Education for Redemption: Indigenous Schooling in the Great Basin, 1847–1896

• In Event: Race, Educational Access, and Resistance in the 19th Century

Abstract

This paper documents how 19th century white Mormon religious and political leaders in the Great Basin geographic region, relying on racist scriptural hermeneutics, used education and schooling to colonize and assimilate Indigenous peoples. It also explores the ways schooling for Indigenous children and youth was nefariously used to appropriate Indigenous land in the construction of a theological state. In addition, this paper illuminates the ways Indigenous peoples and communities resisted Mormons’ attempts to school them amidst their colonialist expansion efforts. Ultimately, this study intends to bridge some of the historiographical gaps concerning Indigenous education in the interior of the American West, as well as contribute to ongoing debates about schools’ role in racial identity and nation state formation.

Author

• Nathan Tanner, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign