Swift Bear, Maud

Student information card of Maud (Little Girl), a member of the Sioux Nation, who entered the school on October 6, 1879 and died on December 14, 1880. Maud was buried in the cemetery on the school grounds.

Student information card of Maud, a member of the Sioux Nation, who entered the school on October 6, 1879 and died on December 12, 1880. She was buried in the cemetery on the school grounds.

Page one started with an explanation for why boarding schools are necessary to successfully educate Indian children. It was explained that day school simply “do not withdraw the pupils from the influences of their home surroundings in such a manner us to facilitate a change in their habits of daily life.” Page two had a piece on the “Oklahoma…

Group portrait of the first female students, taken on the morning after their arrival on October 6, 1879 

Note: This image is different from the more commonly seen one. Here there are only twelve people in the back row, not thirteen (it is not yet determined who is not present here). Sarah Mather and Charles Tackett are not included, and…

Group portrait of the first female students, taken on the morning after their arrival on October 6, 1879. Matron Sarah Mather is standing at left and interpreter Charles Tackett is standing at right. 

This image appears in John N. Choate's Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Choate, 1902).

The…

Group portrait of the first female students, taken on the morning after their arrival on October 6, 1879. Matron Sarah Mather is standing at left and interpreter Charles Tackett is standing at left. 

Group portrait of the first female students, taken on the morning after their arrival on October 6, 1879. Matron Sarah Mather is standing at left and interpreter Charles Tackett is standing at left.

Richard Henry Pratt writes to Chief White Thunder about the funeral ceremony and burial of his son, Ernest. Pratt expresses his sorrow and sympathy at White Thunder's loss, but also argues that White Thunder was right to send Ernest to the school. 

Pratt notes that Maud (Little Girl) died the same night as Ernest, so they were buried at…

The parents of Ernest White Thunder and Maud Swift Bear request that their bodies be returned to them in order to have them buried near their homes. They note that while Richard Henry Pratt sent them frequent letters they were not aware that their children were near death and are now unable to fulfill their hope of returning home to help their…

Richard Henry Pratt notes that when he spoke to American Horse and other Sioux Chiefs in 1880 as they returned home they were promised a light wagon produced at Carlisle. According to Pratt sending the wagons along with some tinware would be a good method to show the work being done by the students of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Agency as well…