A 'Model School' at Tulalip—and the Assimilation It Celebrated

At Tulalip, in Washington Territory, there is a school for Indians conducted by the Sisters of Providence, and we are told on good authority that it is a picture of perfection. Those who see Indian children in that school must feel that it is a blessing to have such teachers as the Sisters. A gentleman who recently visited the institution says:

"There are seventy-five pupils; forty girls and thirty-five boys in separate schools, all taught by the Sisters. I saw the boys at dinner. The snow-white cloth, the polished knives, and the white napkins impressed me; and it was evident the boys were accustomed to behave like gentlemen at the dinner table. I can not say they know as much of book-learning as other boys know, but they read well and write a clear, legible hand. The great charm of the school is the manners of the students. Amongst the whole lot I did not see one pert, impudent lad who seemed to think himself a man. While I was on the grounds three or four of the boys came to the Sisters for orders. Each approached, removed his hat, and said, 'Sister, the wooding is finished,' or, 'Sister, what work shall be done this afternoon?' The infant girls and mixed-race girls in the other school are modest and lady-like. They read and write well and study the art of being useful at home. Cleanliness, industry and decency are visible in every corner of the institution, and these are excellent ornaments for a place in which the true spirit of Christianity finds a home. In these schools I saw a system of civilization fit for the present age, and far superior to the system practised in our public schools, where boys learn addition and subtraction from the teacher, and are left to educate themselves in the little arts that make men agreeable and decent. Indeed, in most of the schools taught by men I have noticed the rough ignorant lads left entirely to themselves with reference to ideas of order, decency and propriety, and the result is our public schools have turned out a lot of boys as rude as uneducated—they possess a little knowledge and a good deal of ignorance. Any one who wishes to see a model school will visit Tulalip."