Spokane students, 'new recruits' to the Indian Training School

Title

Spokane students, 'new recruits' to the Indian Training School

Description

A group portrait of the second group of Spokane students taken to the Forest Grove Indian School from the band of Chief Lot. This photograph was taken at the I.G. Davidson Photography Studio in Portland, Oregon on July 8, 1881. At the time, the children were en route from their homes to the school. Their names as given on the school roster were: Alice L. Williams; Florence Hayes; Suzette (or Susan) Secup; Julia Jopps; Louise Isaacs; Martha Lot; Eunice Madge James; James George; Ben Secup; Frank Rice; and Garfield Hayes.

The Forest Grove Indian School Superintendent had this photograph made for fundraising and promotional purposes. It was intended to be a "before" picture, which he paired with a later "after" picture that was taken when the children had been at the school for seven months (see PUApic_008035). The intention behind the pair of photographs was to show how the school was assimilating Native children into white society, erasing their Native customs. Sadly, one girl in the first photograph, Chief Lot's daughter Martha Lot, died before the second photograph was made. Martha is believed to be the tallest girl in the back row.

The general public could buy copies of this photograph for 50 cents per print, with the school earning 10 cents on each sale. The caption, "New Recruits -- Spokane Indians," was supplied by the photography studio. The number "43" that appears on this photograph refers to the I.G. Davidson catalog, from which more photographs could be ordered. The image was reproduced alongside several other images of the school as an etching in a popular magazine, Harper's Weekly, in 1882 (see PUA_MS27_081).

Creator

I. G. Davidson, photographer

Date

1881

Identifier

PUApic_008608.jpg

Subject

Off-reservation boarding schools

Native American Studies

Chemawa Indian School

Spatial Coverage

Forest Grove, Oregon

Source

Forest Grove Indian School Collection, Pacific University Archives

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Type

Still Image