School Children - Lapwai
Courtesy of Nez Perce National Historical Park   #1195

Fort Lapwai School Band
Courtesy of Historical Photograph Collection, 
University of Idaho Library MA97-34-13b

School Children - Lapwai
Courtesy of  Nez Perce National Historical Park    #2206

Along with agriculture, education was a cornerstone of the acculturation policy. Rev. Henry H. Spalding and his wife, Eliza, established a school soon after opening their mission in 1836. Each treaty has provisions for education, which include funds for building schools and employing teachers; as with many of the provisions of the treaties, what the treaties called for and what actually occurred were distinctly different things. Most agents address education in their reports to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and often separate reports from the superintendent of schools are included. It is interesting to trace the move from reading, writing and academics towards the training of the industrial, vocational school.