St. Patrick Church and the Indian School: Difference between revisions
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=Introduction= | ==Introduction== | ||
In all the histories and accounts of the Carlisle Indian School, the relationships between the school and Dickinson College and the school and the town of Carlisle are lost to the stories of the famous band and football team. It is important to remember that the Indian School did not exist by itself. It was a part of a thriving town with a well established college and its existence would not have been possible without those two entities. In an attempt to rectify the fact that Carlisle is often forgotten in most accounts of the Indian School, this page examines the relationship between the Indian School and the town’s only Catholic Church, St. Patrick Shrine Church. | In all the histories and accounts of the Carlisle Indian School, the relationships between the school and Dickinson College and the school and the town of Carlisle are lost to the stories of the famous band and football team. It is important to remember that the Indian School did not exist by itself. It was a part of a thriving town with a well established college and its existence would not have been possible without those two entities. In an attempt to rectify the fact that Carlisle is often forgotten in most accounts of the Indian School, this page examines the relationship between the Indian School and the town’s only Catholic Church, St. Patrick Shrine Church. | ||
Revision as of 17:28, 19 November 2007
Introduction
In all the histories and accounts of the Carlisle Indian School, the relationships between the school and Dickinson College and the school and the town of Carlisle are lost to the stories of the famous band and football team. It is important to remember that the Indian School did not exist by itself. It was a part of a thriving town with a well established college and its existence would not have been possible without those two entities. In an attempt to rectify the fact that Carlisle is often forgotten in most accounts of the Indian School, this page examines the relationship between the Indian School and the town’s only Catholic Church, St. Patrick Shrine Church.
The Historical Context of the Relationship between the Catholic Church and Indians
A strong movement to anglicize Indians began in the early nineteenth century. The United States Government was willing to fund religious missions, despite the constitution's non-establishment clause (which prohibited the federal government from establishing a national religion ) because it saw an opportunity to assimilate the Indians into American culture by way of religious teachings in morality and civic responsibility. Many denominations took part in this campaign; baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, and Presbyterians, to name a few. The competition for government funding was fierce, especially in light of the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time.
By the mid nineteenth century, most Indians had been placed on reservations west of the Mississippi River. The Federal Indian Office (FIC) set up a network of contract schools, each administered by agents. However, because the Catholic church did not have a strong voice in the FIC, they were assigned a low number of agents. In 1874, Catholics coordinated their efforts in Washington D.C. and formed the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. This organization set up Catholic schools on the reservations in order to ensure that the education given to the Indian children was based in Catholicism. Mother Katherine Drexel, who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Negroes, gave considerable economic support to these efforts.
The Connection between the School and the Church
St. Katherine's Hall, which was built as a school house for Negroes and Indians in Carlisle. Photo taken October 27, 2007 by Amanda West.
The Church
140 E. Pomfret Street
Carlisle, PA 17013
(717) 243-4411
