Native American studies Professor Colin Calloway argued last night that, until recently, Dartmouth has not lived up to the mission declared in its charter, the education of Native Americans.
Speaking to about three dozen students and faculty members, Calloway gave a lecture on the history of the College's relationship to Native Americans, entitled, "Dartmouth's Big Lie."
Calloway said Dartmouth's historical relationship with Native Americans represents a "false start," but he suggested the College now has the opportunity to make progress on its promise to the Native American student body.
He cited former College President John Kemeny's 1970 speech recommitting Dartmouth to the Native American community as the root of today's expanding Native American studies program.
Though the College charter calls primarily for the education of Native Amerixans, it also includes "English and other" youths, and these students have always been the majority of the student body.
Calloway retold the story of Samson Occom -- a Native American and one of Dartmouth founder Eleazer Wheelock's first students at his original school in Connecticut. Occom was viewed as a successful example of Indian youth who could be "raised up" to join white society, and was therefore able to raise large sums of money to help start Dartmouth as a school for the education of Native Americans.
But in 1771, Occom wrote a letter to Wheelock expressing his concern that Dartmouth had strayed from its original purpose. In fact, only three native students actually graduated from the College during the 1700s.
Calloway stressed that the purpose of the Native American studies program was not to provide a politically correct discourse on Native Americans but instead to open "ways of knowing" between European-based and indigenous cultures. In contrast to the original purpose of teaching European culture and evangelizing native people, Calloway saw a new opportunity for Dartmouth to foster exchange and mutual cultural enrichment.
The contentious issue of the Indian mascot came up briefly during the question and answer session, but Calloway explained he knows little of the history of the mascot or its significance to alumni. Dartmouth abolished the Indian symbol in the mid-1970s.
Calloway said the Indian cannot be reestablished as a positive symbol due to Dartmouth's actual lack of historical commitment to the education of Native Americans.
During the question and answer section, Calloway said he doubted Wheelock intentionally used Occom to deceive donors into thinking Dartmouth would be solely a school for Native Americans. He suggested that Wheelock felt frustration with natives who would not completely abandon all aspects of their culture.
Calloway also touched on the importance Dartmouth played in the political sphere in the mid-1700s when the College was viewed by colonial supporters as a means of creating closer ties with the Iroquois Nations in upstate New York.
