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Pawnee Boarding School reunion to be held July 4

A Gravy Reunion is to be held July 4th in Pawnee, Okla. at the former Pawnee Boarding School once a Bureau of Indian Affairs, (BIA) institution, Most alumni remember the institution by the less bureaucratic label of “Gravy”; however during the institution’s 80 years existence, an unknown student whose fame is forever etched in the annals of anonymity christened the government school with its infamous name “Gravy”. The nickname probably surfaced from the savory chipped-beef gravy that was a limitless breakfast staple. Another student pundit tacked on “U”, and the institution fast became “Gravy U”, remaining so even after the schools closure in 1958.

A postcard image of the Pawnee Boarding School / Photo courtesy of vintageoklahomaphotos.com

Site of the reunion is the former dining-hall building where today the Pawnee Tribal College resides, a non-BIA facility.

The 1803 Louisiana Purchase included the area of Oklahoma that later became home to the Cherokee Nation following the Trail of Tears. After the Civil War, the Cherokees agreed to allow other tribes to settle on certain portions of the territory. History records during Andrew Jackson’s presidency, 45,690 Indians were relocated from their lands in Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska into Indian Territory.

With the tribes’ removals, the government’s focus was the assimilating of the Indian people into the mainstream “white” culture. Carlisle Indian School was established 1879 in an abandoned army barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Richard Henry Pratt, an army officer, served as the superintendent for 25 years. Pratt’s motto of “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” figured prominently in the education of Indian youth. It meant rejecting tribal culture and adapting to white society. The Carlisle model prevailed throughout reservation and non-reservation Indian boarding schools that soon followed.

On November 11, 1878, the Pawnee Boarding School opened. Initially, the thought was to establish an Industrial Trade School; training Indian girls as seamstresses and the boys were to learn farm work. The curricular emphasis was work with students, ages six through teen years, doing “details”. Details consisted of dormitory housekeeping; bed-making, daily cleaning of floors, the washrooms, showers, toilets, etc. Students did the laundry for the entire school at the commercial type laundry building. Meal preparations for the entire student population were detail work for older girls in the dining room and kitchen building. The boys had farm and dairy work. These details and more were daily activities plus school attendance.

Following the Land Run of 1889, the town of Pawnee came into existence; over a mile from the boarding school.

In the beginning, children from the Pawnee, Ponca, Otoe-Missouri, Tonkawa, Kaw, Shawnee, Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes were enrolled. The boarding school was co-ed from the start. Enrollment hovered around 200. There were 9 grades.

For untold Indian children, their entire education was institutional learning. Many who graduated from the ninth grade at the Pawnee School finished their high school years at the Chilocco Indian School located near the Kansas border or Haskell Indian Institute, Lawrence, KS.

The adults who oversaw the students in early years of the boarding school were called “disciplinarians” later it was “matrons”. The rattle of keys on the matrons’ large round key rings was a constant sound as they walked the halls of the dormitories. Many rooms were always locked.

The Pawnee Boarding School closed May 22, 1958. It is listed today on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, the Pawnee Nation utilizes the old school buildings and campus for their administrative offices and programs. BIA leases the former classroom building from the tribe. Former classrooms serve as offices for BIA employees.

Organizers of this reunion have scant idea of surviving alumni; but are prepared for 1 or 50. The afternoon event begins at 1:00 p.m. Relatives and friends are welcome. For information about the reunion, the email address is: gravyreunion@gmail.com. A website can be viewed at http://www.GravyU.com