Boarding School Life at the Kiowa-Comanche Agency, 1893-1920

The Kiowa Comanche Indian reservation schools introduced Native American children to the English language and English cultural practices with rigorous discipline and occasional punishment. Native American families were divided over the schools, but many families saw little choice but to send their children. English was taught with continuous rote memorization combined with the threat of corporal punishment for failure to learn. Boys and girls were segregated from each other, and boys marched military-style in the school courtyards. The Kiowa language, though forbidden, remained intact and Kiowa schoolchildren retained a sense of themselves as Native Americans long after their schooldays had passed.