TY - JOUR
T1 - Quaker ideology, colonialism and American Indian education
AU - Heather, Barbara
AU - Nielsen, Marianne O.
N1 - Funding Information:
Between 8% and 14% of the Indian population were put into the hands of Quakers. They were excited by what they saw as an opportunity to redress a previously corrupt Indian Bureau’s actions by bringing in a fair, kindly and humane administration (Ream 1981). Friends organised by hiring other Friends, which irritated some of the Indians as well as local settlers who wanted the jobs. The intent, however, was to end the corruption that had attended similar positions in the past. Reyhner and Eder (2004) cite a well-respected teacher and agency worker, John Homer Seger, as saying that the Quakers hired to teach had their hearts in the right place but had too many conditions beyond their control such as lack of financial support to back the new federal policies and a lack of empathy for the Indian cultures with which they worked. This claim is also supported by Berthrong (1976).
Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2013/9/1
Y1 - 2013/9/1
N2 - William Penn, the Quaker who founded Pennsylvania, set out to found a Holy Experiment based on Quaker ideals. While he regarded the Native American Indians whose land he purchased as spiritual equals, he still expected them to convert to Christianity and live under British law. Later, Quakers continued to follow this goal, eventually becoming leaders, under President Grant, in the residential school system for Native American Indian children. They supported assimilation, contributing to the destruction of native culture and society, in contradiction to their principles of equality and integrity. This paper explores the process by which Quakers came to feel it necessary to pursue such measures in spite of their egalitarian beliefs.
AB - William Penn, the Quaker who founded Pennsylvania, set out to found a Holy Experiment based on Quaker ideals. While he regarded the Native American Indians whose land he purchased as spiritual equals, he still expected them to convert to Christianity and live under British law. Later, Quakers continued to follow this goal, eventually becoming leaders, under President Grant, in the residential school system for Native American Indian children. They supported assimilation, contributing to the destruction of native culture and society, in contradiction to their principles of equality and integrity. This paper explores the process by which Quakers came to feel it necessary to pursue such measures in spite of their egalitarian beliefs.
KW - North American Indians
KW - Quakers
KW - colonialism
KW - religion
KW - residential schools
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U2 - 10.1080/14755610.2012.758162
DO - 10.1080/14755610.2012.758162
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84882928545
VL - 14
SP - 289
EP - 304
JO - Culture and Religion
JF - Culture and Religion
SN - 1475-5610
IS - 3
ER -