A History of Dartmouth Indians

By Michael C. Russell | Thursday, May 18, 2006

Over two hundred and forty years ago, Eleazar Wheelock founded Dartmouth College with the ostensible goal of Christianizing the natives with a Graddus ad Parnassum, a Bible, a drum, and five hundred gallons of New England rum. Though he mixed drinks for the heathens in the goodness of his soul, he did not do it for long before they were replaced by New England men secure in their Christianity and far more interested in Greek and rum, than the Bible.

College historian and Professor of History Emeritus Jere Daniell ’55 held a discussion, as a part of the Native Americans at Dartmouth Week, leading up to the Pow-Wow, on the history of Native Americans at Dartmouth College. He covered Indian history from Dartmouth’s founding to President John G. Kemeny’s administration and his promise to once again actively recruit Indian students to the College. The prior disenfranchisement of Indians and Dartmouth’s “ground breaking” and historic commitment to modern Indian education were the primary themes of the discussion.

According to Daniell, in the first century of Dartmouth’s existence, 71 Indians enrolled at the College and the number that actually graduated is undetermined. More embarrassing for the College is the figure for the next century, 1865-1965, when just 28 Indians attended Dartmouth. Much of this can be attributed to President William J. Tucker’s new vision of Dartmouth at the turn of the last century that changed it from a small college to an intellectual institution on par with its New England rivals. The break with the Christian past of the College led to a loss of mission with regards to the education of Indians. The situation would perpetuate itself until President John Sloan Dickey stepped down in 1970.

President Kemeny presided over a relatively peaceful Dartmouth, at a time when America was in a state of unrest, and made painful changes to the College that became necessary. Of course, we most remember him for the institution of coeducation and the advent of the “Dartmouth Plan,” two of the most fundamental and important changes to the Dartmouth experience to date. The value of Kemeny’s legacy is for another column, but there is no doubt that he made Dartmouth the first major college or university to actively engage Indians and attempt to bring the marginalized group back to higher education. Daniell told the audience that when Indians first started to come to Dartmouth, the College did not know what to do. President Kemeny made the promise that his door would be open to the new Indian students and that he would help them however he could.

Though The Dartmouth Review does not tend to espouse affirmative action, it is hard not to congratulate the College in the face of such a clear success of the program. According to Dartmouth’s website, Indians graduate from Dartmouth at a rate (72%) that is ten times the national average and up from an original rate of 50% in the early seventies. No other comparable institution can boast the same effectiveness in enrollment and, even more importantly, retention of Indians as Dartmouth. Humorously enough, it appears to be a point of embarrassment for Dartmouth’s peers that they have such difficulty with Indian students. The College actively sought advice from enrolled Indians for what resources they needed and what difficulties they experienced integrating into the Dartmouth community. As a result of these considerations, Dartmouth created the Native American Studies Program and the separate organization, Native Americans at Dartmouth, to provide assistance and community while separating it from academic life. Though there are contentions that can be made about their necessity, there seems little doubt that if Dartmouth did not actively create social spaces for Indians, it would still be failing to achieve old Eleazar Wheelock’s goal.

Unavoidably, a theme throughout the talk was the role of the Indian as Dartmouth’s mascot. Daniell described how the Indian first came to Dartmouth in the eighteen-seventies and over the subsequent decade the lore and songs that bound the Indian symbol to Dartmouth were created. The classes of the first half of the 20th century were the classes that embraced and thereby cemented the Indian myth into Dartmouth culture. Of course, the Indian remained synonymous with Dartmouth for over a century until the Board of Trustees unilaterally called for its end and began the controversy over Dartmouth’s identity that continues today.

However, Daniell reminded the crowd that anti-Indian forces do have one thing on their side: time. He pointed out that over time there are fewer and fewer Alumni who attended Dartmouth during the Indian years and that those who did are “just dying off.” There is no doubt that he makes a valid point, but there is evidence that Daniell underestimates the importance of the Indian in Dartmouth’s culture. Though many Dartmouth alumni of the “Indian era” have passed on, there has always been a part of the student body advocating the return of the Indian, despite the years of separation. As recently as 2003, a Student Assembly poll showed the Indian garnering a fifth of the vote, as a write-in, and though many share the love for the Moose and Keggy the Keg, neither inspire the same pride nor share the same heritage as the Indian. Even further back, in the more activist eighties, there are stories of freshmen unfurling banners emblazoned with the Indian head. The Indian symbol never actually left the College; the administration simply chooses to ignore it when students bring it up, without any discussion as to its merits.

Dartmouth today can proudly count itself as the premier institution in the world for the education of Indians and has graduated over six-hundred since the rededication to Indian education. Other colleges around the country are finding themselves under attack for the use of Indians as symbols, most recently by the NCAA, but like the University of North Carolina, Dartmouth has dedicated itself to the education of Indians and, moreover, the Indian has been a part of Dartmouth since it’s founding. The debate will continue to rage, but the solution is not to simply wait until the will for the Indian dies out, because as every class at Dartmouth shows, the will is always there.

A History of Dartmouth Indians

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