19th Amendment Moment: Native American Women in Historic Oregon

By Cathy Meyer

The story of Native Americans, who some considered inferior to whites, was revealed through Oregon newspapers articles. The children were forcibly removed from the reservation to boarding schools. The purpose of the schools were to “legally” assimilate Native Americans into white American society by converting them to Christianity and preparing them for work limited to manual labor or domestic servitude. Inequality was built into a system that kept the Native Americans from access to a better workforce and independence. One of the four remaining boarding schools today is the Chemawa Indian School. In 1880 Forest Grove did not want it there so it was moved north of Salem.

Many whites’ perception of Native Americans as being incapable of being educated evolved, only within the limited view of assimilation. Oregon newspapers praised the Native American girls and young women with racist undertones reinforcing the belief that they were suited only for servility. While white women were making great strides into the white-collar workforce, Native American women didn’t have the preparation for advancing to better jobs.

On the national level in 1900, a Native American activist named Gertrude “Zitkala-Sa” Simmons Bonnin (1876-1938) became deeply critical of the boarding school system. She had been removed from the reservation as a child and placed in a boarding school. Everything about her culture was stripped away from her as she was forced into assimilation to become more like whites.

Zitkala-Sa “Red Bird” was a writer, poet, and musician. She wrote the first opera by and about Native Americans. She became secretary of the Society of American Indians which sought to preserve Native American culture. Zitkala-Sa wrote books and articles illustrating the Native American experience for education of both indigenous and white readers.

In 1926, Zitkala-Sa founded the National Council of American Indians. It worked to unite U.S. tribes to gain citizenship and the right to vote. She remained the president until her death in 1938. The organization fought for civil rights, access to healthcare, and education for all Native Americans.

In time, the Native American women took a stand and demanded equality with their white sisters including the right to vote. Native Americans experience systemic inequality keeping them from the freedoms and rights of white America.

Today we still see the same issues from 1900. Voting rights remains a political and constitutional issue today as Native Americans are denied a voice in our democracy due to deliberate suppression of their voices through the vote. The struggle goes on for civil rights, access to healthcare, and education for all Native Americans.

The Chemawa Indian School is an off-reservation boarding school for Native American youth. It was founded in 1880 in Forest Grove, OR. The underlying purpose of the school was to convert the Native Americans to Christianity or assimilate them into the white culture to be more like white Americans. These children were forcibly separated from their parents, sent to boarding schools, and forced to drop their language and beliefs. The curriculum followed the current white beliefs that Native Americans were only suited for manual labor and domestic skills limited to homemaking and domestic servitude. These were not skills that would prepare them for better work opportunities that were available to white women. Inequality was systemic with limited options for advancement to independence.

The newspapers praised the Native American girls and young women with racist undertones reinforcing the current belief they were suited best for servility. White women were lauded for their entrance into politics and their progress for the Right to Vote. They were making great strides into white-collar jobs. The only profession available to Native American women was one of servitude.

Over time girls and women of the Chemawa Indian School advanced in the public’s perception of them and their capabilities, only within the limited view of assimilation. In time, they took a stand and demanded equality on per with their white sisters.

Sources

  • Chemawa Indian School and Ideas about Native Women in Historic Oregon Newspapers, by Kristin Bewersdorff
  • “False and Foolish,” Chemawa American, December 12, 1902, 2.
  • Newspaper “Notice!” Chemawa American, July 9, 1909, 11.
  • Charles L. Lisle “Indian Youths Conquer Arts,” Oregon Statesman Journal, June 5, 1921
  • “Chemawa to Graduate 23 Students,” Capital Journal, May 30, 1922, 3.