School House Blues: How the Bureau of Indian Affairs used the Burns Indian School to Limit Responsibility to the Northern Paiute Indians of the Burns Colony

Presenter: Madeleine Peara

Faculty Mentor: Kevin Hatfield, Jennifer O’Neal

Presentation Type: Oral

Primary Research Area: Humanities

Major: Spanish

The role of the Burns Indian School in the Burns Paiute community was greatly impacted by Burn’s status as a colony rather than a reservation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) considered the Burns Paiutes “landless” and as a result, denied financial assistance on the grounds of ineligibility. My research addresses the role of the Indian school in Burns given this unusual status; questions: what was the role of the Indian School in the Burns community during the early 1930s, and did its status as a colony affect its responsibilities? What were the goals of the school administrators and Indian agents in the school’s establishment? To what end did the school promote Western culture? In addressing questions, I analyze general correspondence, a survey conducted by a visiting teacher, governmental records and depositions. I argue that for the BIA, the school acted as the arm of the federal government in Burns and the creation of the Burns Indian School was a step in the process of relinquishing responsibility for the funding and provision of education for Paiute children, which included Americanization of the children so that they would be acceptable to the public school. My research is salient because it tells a different story than the predominant narrative about Indian education, and focuses on a community who are underrepresented and misrepresented in historical research.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *