BLUE XMAS for Native Americans
"Children at Dinner Table, Christmas," Pine Ridge Reservation SD, 1935, NARA ID 12464694.
Mandatory Xmas Cheer: Toxic Positivity circa 1933 By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
Office of Indian Affairs "The Mission Indian," newsletter, 12/1933, NARA ID 176414689.
The government's efforts to forcibly assimilate Native Americans included mandatory Christmas activities, as outlined by John W. Dady, Superintendent of the Mission Indian Agency. To help children achieve the "full measure of happiness and merriment" Dady advised:
MANDATORY GRATITUDE to:
"Our wonderful President who is doing his best to bring back... prosperity and good will."
"Our sympathetic, thoughtful and courageous Commissioner of Indian Affairs who is doing his part to make the Indian people happy."
And to those on the reservations for the "commendable spirit of co-operation... in our efforts to make you happy, contented and successful."
XMAS MERRIMENT ON RESERVATIONS to include:
A community Christmas tree "on every Reservation"
A "committee of women" to handle decorations and gifts
"Singing groups" to sing Christmas carols "thus expressing in song and music, our joy and happiness at the Holy and Merry festival of Christmas."
Christmas at Rosebud Reservation Indian Hospital (SD), 1945, NARA ID 41089564
"Bringing in the Christmas Tree", NARA ID 35295411.
Mission Indian newsletter 12/1937, NARA ID 176415060.
John W. Dady, "Dady has entered the California Mission Indian work with intentions to carry out the 'new deal' promised for Native Americans by John Collier." LA Times, 8/3/1933.
Such instruction was part of a "reeducation"/assimilation campaign that included the forced, systematic removal of Native children from their families starting in 1879. A 1969 Senate report underscored the results. Indian Education: A National Tragedy, a National Challenge (AKA "the Kennedy Report", Special Subcommittee on Indian Education).
The National Archives holds hundreds of thousands of records relating to Native Americans, including every treaty, records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Census Rolls. Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero has stressed the importance of making these records widely available in order to "raise and increase awareness of Native American history." See his ongoing blog series that "acknowledges the ancestral lands on which the National Archives’ buildings are situated across the country." The Archivist explained why this is a priority:
I grew up in Massachusetts, a state with lots of Native American heritage, and used to walk the edge of a local lake collecting arrowheads. So it was from childhood on that I had an interest in those that were here first. Of all the things we have custody of and are responsible for—even the Charters of Freedom—I believe the treaties with the Indian nations are the most valuable documents in terms of reading the original language and the government promises, and realizing what was never delivered. I have had opportunities, as members of tribal elders or tribal lawyers have come to visit, to join them in the vault as they experience the same things...
Now, many more descendants of the original peoples can examine the names and seals and read the words set down by their ancestors so long ago. But more than that, the treaties are still relevant today as tribal leaders and lawyers continue to use them to assert their rights in court, such as in cases over land and water rights. With such increased access to these records, we plan to continue and increase our educational outreach to Native American communities, and to raise and increase awareness of Native American history.
See also:
Native American Treaties Now Online for the First Time
Online: Photos from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Administrative Records Related to American Indian Schools
Student Case Files from Non-Reservation Boarding Schools
Navigating Record Group 75: BIA Schools
The Power of American Indian Boarding School Records, Pieces of History
Mellon Foundation and National Archives to Support Expansion of Cultural Diversity in American History
