1886 – School for Indigenous Children in St. Augustine Discourages Native Diet as Part of Forced Assimilation Efforts

From 1886-1887, the St. Augustine School for Apache Children at Fort Marion (now called Castillo de San Marcos) operated to assimilate children of imprisoned Indigenous parents into white culture. At the time, the government used Fort Marion as a prison for Indigenous people from Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and Seminole tribes. 

Lieutenant Richard Pratt, a military officer who was in charge of prisoners at Castillo de San Marcos, required Indigenous children to adopt white culture through complete assimilation with the goal of “kill the Indian…and save the man.” Forced assimilation of these children included feeding them a diet that was culturally inappropriate in an attempt to “civilize” them.