American Indians bless search for Harvard roots

With a ceremonial blessing and a cautionary reminder of native peoples’ historic oppression, a group of American Indian leaders joined an assemblage of experienced and budding archaeologists Wednesday (Sept. 26) to begin the search for Harvard’s Indian College roots.

Buried somewhere under Harvard Yard’s well-manicured lawn lie the remnants of both the Old College and the Indian College, which more than 350 years ago combined to make up Harvard.

For 10 years, beginning in 1655, Harvard’s fourth building and first brick structure housed five students from New England tribes who studied side by side with English students.

Only one of those, an Aquinnah Wampanoag named Caleb Cheeshahteamuck, would go on to graduate, becoming Harvard’s first Indian alumnus in 1665. The Indian College would effectively end after that, as Harvard enrolled no more American Indian students. Harvard would continue to use the building until it was torn down in 1693.

Several speakers Wednesday highlighted the fact that though English and Indian students studied together, the motives for the equal treatment were not benign. Harvard’s 1650 Charter calls for the “education of English & Indian youth of this country in knowledge and godliness.” That mission, speakers said, was part of the broader campaign waged by European settlers to destroy American Indian culture and replace it with European culture.