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All the United States Michigan Mount Pleasant Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School

Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School

This solemn facility remembers the cruel effort to compel Native American children to relinquish their culture.

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

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Rick Brown
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School building at the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
Another building on the school property.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
Historic marker on the school building.   rickbbiking / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School opened in 1893 and housed an average of 300 Native American students per year up until it closed in 1934. The boarding school students, ranging in age from kindergarten through eighth grade, were housed onsite at this 37-building campus located on 320 acres in central Michigan.

The school represented a tragic chapter in United States history. It was one of over two dozen such boarding schools across the country that were designed to indoctrinate Native American children into the customs, traditions, language, and religious beliefs of Christian, European-Americans.

Life at the school was very regimented. The day mostly consisted of manual labor and some basic academic instruction. Throughout their attendance, young Native Americans were compelled to relinquish their heritage, languages, beliefs, and culture. Among the many tragedies resulting from the operation of this school, none is greater than the approximately 200 children who lost their lives here during its 41-year history. The onsite cemetery contains the remains of many of these innocent victims of a cruel social experiment.

After the school closed in 1934, the facilities were utilized to house young men with mental health issues or who had been convicted of a crime. It remained in operation as such until 2008. The following year, on June 17, 2009, a healing and forgiveness march was held by hundreds of Native and non-Native people to acknowledge the sad history of the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School. In 2011, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe purchased the facility as a “Site of Conscience” so that its terrible legacy would not be lost or forgotten. In 2018, the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School, Mission Creek Cemetery, and surrounding lands were added to the National Register of Historic Places.   

Related Tags

Native Americans History Schools Culture Racism

Know Before You Go

Access into the buildings is prohibited. Please be respectful of this solemn "Site of Conscience." More information about the former school can be found at the Ziibiwing Center in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

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Added By

rickbbiking

Published

March 26, 2019

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Sources
  • http://www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing/planyourvisit/pdf/AIBSCurrGuide.pdf
  • http://www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing/planyourvisit/boardingschool/index2.htm
  • https://www.theclio.com/web/entry?id=13930
  • https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/former-mount-pleasant-indian-industrial-boarding-school-added-to-the-national-register-of-historic-places/
  • https://home.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-20180302.htm
  • http://www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing/planyourvisit/boardingschool/lessons/lesson3.pdf
Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School
1400 W Pickard Rd
Mount Pleasant, Michigan
United States
43.619046, -84.793225
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Nearby Places

Mission Creek Cemetery

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

miles away

Michigan Transportation Employees Memorial

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miles away

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St. Louis, Michigan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant

Michigan

Places 2

Nearby Places

Mission Creek Cemetery

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

miles away

Michigan Transportation Employees Memorial

Clare, Michigan

miles away

Mini Mac Bridge

St. Louis, Michigan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant

Michigan

Places 2

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