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Chemawa Indian School


EduCativ

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Chemawa Indian School dates back to the 1870s when the U.S. Government-authorized a school for Indian children in the Northwest. The official philosophy at that time was to integrate the Indian population into general society through education. Two Indian schools were in operation on the East Coast.
A site was chosen at Forest Grove, on four acres of land rented from Pacific University. Lt. Melville Wilkinson of the U.S. Army and secretary to General O.O. Howard was in charge of the project. $5,000 was provided to start the school. Lt. Wilkinson, with the help of eight Puyallup Indian boys, began construction on the buildings in 1880. The initial class of students consisted of fourteen boys and four girls. All the students came from the State of Washington, seventeen of them from the Puyallup Reservation on the Puget Sound and one boy from the Nisqually Reservation. These students were taught blacksmithing, shoemaking, carpentering, wagon making, girl's industries, and advancement in studies.
At this point, officials looked at the temporary leased nature of the land as well as the poor drainage and began considering alternative sites around the Willamette Valley. Three sites were donated for the new school. Newberg offered 100 acres of heavily timbered land, 23 acres near Forest Grove with a pasture parcel of 75 acres approximately four miles away from the main site, and 171 partially cleared, sparsely timbered land in Salem served by a spur of the main railroad through the Willamette Valley. School officials chose the Salem site since it was close to the State Capital and had the most acreage.
The mission of Chemawa Indian School is to provide opportunities for every Chemawa student to achieve success. In so doing, we strive to maintain the highest academic standards and foster excellent educational opportunities for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Cognizant of the diversity among American and Alaska Native cultures, Chemawa shall endeavor to preserve a safe and affirmative learning environment in which caring professional staff will demonstrate their commitment, through mutual respect and input given to decision making, as mentors and role models to each student. Chemawa will strive to fundamentally and systematically administer rigorous academic programs that will challenge and reward both students and staff and facilitate the transformation of individual effort and enthusiasm into knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to make choices that enrich life enabling each person to become positive contributors to their respective tribal communities and society as a whole.
Chemawa fully acknowledges the learning process as “dynamic” and will continually attempt to maintain higher levels of expectations for its students and staff, affording each a diverse opportunity for meaningful growth and development. The impetus of Chemawa will be the sound use of all resources and the application of “leading edge” technologies, enabling student connectivity beyond the boundaries of school walls. Chemawa shall allow each student to achieve his/her full potential as a shared success between themselves, parents, and our community.


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