Boosters and barracks: the political economy of Indian industrial schools

Scholars, advocates and survivors of American Indian industrial boarding schools have documented the harm these institutions have inflicted on tribal communities and individuals subject to separation from families and communities, denial of culture, and in some cases abuse and death. Less well understood is that these schools also functioned as distributive policies that economically benefited Euro-American settler communities. In states with sizable American Indian populations, settler communities lobbied aggressively for the schools and competed with nearby towns for the jobs, service and supply contracts and student labor that these institutions provided. Schools were seen as a boon for local economic development, including as tourist attractions, and as a steady source of government resources in a period of economic uncertainty. Local business boosters donated land and money as part of the lobbying efforts. Congressmen delivered these schools to claim credit for constituency service. The authors examine these dynamics in an analysis of the placement of all off-reservation Indian industrial boarding schools from 1880 to 1908 using contemporary newspaper accounts. The authors analyze an original database of school site selection and Congressional support, showing that school placement was a political calculation, tying together the interests of local economic elites and ambitious members of Congress. Indian industrial schools offer a lens into how assimilation policies were advanced through political channels in response to Euro-American demands for economic development and access to land.