Native American Boarding School Curriculum:
Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
6th to 8th grade and 9th to 12th grade

Lisa Lynn, Ph.D.

Oklahoma State University Library

Each of the three section of the unit will take from three to five days to complete based on time spent in class each day. The information is largely chronological, but the units could be taught in isolation depending on the needs of the teacher. The unit, in its entirety, would most easily fit into a four week period.

C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards

Curriculum Objectives
• To examine how Indian education legacies exist in multiple and conflicting ways.
• To portray a complicated history; how positive and negative experiences can exist simultaneously and complicate our view of history.
• To explore the assimilation practices of the federal government in Indian Boarding schools.
• To analyze the use of military practices of Chilocco and the role of the National Guard in the school’s later years.
• To explore the nature of youth resistance to assimilation forces while reinforcing tribal culture.
• To analyze the change in policies and practices in Chilocco before and after the Meriam and Kennedy reports.
• To identify through a historical look at Chilocco, a connection to modern Native identity.