indian scholars" In ten years the society paid
about { 800 sterling for the support OF Indian
bows and girls in the preparatory schools and col
lere After all the efforts and expense bestowed on
the education of Indian youths at that period, the
name of ONLY one Indian graduate appears on the
long roll of Harvard alumni, aud he died of con-
sumption soon after taking his degree IN 1865.
Goollin in summing up the results, says:
In truth the design was prudent, noble and good,
but Il proved Intellectual To the end proposed. For sew
era the said youths died after they had been sundry
wears nj learning and made good proficiency therein
Oihcrs were dishcartned and left learning after they
were almost ready for college.
The main reason of the failure of this attempt
seems to have been the loss of health attending the
sudden change OF diet aud habits Of life compelled
by regular course of study; and this cause is
found equally operative now even in schools among
the tribes themselves. The Rev. DR.. Riggs, who
has been for more than forty years a missionary
among the Dakotas, wrote in II letter published by
the Department of the Interior only year ago:
Aud in carrying on boarliug-scaools among them, IT
often happens that q scholar must be sent nome to the
wild e. outdoor life If the health Il to be restored
The second attempt to be noticed was that in Vir
pna in connection with the College of William and
Mary. The Indian school was began about the year
100, and continued until the doors OF the college
were closed amidst the storms of the Revolution.
j. that period of seventysx years. ten Indians were
graduated at the college, The results of this effort
10 ciyiliza the Indians by withdrawing them from
association with their own people and educating
them among the whites. are described by two con-
temporary observers, both friendly. The Rev.
Hugh Jones' in 1921, at which time the Indian
students were housed in the Indian College, sub
stantlal brick building, built their own accom-
mediation. wrote:
The young Indians. procured with much difficulty,
formerly boarded and lodged IN the town. where
abundance OF them used 10 die. Those OF them
that have escaped well aud have been tangh TO read
and write have for the most part returned To their
homes, some with and some without baptism, where
they follow their own savage customs ana hcathehlsh
lites.
few years later Colonel Byrd, of Westover, Va,
who had travelled much among the Indians, wrote:
And here must mention the bad success Mr.. Bays's
charity hitherto had toward converting OF these
natye Indians have been brought up in the College OF
William and Mary. They, have been taught 10 read and
write and have been fully instructed in the principles
OF the Christian religion TIL they became men, Yet