In the late 1870s, while the Native American War was still ongoing, another war began against Native American culture. It began when the U.S. government removed Native American children from their families and placed them in boarding schools far from their homes and taught them the ways of the white man. Since then, Native Americans have struggled to survive on the land where they were placed many years ago, a place of destitution and above all despair. Reservations are among the poorest places in the Western Hemisphere. They have the highest rates of addiction, domestic violence and suicide in the United States. Is this a cause and effect situation? and is there hope for a better future for those who seem haunted by the past? Despair Rooted in HistoryIn 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the first off-reservation Indian school opened by the army officer, Richard Pratt. Pratt based his program on a program he started in an Indian prison. Pratt quoted an Army general in a speech he gave: “A great general said that the only good Indian is a dead one. » Pratt said that while he agreed with this sentiment, he felt it was better to "kill the Indian in him and save the man" (npr.org/templates). Therefore, Indian children were taken to these schools in an attempt to civilize them, and upon arrival were given European-style clothing, haircuts, and new names. They were prohibited from speaking in their native language or engaging in cultural practices and were severely punished if caught doing so; this total immersion in white culture plunged these children into inconceivable torment. While attending school, white families could have their students work their land, now "Middle of paper" ......opher D., PhD. “Indian Boarding School Experience, Substance Use, and Mental Health Among Urban Two-Spirit American Indians and Alaska Natives.” The American Journal on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 38(5) 2012: 421-427. PrintLowrey, Annie. “Pain on the reserve. » NYTimes.com. The New York Times. th Web July 2013. Trimble, Charles. “New Economic Hope on the Pine Ridge Reservation.” » Indianz.com. Indianz.Com. e Web February 2014Ambler, Marjane. “Maintain our home, determine our destiny. » Tribal College Journal. Flight. 13 Number 3, P8, SpringSelden, Ron. “By working together, limitless things can happen. » Tribal College Journal. Flight. 16 Number 1, P18-19, Fall 2004White, Tracie. "Broken Promises: The State of Health Care on Native American Reservations." Scopeblog.Stanford.Edu. Stanford Medicine. Web November 2013NPRAmerican Journal of Drugs College Tribal Journal