USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The boys followed the men around and were taught how to hunt and do men’s chores. Young girls followed the women around and learned to do traditional women’s work like making baskets, working the fields, and cooking. Children learned of the history and moral rules of the tribe from stories told by the elders.

Detailed explanation-2: -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.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Dawes Act, approved by Congress in 1887, granted small plots of land to individual tribal members. The aim was to encourage Native Americans to become farmers or ranchers, thus helping them to assimilate. In some cases, the allotted land was then further reduced by opening the excess to white settlers.

Detailed explanation-4: -Some 100, 000 Native Americans were forced to attend these schools, forbidden to speak Native languages, made to renounce Native beliefs, and forced to abandon their Native American identities, including their names. Many children were leased out to white families as indentured servants.