Research

Working Papers

Coercive Assimilation Policy Across Generations: Evidence from American Indian Boarding Schools (Paper)

Abstract

Culture and identity have fundamental economic, social, and political implications. Throughout history, governments, colonial powers, and other state actors have sought to reshape these characteristics through assimilation policies and indoctrination efforts, often targeting ethnic minorities. In this paper, I show that coercive assimilation policy can cause substantial cultural change among ethnic minorities, but that these effects do not necessarily persist into later generations, and may even reverse. I focus on a historical policy in the United States under which authorities removed Native American children to distant boarding schools. I exploit the staggered recruitment patterns of schools and variation in cohort exposure to facilitate causal identification. I show that exposure to boarding schools offered few economic benefits, but did lead to substantial cultural and social assimilation. Treated cohorts were more likely to speak English, more likely to give their children western names, and more likely to be perceived as `White’ in their communities. However, I find that the next generation tended to be less socially and economically integrated. I show that tribe- and family-level characteristics affected the trajectory of intergenerational outcomes, which, in line with the historical literature, points to resistance to the schools on the part of Native American individuals and communities.

Work in Progress

Special Inquiries Relating to Indians: New Crosswalks and Data on American Indians in Historical Censuses

In the Shadow of the Poorhouse? The Historical Roots of American Attitudes to Poverty and Welfare (with Alba Miñano-Mañero)

Can Property Rights Foster Individualism? (with Sara Benetti and Carla Srebot)

Constitutions, Culture, and Identity: Evidence from American Indian Nations (with Sara Benetti and Carla Srebot)