under the influence of its founder, U.S. Army Captain Richard Henry Pratt. Through mili- tary-like discipline, Pratt was committed to transforming his charges from their tradition- al ways. To accomplish his objectives, Carlisle emphasized numerous rules and orders. Male students were required to dress in military uniforms and march in step weekly on parade grounds. Each year, Pratt brought the young- sters to the Gettysburg National Battlefield, 35 miles from Carlisle, to instill a sense of Ameri- can history and the importance of service to the nation. Later, during World War I, an Army report underlined the influence of these schools in the training of students for service: “Most of the Indians who are in the AEF have received military training in Government Schools, and the showing they have made in France is a gratifying commentary upon the value of the military education extended by the Government to its wards.” The future Oneida physician was unlike
most of the 10,000 to 12,000 students who attended Carlisle in that he spent more time – six years – on campus and completed the school’s degree program. Because of Powless’ superior academic performance, Pratt en- couraged him to go on with his studies after his graduation. Consequently the Oneida spent a year at the Preparatory School of nearby Dickinson College. Powless frequently came back to Carlisle
with other former Oneida students and later became the president of the school’s alumni as- sociation. Much like Pratt, the Oneida came to believe that American Indians had to take their rightful place on an equal footing as citizens of the United States and enter the mainstream of American society and politics. He later joined the Masonic lodge in De Pere, Wis., and, on sev- eral occasions, ran successfully for Supervisor of Hobart, a town carved out of the Wisconsin Oneida Reservation. In 1911, he joined with his Carlisle classmate Charles Dagenett, a Peoria Indian who worked in the Office of Indian Af- fairs, in the initial organizing of the American Indian Association, subsequently renamed the Society of American Indians. The influence of the Episcopal Church on
Powless began at an early age and continued through his life. Powless was educated at the Oneida Mission School of the Hobart Church up until the age of 14. In this church in 1897, he was married to his wife Electa Skenandore, who had also attended Carlisle. Two of their children were baptized in the church. Josiah and his wife Electa served as health workers in the Oneida Mission Hospital for over a decade. Both husband and wife were later 28 AMERICAN INDIAN SPRING 2015
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetary, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Meuse, France. The largest American military cemetery in Europe, it is the burial ground for 14,256 soldiers from the American Expeditionary Force in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of September to November, 1918. A total of 26,277 died and 95,778 were wounded in one of the most costly military campaigns in American history, which helped bring the war to an end.
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