Native American Education and Federal Policy in 1927–1928 Office of Indian Affairs Bulletins

Native American Education

Archive

U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs. Group of eight bulletins issued 1927–1928, documenting federal Indian education and cultural policy systems in the United States during the interwar period. The material documents the system of government-directed Native American assimilation and education through officially distributed bulletins, revealing how federal agencies structured narratives around Indigenous identity, labor, domestic life, and citizenship. These publications demonstrate the process by which the Office of Indian Affairs disseminated standardized cultural and educational messaging, often through institutions such as Indian boarding schools and federally aligned presses, providing primary-source evidence for the study of U.S. assimilation policy, Indigenous education systems, and state-controlled cultural representation.

U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs. Education of the Indians. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, 1927; Indian Art and Industries. Chilocco, OK: Indian Print Shop, Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, 1927; The American Indian in the World War. Department of the Interior, 1927; Indian Home Life: Part I—The Past, Part II—The Present. Lawrence, KS: Haskell Institute, 1927; Primitive Agriculture of the Indians. Chilocco, OK: Indian Print Shop, 1928; Bibliography of Indian Legends. Chemawa, OR: Salem Indian School, 1928; United States Indians: Historical References. Chemawa, OR: United States Indian School, 1928; Indian Missions of the United States. Phoenix, AZ: The Native American Press, 1928. Eight staple-bound pamphlets, each measuring approximately 9 x 5.5 inches and ranging from 4 to 16 pages. The bulletins include photographic illustrations, instructional texts, and compiled references addressing topics such as classroom instruction, traditional and adapted crafts, military service in World War I, domestic life comparisons between pre-reservation and reservation contexts, agricultural practices, and bibliographic listings of Indigenous oral traditions. Several publications were printed at Native-run or government-operated institutions including Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, Haskell Institute, and Chemawa Indian School, indicating the use of these sites as production centers for federally approved content. Visual and textual content emphasizes instruction, classification, and comparison, often framing Indigenous practices within narratives of modernization and integration.

Issued during a period of intensified federal oversight of Native communities, these bulletins illustrate the mechanisms of U.S. Indian policy as it operated through education, print culture, and institutional networks. The materials show how government agencies coordinated messaging across multiple regions, using schools and presses to circulate interpretations of Indigenous culture aligned with assimilationist objectives. At the same time, the inclusion of topics such as oral traditions and traditional agriculture provides evidence of selective cultural documentation within these frameworks. The archive supports research into federal Indian policy, boarding school systems, print dissemination networks, and the intersection of education and cultural control in the early twentieth century. Toning, faint marks, and general wear to wrappers, all text remains legible and intact; overall good to very good condition. A coherent group offering direct evidence of federal educational and cultural policy directed at Native American communities in the 1920s.

Item #22490

Price: $585.00