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Arizona Daily Wildcat February 5, 1998
U.S. gov.'t tried to 'civilize' Indians, speaker says
The United States government forced education on American Indians and destroyed their homes in an effort to "civilize" their culture, an American Indian Studies professor said yesterday."The photos after Indians went to the American schools don't tell us what the person thinks or feels," Tsianina Lomawaima said to about 150 listeners in Gallagher Theatre.
"The signs of civilization in the photos permeate how we perceive Native Americans," she added.
Lomawaima, author of the award-winning book They Called it Prairie Light , gave the noontime Building Academic Community Speaker Series lecture titled, "Shacks, Huts, Coops and Wickiups: The Domestication of the American Indian Home."
She said Indian boys wore suits, ties and short hair while attending federal government-created schools.The government, Lomawaima said, also destroyed American Indian homes.The houses, which had names, histories and memories, were destroyed because the government thought they were filthy, she said.
