It was essentially a mass violation of human rights.
-Dr. Andrea Smith speaking about the conditions of boarding schools
Education throughout the Navajo Nation was hard to access because of the poverty that they faced. Less money gave the Navajo fewer teachers resulting in less education. Conventional education wasn’t highly valued throughout the Navajo Nation. Instead culture was more important. Some children were kidnapped and forced to go to non-Navajo boarding schools outside of the reservation. In the boarding schools, the kids were often physically abused and many were traumatized from the experience. Some of the students were even tortured and sexually abused. The schools only spoke English and looked down on Navajo culture. In the military style schools, they cut off children's braids, forbid them from speaking their native language, and had students names changed to become “more white”. They “repressed traditions based on a patriarchal system. It was essentially a mass violation of human rights.” (Dr. Andrea Smith, The Native Press). The schools mistreated Navajos in hopes that they would learn to reject their own beliefs and join the white community. The boarding schools took people away from their homeland and did everything in their power to get rid of the Navajo culture. (Working to Heal the Wounds of Boarding School)
Kill the Indian, save the man.
-General Richard Pratt
The two photos above are photographs of Navajo children forced to attend boarding school.