To Change Them Forever: Indian Education at the Rainy Mountain Boarding School, 1893-1920

Rating:
Summary: A welcome addition to the study of Indian Education.
Review: In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the United States Government initiated a plan to assimilate Indians into Anglo society by forcing Indian children to attend reservation boarding schools. These schools attempted to "civilize" Native Americans, teaching them the Anglo-American culture, and therefore preventing the Indians, as Clyde Ellis states, "from returning to the blanket." To Change Them Forever studies education on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation in western Oklahoma at the close of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Ellis uses research, personal memoirs, official school records, and interviews to give the reader an insight into life at the Rainy Mountain Boarding School. He describes a myriad of problems encountered by the school's superintendents. The author examines curriculum, social life, and educational process while exposing years of governmental neglect. Ellis also evaluates the impact of United States Indian policy upon the Kiowa children attending the school. The author contrasts the Rainy Mountain School with schools at Ft. Sill, Riverside, and other sites scattered across the nation. He reveals their constant lack of funds; this financial neglect by the Bureau of Indian Affairs would create inadequate facilities, teacher shortages, and lead to serious illnesses for those in the boarding school. The school also had problems keeping its administration and faculty due to the extremely poor facilities. Even with all its problems, as Ellis points out, Rainy Mountain never lacked students. Although many reservation schools throughout this period had attendance problems, the Rainy Mountain School did not. While other schools maintained their student bodies by forcibly removing children from their families, the Kiowas eagerly sent their children for an education. When the Rainy Mountain Boarding School closed in 1920, the Kiowa Indian Nation protested unsuccessfully. Ellis does a masterful job! in explaining that Rainy Mountain and the government boarding schools across the nation simultaneously succeeded and failed. They taught students English and trained them in various trades, but they failed in their efforts to transform the Indian students. In describing the impact of the school's attempt to change him, one man said, "They couldn't, I didn't let that happen. People all the time asking me who I am. Who am I? I am Kiowa." Well-documented and well-researched, this book is a welcome addition to the study of Indian Education. Ellis' interviews with former students of Rainy Mountain add depth and insight to this well-written book. This monograph fills a need for a detailed study of the reservation boarding schools utilized by the government to "civilize" the Indians. It will be of special interest to those studying Kiowa History, Indian Education, and the impact of the government assimilation programs of the early twentieth century.