Published In
Educational Abundance: the Journal of the New York State Foundations of Education Association
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Subjects
Indigenous people, Social justice, Colonialism, Indians of North America -- Cultural assimilation, Indians of North America -- Education
Abstract
The Meriam Report is a remarkable historical artifact of the United States' colonial project. The idea of a stronger nation through education embodied in the report betrays the report's imperial core. The report's authors express moral outrage at the failure of the United States to respect the human dignity of Native Americans. To absolve these failures, the report repeatedly looks to education as the way forward. My interest is in the discursive construction of that argument, specifically how new discourses of progress, scientific management, and modern administrative principles were used to justify expansion of the federal government and solidify the moral mission of the nation. I show how the language and discursive practices of the report extend a relationship of benevolent domination over the nation's Indigenous population.
Rights
Educational Abundance is an open access eJournal published by the New York State Foundations of Education Association, Rochester, NY.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41241
Citation Details
Narayanan, M. (2023). Educational Myths of an American Empire: Colonial Narratives and The Meriam Report. Educational Abundance: the Journal of the New York State Foundations of Education Association, 3, 1-16.
Included in
Education Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Native American Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons