Melville Wilkinson facts for kids
Captain Melville Cary Wilkinson (1835–1898) was a key figure in the history of Native American education in the United States. He is best known for starting and running the Forest Grove Indian School in Oregon, which later became the Chemawa Indian School. Wilkinson believed that Native American children should be educated in schools far from their homes to help them fit into American society. This idea was called "assimilation," and it was a common but controversial approach at the time.
Contents
Early Life and Military Service
Melville Cary Wilkinson was born on November 14, 1835, in Scottsburg, New York. When he was younger, he worked in businesses that sold goods and on railroads. When the American Civil War began, Wilkinson joined the Union army. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant and then a captain in the 107th New York Volunteer Infantry.
Military Career and Injury
During the important Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, Wilkinson was injured. Because of his injury, he spent the rest of the war serving as an officer in the Veterans Reserve Corps, a group for soldiers who could no longer fight on the front lines.
A New Path: Education and Native American Policy
After the Civil War, Wilkinson decided to become a teacher. He taught military science at Howard University for a year. Then, he became an assistant to Major General Oliver Otis Howard, who was the president of Howard University and also led the Freedmen's Bureau. The Freedmen's Bureau was an organization that helped formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
How Howard University Helped Native Americans
While Howard University mainly focused on educating freed slaves, Wilkinson believed it should also offer opportunities for Native American students. In 1872, he spent a year with General Howard in the Southwest, helping to solve problems with the Apache tribe. Between 1871 and 1875, General Howard successfully enrolled several Native American children at the university. This was an early step towards creating boarding schools far from reservations, which Wilkinson would later become deeply involved with.
Wilkinson's Role in Native American Conflicts
Wilkinson was present during the forced movement of the Modoc tribe from Fort McPherson to Indian territory in 1873. He also took part in the Nez Perce War in 1877.
The Paiute-Bannock War of 1878
In 1878, Wilkinson was in charge of a gunboat on the Columbia River. During this time, an incident occurred where his men fired upon a group of Palouse Native Americans, including men, women, and children. After this event, Wilkinson took a break from his military duties and began looking for a new career path.
Starting Off-Reservation Schools
In March 1879, Wilkinson moved to Washington, D.C. There, he became friends with Richard Pratt, who shared his belief that Native Americans should be assimilated into American society, and that military solutions were not the best way. Wilkinson and Pratt successfully convinced important government officials, including Secretary of Interior Carl Schurz, Secretary of War George W. McCrary, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt, to create two off-reservation boarding schools.
Just two months later, the government approved the establishment of the Forest Grove Indian School in Oregon and the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. In 1886, an Act of Congress officially named Wilkinson as the superintendent of the Forest Grove school. This law also allowed the President to appoint army officers as teachers and instructors at these schools.
Forest Grove Indian Training School
Wilkinson was a strong supporter of "assimilation." This was a major shift in United States policy towards Native Americans in the late 1870s. Instead of keeping Native American tribes separate on reservations, the government now wanted to make them adopt American customs and ways of life. By 1880, the U.S. government had taken control, and Native American tribes no longer had their own independent power.
Native American children were often forced to attend day schools or boarding schools, many of which were far from their homes and families. Wilkinson, like other reformers, wanted to prepare these children to live in white society. Forest Grove was the second off-reservation school started by the U.S. government, and it was set up much like the Carlisle School, which Richard Pratt founded.
The Early Days of Forest Grove
After the Forest Grove school was approved in 1879, Wilkinson brought his first group of Native American children from the Puyallup Reservation in Washington. These children actually helped build the first school buildings themselves. Wilkinson faced great difficulty getting enough money for his school. He was initially given $5,000, but he struggled to get more funding. This was likely because the school was not very popular in the areas around it.
Students, Families, and Discipline
Wilkinson was known for having a strong personality, but he was also described as being unpredictable in his methods. This led to a lot of criticism. Because of his beliefs about boarding school education, Wilkinson tried hard to keep students from contacting their parents. While he would write to the children’s parents and tribal chiefs to assure them that their children were safe, he would not let the children contact their families directly.
He also often removed Native American children from reservations and took them to Forest Grove, even if their parents or the children themselves did not want to go. If a student died at the school, Wilkinson alone decided where and how the child would be buried, often ignoring the wishes of the student's family.
Discipline at the school was based on army rules. Boys and girls were separated into groups by gender, with four sergeants in charge of each group. One student said that everything was done with "military precision," meaning it was very organized and strict, with bells ringing to signal the start and end of tasks. Wilkinson used these military drills to promote the school, often having students perform drills for visitors.
Wilkinson's Removal from Forest Grove
Wilkinson's actions and strict methods earned him a lot of criticism. While he managed to keep many students at Forest Grove by forcibly recruiting them, the number of students decreased due to deaths and children running away. By 1883, Wilkinson was removed as superintendent of the school. This happened after a U.S. Indian inspector submitted an unfavorable report, and after one of the school buildings was burned down by students. As a result, the United States government refused to extend Wilkinson’s leave from the army. Even his old friend, Richard Pratt, showed no sympathy, which showed how much of a problem Wilkinson had become.
Death
Wilkinson was killed in the Battle of Sugar Point, a small fight with a group of Chippewa Native Americans.
