In both the film and the documents I read reference the ideology that the Sioux had to be civilized. The American government believed that by educating the Sioux they would be able to "kill the Indian." The film and some of the documents treated this ideology as a bad thing while a few of the other documents showed it as a good thing.
One ideology that is expressed by Indians about being educated is that they have no concept of many of things that they are being taught. For example towards the end of the movie Ohiyesa talks about how there is no Sioux word for owning the earth. This translates to the fact that language transmits culture and when the American government forced the Sioux to speak English, they were slowly killing the Sioux culture.
On the government's side, they believed that by educating the Sioux they would be able to assimilate them into the American civilization. The government thought that they would either have to kill the Indians or assimilate them and make them civilized. Baum believes that the Indians should be "exterminated." Whereas General Miles saw educating the Indians as an opportunity.
The government continued to their reign of terror by education by sending the Sioux children to boarding schools. At the boarding schools they cut the children's hair and forced them to choose Christian names. In the beginning of the movie, when Ohiyesa is sent to boarding school, his teacher refuses to call on him until he chooses a name for himself. To force Ohiyesa into choosing a name the teacher messes up critical information about topics that are important to Ohiyesa. By cutting the children's hair and forcing them to rename themselves, the teachers and U.S. government were in way dehumanizing the children.
By attempting to assimilate the Indians, the U.S. government took away the Sioux's and other Indian tribes' identities. Because of this attempt the government not only succeeded in assimilating the Sioux, but also in destroying their lives.
One ideology that is expressed by Indians about being educated is that they have no concept of many of things that they are being taught. For example towards the end of the movie Ohiyesa talks about how there is no Sioux word for owning the earth. This translates to the fact that language transmits culture and when the American government forced the Sioux to speak English, they were slowly killing the Sioux culture.
On the government's side, they believed that by educating the Sioux they would be able to assimilate them into the American civilization. The government thought that they would either have to kill the Indians or assimilate them and make them civilized. Baum believes that the Indians should be "exterminated." Whereas General Miles saw educating the Indians as an opportunity.
The government continued to their reign of terror by education by sending the Sioux children to boarding schools. At the boarding schools they cut the children's hair and forced them to choose Christian names. In the beginning of the movie, when Ohiyesa is sent to boarding school, his teacher refuses to call on him until he chooses a name for himself. To force Ohiyesa into choosing a name the teacher messes up critical information about topics that are important to Ohiyesa. By cutting the children's hair and forcing them to rename themselves, the teachers and U.S. government were in way dehumanizing the children.
By attempting to assimilate the Indians, the U.S. government took away the Sioux's and other Indian tribes' identities. Because of this attempt the government not only succeeded in assimilating the Sioux, but also in destroying their lives.