The original idea behind Indian education was to "civilize- and assimilate Indians into the mainstream of dominant culture brought to North America from Europe (Reyhner, 35). Over the next three hundred years white educators advocated boarding schools for Indian students because they believed that Indian families were a negative influence on their children's "education."" However, Indian parents seldom agreed to have their children taken away (Reyhner, 36). .
In the 1830's the Cherokees, using a syllabary invented by a tribal member, Sequoyah, started their own educational system, which developed literacy in Cherokee as well as English. They also published a Cherokee language newspaper. Despite their moves toward civilization, they were forced to move west of the Mississippi River by Congress in 1838 (Reyhner, 38). This forced migration was known as the "Trail of Tears."" .
Schools set up on the reservations were designed to devalue the traditional culture and religion of Indian people and coercively to assimilate Indian youth into the dominant society. The forced settlement on reservations caused an almost total dependence on the federal agent for food, shelter, and clothing. This was especially true for the Plains tribes who were dependent on the buffalo, which were rapidly decimated in the third quarter of the nineteenth century (Reyhner, 40).
In 1902, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was operating twenty-five boarding schools in fifteen states for 9,736 students. In addition to taking children away from their parents, other regulations were forced on Indian adults in order to suppress Indian cultures. Presidentially appointed Indian agents were virtual dictators, with authority to control all aspects of reservation life (Reyhner, 46). They did this by banning religious practices, such as tribal dances, and ordering Indian men to cut their hair short.
The continued failure of boarding schools and English-only education to transform Indians into white people in a few years, led to disillusionment at the turn of the century and a lowering of expectations.