Activists Argue Against 'Cultural Genocide' Legacy At Shawnee Mission

Today's life lesson as a cultural shift ignites activism at an otherwise ignored site that's now mostly regarded as a death camp by many progressives. 

Here's the story . . .

The historic mission, adjacent to Bishop Miege High School, once occupied thousands of acres. From 1839 until 1862, the mission also served as a boarding school for Native American children from multiple tribes.

“Really it was child labor under the guise of something else,” said Gaylene Crouser at the Kansas City Indian Center.

The residential schools existed all across America in the 1800s as part of the federal government’s attempts to assimilate indigenous peoples. The children were taught manual labor and a skilled trade.

Others say the mission schools were guilty of "cultural genocide."

“Because when they got there, they had to change their names. They had to cut their hair,” Crouser said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Shawnee tribe chief believes children could be buried at Johnson County historic site

FAIRWAY, Kan. - Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes believes a nearly 200-year-old historic site deserves a new level of scrutiny. "We know that children died here," Barnes told FOX4. "We don't know how many, and we don't know where." Barnes made the comments on the grounds of the Shawnee Indian Mission Historic Site in Johnson County.