Boarding School and Land Allotment Eras 1879-1933
1887
Indian Affairs Commissioner bans Native languages in schools
By order of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, J.D.C. Atkins, Native languages are banned from being spoken or taught in mission schools. All mission and government-run schools on reservations are mandated to provide English-only instruction. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Atkins states: “The Government has entered upon the great work of educating and citizenizing the Indians and establishing them upon homesteads” (Native Voices, “1887: Indian Affairs Commissioner bans Native languages in schools”).