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" Selling Indians at Sherman Institute, 1902–1922 "
William Oscar Medina
C. E. Trafzer
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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52900
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| Doc. No
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TL22854
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| Call number
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3298239
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| Main Entry
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William Oscar Medina
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| Title & Author
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Selling Indians at Sherman Institute, 1902–1922\ William Oscar Medina
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| College
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University of California, Riverside
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| Date
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2007
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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2007
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| Page No
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203
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| Abstract
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Administrators at Sherman Institute, an off-reservation Indian boarding school in Riverside California, used Indian children as marketing pawns in order to bolster the school's credibility when it opened in 1902. Enlarging the school's credibility was meant to garner political support in order to ensure the school's survival, and was understandable since Indian boarding schools were dependent on public support. Not surprisingly, administrators at Sherman Institute sought to publicize the school's ability to assimilate Indians, and its success in transforming them into civilized human beings. As a result, school officials developed a marketing strategy that focused on Indian children who had seemingly adapted to the dominant culture. For example, school administrators promoted school activities that spotlighted capable Indian students. These events included featured Indian children playing western-style music and competing against all-white athletic teams. Moreover, school administrators at Sherman Institute also relied on campus tours that allowed the general public and government officials to see assimilated Indians. Although using Indian children to market Sherman Institute amounted to exploitation, the school's marketing campaign contained the seeds of resistance. Indeed, many students discovered a means to resist school officials partly through their membership in the band and athletic teams, vital elements of the school's marketing campaign. Membership in the band and athletic programs provided respites from tedious school routines, and also helped improve the self-esteem of students. More importantly, these activities provided Indian students with the opportunity to demonstrate Indian ability in an era clouded by racism. Using only their talent and intellect, Indian students appropriated the school's marketing campaign in order to show what an Indian could do. In short Indian students were not passive victims of Sherman Institute's marketing designs, but instead learned to turn the power against school administrators.
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| Subject
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Social sciences; Education; Assimilation; Boarding school; California; Indian; Native Americans; Sherman Institute; American history; Education history; Native American studies; 0740:Native American studies; 0337:American history; 0520:Education history
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| Added Entry
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C. E. Trafzer
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University of California, Riverside
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