American Experience

Season 4, Episode 13: In the White Man's Image

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In 1875, in St. Augustine, Florida, an ambitious experiment was conceived -- to teach Native Americans to become imitation white men. With the blessing of Congress, the first school for Indians was established in Carlisle, PA, to continue the "civilizing" mission. Indian students ha their hair cut short, were forbidden to speak their native languages or to visit home for up to five years. By 1902, there were 26 reservation boarding schools. Although liberal for the times, it was cultural genocide -- a humanist experiment gone bad.