Indian Education and Civilization: A Report Prepared in Answer to Senate Resolution of February 23, 1885 surveys the long history of American Indian education and policy from the early regulatory era through the 19th century. This official work compiles outlines, statutes, and institutional efforts that shaped education, reservations, and missionary activity across many tribes.
The text presents a broad, document-based view of how education and civilizing initiatives were organized, funded, and implemented. It situates schools, boarding programs, and the roles of various churches and reform movements within the larger framework of federal policy toward Native peoples in the United States.
- Overview of Indian education regulations and early regulations by the Continental Congress
- Statistical and institutional sections on schools, missions, and schooling results
- Descriptions of Indian reservations, treaties, and land arrangements across multiple territories
- Accounts of missionary work, church involvement, and the social context of education
Ideal for readers of American history, policy studies, and researchers exploring how education intersected with sovereignty and administration in the 19th century.