Indian boarding school

[ in-dee-uhn bawr-ding skool ]

noun

1. (formerly in the United States) one of many boarding schools established for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students, first by Christian missionaries and later by the federal government, with the aim of culturally assimilating Indigenous youth and giving them a Western education. Compare residential school ( def 2 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Indian boarding school¹

First recorded in 1870–75