Title

Cultural Conversion and Language Preservation: Support and Subversion of Federal Assimilation Policies at a Benedictine Mission in Minnesota

Authors

Claire Winters, College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's UniversityFollow

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

4-25-2019

Advisor

Theodor Strollo Gordon, FYS

Abstract

In 1878, the Order of Saint Benedict (OSB) established a mission school at the White Earth Reservation in central Minnesota. Contracting with the federal government to assimilate Ojibway children into American culture and the (Catholic) Christian religion, OSB furthered the goals of conversion—but altered them to fit the specific aims of the Catholic church and the limitations of the reservation. Contrary to federal policies, they supported the preservation of the Ojibway language. This project investigates archival records to better understand how OSB both supported and subverted federal policies.

Recommended Citation

Winters, Claire, "Cultural Conversion and Language Preservation: Support and Subversion of Federal Assimilation Policies at a Benedictine Mission in Minnesota" (2019). Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-). 90.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/ur_cscday/90