USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -As part of this federal push for assimilation, boarding schools forbid Native American children from using their own languages and names, as well as from practicing their religion and culture.

Detailed explanation-2: -During the late 19th century, when most Native Americans were confined to reservations, the federal government engaged in a cultural assimilation campaign by forcing thousands of Native American children to attend boarding schools.

Detailed explanation-3: -The federal government aimed to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream US society by encouraging them towards farming and agriculture, which meant dividing tribal lands into individual plots. Only the Native Americans who accepted the division of tribal lands were allowed to become US citizens.

Detailed explanation-4: -At boarding schools, Indian children were separated from their families and cultural ways for long periods, sometimes four or more years. The children were forced to cut their hair and give up their traditional clothing. They had to give up their meaningful Native names and take English ones.

Detailed explanation-5: -The policy of assimilation was an attempt to destroy traditional Indian cultural identities. Many historians have argued that the U.S. government believed that if American Indians did not adopt European-American culture they would become extinct as a people.