Date of Award
4-2016
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Jon Holtzman
Second Advisor
Dr. Bilinda Straight
Third Advisor
Dr. Jose Brandoa
Keywords
Native American, boarding school, photography, Mount Pleasant, MI, assimilation
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This project is designed to study the culture of Native American boarding schools through the visual domain of photography. I have chosen the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan as a case study. I specifically examine how photographs depict themes of Native American student assimilation, domestic care and order, living conditions, communication, ethnic composition, and resistance. There has been very little written on the history and culture of the boarding school in Mount Pleasant, much less any analysis that has been done with the photographs. I am combining the available written and visual materials of the school to analyze six aspects of its culture.
Recommended Citation
Brown, David, "Using Photography as an Anthropological Approach to Studying Culture at the Mount Pleasant lndian lndustrial Boarding School, 1893-1934" (2016). Masters Theses. 676.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/676