American Indian Culture and Research Journal

This article examines the development of the outing system at Sherman Institute, an off-reservation federal Indian boarding school located in Riverside, California. Modeled after the program developed by Richard Henry Pratt at Carlisle Indian School, the Sherman outing system sent hundreds of young men and women to work for white households and businesses throughout Southern California. The outing system presented student-laborers with harsh working conditions and sought to prepare them for lives of menial labor. Yet, in many cases, indigenous students and their communities utilized the system for their own benefit, whether for money, work experience, or adventure. By examining the institutional design of the outing system and indigenous approaches to it, this study sheds further light on how Native students, families, and communities navigated government systems designed to eradicate their cultures.