Acculturation under duress: The Puerto Rican experience at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School 1898-1918

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was a massive molino de piedra (millstone) through which almost 11,00o Native Americans passed between 1879 and 1918. The purpose of the school was clear, to destroy the cultural identity of the Indians and to acculturate them into U.S./Western society. This essay looks into the history of the young Puerto Ricans who were sent there by the U.S. colonial authorities at the beginning of the 20th century.