| Description |
The purpose of this study is to record the events in the development of Ute Indian education in Utah between the years 1847 and 1905. What the Mormon Church and the federal government contributed in this respect through educational contributions at different times especially between the years 1847 and 1905 is of note. The primary method of research is that of examining original sources of information of Utes. This information was gathered by both library and field work. Library research was greatly assisted by a utilization of the compiled research of the Duke Oral History collection. Copies of each report of the Commissioners' of Indian Affairs were obtained whenever they related to Ute history. Newspapers of the day were thoroughly examined for their content of Ute material. This study is organized by dividing the fifty-eight years into three specifically designated sections of time. These are 1847 to 1865, 1866 to 1880, and 1881 to 1905. Changes due to cultural traits or influences by white men frequently provided distinct breaks in continuity. Also, early Ute history and customs were examined to establish an insight into their general character. This paper placed particular emphasis upon those who were served in the Uintah-Ouray Reservation. After a general overview of national policies regarding Indian assimilation from 1847 to 1905, there is a brief treatment of early Ute history. Reports help explain the problems the early Indian educators faced. Some of these problems encountered were the negative views of the parents, the harsh environment, fear of allotment, and lack of adequate supplieso It was found that though the educational reformers moved with intense optimism, the returns from these programs were most disappointing in Anglo terms. Nor did the earnest efforts of the Mormon missionaries spark any wholesale conversion to Christianity. Also discovered was that severalty did not inspire the hunter to become a self-sufficient farmer despite education. Changing education from informal lessons around the Indian campfires to a fairly modern schoolhouse was a formative task. Consequently, despite these odds, fair progress was made overallo To start from nothing and progress as far as the educators and agents did is remarkable. Once reservations were established, education became more formal. The key man in the reservation schools was the agent. Hampered by great odds, the early employees were poor to say the least. Even the more gifted became discouraged with the irregular attendance, failure to secure proper teaching supplies, the disastrous epidemics which swept the schools, the complete lack of understanding of the English language by the children, or failure to adopt the wisest measures to secure the best results. As a rule those Ute children who attended regularly improved. In a marked degree they were influenced by t.he school. Despite this success the settlers were forced to conclude that it would take generations of education before the Ute could be transformed into a white culture. In general the Mormon and other settlers in the area gave the Ute the kind of treatment no worse, yet most assuredly no better than other encounters in other parts of the west. Eventually by 1905 a major section of the Utes' reservation was thrown open for white settlement. Once this happened many of the achievements of the early Ute schools were laid to wasteQ Land speculation and Ute education closely paralled each other. |
