The Native American was a weekly publication that first appeared on January 13, 1900. It was published in Phoenix, Arizona, and featured as a motto on its masthead "Not for school but for life." A publication of the Phoenix Indian School, it would appear nine years after the school's founding in 1881. In 1882, the U.S. Congress established the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School on the Oklahoma border, one of five non-reservation boarding schools that also included Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, Chemawa Indian School in Oregon, and Fort Simcoe in the state of Washington. Chilocco formally opened in 1884 with 150 students from the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Wichita tribes. From its opening until the 1930s, Chilocco followed the model set by Carlisle Indian Industrial School, emphasizing military training and work in trades and domestic labor. Like its boarding school counterparts, Chilocco's leadership adopted as school policy the federal government's goal to assimilate Native Americans by replacing tribal identities with an "American" one through the elimination Indigenous languages, beliefs, and practices.

The printed products from the early period of the Chilocco Indian School must be viewed through this lens of assimilation that underwrote the school's mission. Many of the writings in its main publication, The Indian School Journal , which first appeared in 1901, were written by staff rather than students, and those written by students were unlikely to have appeared without adult staff permission. Although all content should be read with a critical eye, Chilocco's publications still serve as a valuable information source during this troubling period in Native American history.

Issues reproduced here from 1905 to 1926 include articles on a variety of topics: "The Religious Indians of Oklahoma" (September 1905); "Life among the Omahas" (November 1906); "Is the Indian of Mongolian Origin?" (May 1907); "Maine Indians of Today" (April 1908); "Present Condition of the Apaches" (February, 1909); "The Modern Indian Council" (November 1911); "President Taft's Decision on the Garb Question" (November 1912); "Determining the Heirs of Deceased Indians" (March 1913); "Some History Regarding the U.S. Indian at Chilocco School" (June 1914); "Indian Dances of the Southwest" (October 1915); "The Perpetuation of Indian Blood in America" (January 1916); "The Tomah Indian School" (April 1919); "What Chilocco Offers the Indian Student in Agriculture and Allied Industries" (April 1921); "The Indian Health Service" (February 1925).

Users will also find copies of Chilocco, an annual publication generated by the school that focused primarily on "recording the Activities and Achievements of the past year … a mirror that will reflect in future moments intimate memories of school life" (1929 issue). A handful issues also appear of Chilocco Weekly Journal from 1906.

This collection includes copies of the publication up to 1931. Like other publications from and records about the many Indian schools that were opened in the 1890s (see the other collections "The Indian School Journal (Chilocco Indian School)" and "Bureau of Indian Affairs Records Created by the Santa Fe Indian School, 1890-1918"), the content of The Native American must be read with a critical eye. In the late 19th century, federal government policy focused on the assimilation of Native populations by extirpating tribal identities through instruction that did away with tribal languages, beliefs, and practices. This is reflected in many of the accounts and even the articles The Native American would reproduce in its pages from other venues, from The New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor to reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other federal agencies.

The paternalistic foundation is perhaps best underscored by the April 10, 1926 article "Division of Responsibility in Indian Education," delivered at the University of Arizona by then Phoenix Indian School superintendent and—not surprisingly—publication editor John B. Brown. Brown served as the school's superintendent from 1915 to 1931 and held firmly to the assimilationist thrust of federal policies, although these had fallen out of favor by his years as the school came under investigation (with others) for the mistreatment of its charges and possible mismanagement of its resources.

In 1882, the U.S. Congress established the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School on the Oklahoma border, one of five non-reservation boarding schools that also included Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, Chemawa Indian School in Oregon, and Fort Simcoe in the state of Washington. Chilocco formally opened in 1884 with 150 students from the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Wichita tribes. From its opening until the 1930s, Chilocco followed the model set by Carlisle Indian Industrial School, emphasizing military training and work in trades and domestic labor. Like its boarding school counterparts, Chilocco's leadership adopted as school policy the federal government's goal to assimilate Native Americans by replacing tribal identities with an "American" one through the elimination Indigenous languages, beliefs, and practices.

The printed products from the early period of the Chilocco Indian School must be viewed through this lens of assimilation that underwrote the school's mission. Many of the writings in its main publication, The Indian School Journal , which first appeared in 1901, were written by staff rather than students, and those written by students were unlikely to have appeared without adult staff permission. Although all content should be read with a critical eye, Chilocco's publications still serve as a valuable information source during this troubling period in Native American history.

Issues reproduced here from 1905 to 1926 include articles on a variety of topics: "The Religious Indians of Oklahoma" (September 1905); "Life among the Omahas" (November 1906); "Is the Indian of Mongolian Origin?" (May 1907); "Maine Indians of Today" (April 1908); "Present Condition of the Apaches" (February, 1909); "The Modern Indian Council" (November 1911); "President Taft's Decision on the Garb Question" (November 1912); "Determining the Heirs of Deceased Indians" (March 1913); "Some History Regarding the U.S. Indian at Chilocco School" (June 1914); "Indian Dances of the Southwest" (October 1915); "The Perpetuation of Indian Blood in America" (January 1916); "The Tomah Indian School" (April 1919); "What Chilocco Offers the Indian Student in Agriculture and Allied Industries" (April 1921); "The Indian Health Service" (February 1925).

Users will also find copies of Chilocco, an annual publication generated by the school that focused primarily on "recording the Activities and Achievements of the past year … a mirror that will reflect in future moments intimate memories of school life" (1929 issue). A handful issues also appear of Chilocco Weekly Journal from 1906.

Still, within the pages of The Native American, researchers can find articles on a variety of topics, including educational matters ("Suggested Solutions to Some of the Problems Now Confronting Curriculum Builders in Indian Schools," November 17, 1928 issue), federal policy ("Hoover Regime Sets New Goal For the Indian" in the February 22, 1930 issue); court actions ("Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: Mexican Kickapoo Indians" in April 12, 1912 issue); land resource issues ("The Giant Cactus of Arizona: The Use of Its Fruit and Other Cactus Fruits by the Indians" in April 19, 1930 issue); and other topics.