BIA Policy Changes

An excerpt from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year ending 1899, containing the Twentieth Annual Report of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The report, submitted by Superintendent Richard Henry Pratt, includes a school population table and discussions of the school's…

An excerpt from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year ending 1901, containing the Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The report, submitted by Superintendent Richard Henry Pratt, includes a school population table and discussions of…

Assistant Secretary of the Interior A. Bell sends a copy of the Revised Statutes to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and asks the Commissioner to forward it to Richard Henry Pratt at the Carlisle Indian School.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents…

Richard Henry Pratt returns the Rules for Indian Schools with a few recommendations. Pratt's main recommendation is that students should be as strongly encouraged as possible to enter the general public school system rather than establishing a separate Indian public school system. In addition, Pratt recommends an equal proportion of sexes at…

Richard Henry Pratt forwards a clip from the Washington Evening Star regarding a policy change that the Office of Indian Affairs will pay $10 per quarter for Indian students attending public schools. Pratt notes that he was going to publish this clip in the school newspaper but refrained due to fear that patrons would object to taking Carlisle…

Richard Henry Pratt forwards a letter from Henry A. Kennerly regarding an order from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that discouraged the transfer of mixed blood students to Carlisle. Kennerly notes that unless this order is modified he could not come up with a party of students.

Pratt adds that he while he agrees with the sentiment…

Richard Henry Pratt proposes to the Office of Indian Affairs that teachers in the Indian Service be paid to attend a summer school in addition to their one month of paid leave.

Richard Henry Pratt responds to an Office of Indian Affairs letter in reference to a revision in the course of study for Indian schools. Pratt details the current course of study at the Carlisle Indian School and notes that the change in policy would require an additional two years of study. In addition, he notes that many reservation and…

Richard Henry Pratt forwards a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs acknowledging receipt of Circulars number 9 and 10 concerning promotions and transfers and employee leaves of absence.

Richard Henry Pratt requests to delay implementing the order to return students with one eighth or less Indian blood until July due to limited finances and to allow three students to finish their course of enrollment.

E. A. Hitchcock, Interior Secretary, disallows all expenses incurred in securing students from Alaska from 1903.

Captain William A. Mercer acknowledges receipt of a circular from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs mandating that "authorized Indian Irregular Employees" must be paid at the end of each week.

Mercer argues that this new rule should not apply to Carlisle because students are only hired as irregular employees during vacation months, and…

William A. Mercer recommends amendments to Regulations of the Indian Office focusing on Section 194 on allowing open market purchases as well as Section 454 with small property being expendable rather than going through a board of survey.

These materials include correspondence regarding the re-enrollment of Philomena Badger. Badger's re-enrollment was the cause of clarification on the enrollment policy of pupils over the age of 18. Philomena re-enrolled at Carlisle when she was 18 years old, against the wishes of her guardian; the Commissioner of Indian Affairs decided that…

These materials include correspondence regarding the return of a student from the Old Town Indian Reservation in Maine. Carlisle's superintendent initially denied the request, before the Office of Indian Affairs determined that the school should not focus on educating students who were not under the care of the Office.

These materials include correspondence regarding the return home of Richmond Martin to New York. The documents also discuss in detail new Bureau of Indian Affairs policies related to the discontinued enrollment of pupils from New York State as well as pupils of a young age.

These materials contain correspondence regarding a dispute about the release of students from New York State, as pursuant to Bureau of Indian Affairs policy changes regarding the enrollment of students from New York.

These materials include a letter from Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Valentine to Carlisle's Superintendent, Moses Friedman, proposing a change to how employment appointments are made for the Carlisle Indian School. Valentine suggested bringing Carlisle's appointment policies in line with the rest of Bureau, placing that…

Acting Commissioner R. G. Valentine informs Superintendent Moses Friedman that they are reorganizing the Education Division of the Office, so the organizations dealing with appointments for schools and agencies have now been combined into one office specializing only in appointments.

Valentine also asks if Friedman would be comfortable…

These materials include correspondence regarding a request to enroll a student from Alaska. The request was denied due to appropriations not being allocated to educate Alaskan students in the Continental United States.

These materials include correspondence and a draft of Superintendent Friedman's 30th Annual Report for the Carlisle Indian School, reflecting the period ending July 31, 1909. Friedman forwarded the draft to a Bureau official, along with information on how to have news published in Carlisle's student newspaper. The annual report includes…

These materials include correspondence regarding a request from Cary W. Hartman to enroll at Carlisle a Native student from Canada. The request was denied by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs due to the fact that the student was not a ward of the United States or an American Citizen. He suggested Hartman reach out to the Department of Indian…

These materials include a letter from Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs F. H. Abbott to Carlisle Superintendent Moses Friedman, suggesting that future applications from overaged individuals be forwarded to the Bureau for expedited consideration.

These materials include correspondence and reports on the record keeping system for student files at the Carlisle Indian School. Supervisor of Indian Schools Charles F. Pierce was critical of the decentralized nature of the student file records. Pierce recommended that Nellie Robertson Denny, a clerk at the school, be put in…

These materials include correspondence regarding the enrollment of students at the Carlisle Indian School. Commissioner of Indian Affairs R. G. Valentine directed Superintendent Moses Friedman to only accept students who had no access to public schools. Further emphasis was noted that students should not be enrolled based on their desirability…