Carlisle Indian Industrial School

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, founded in 1879 in Pennsylvania, was the first government-funded boarding school aimed at assimilating Native American children into Euro-American culture. It sought to erase Indigenous languages, traditions, and identities, often through strict discipline and a focus on vocational training. While intended to help Native youth adapt to American society, the school is now recognized for its role in cultural suppression and the traumatic impacts on Native communities. It has become a symbol of a broader history of forced removal and attempts to eradicate Indigenous cultures in the United States.