My thesis specifically focused on federally instructed and federally implemented Native American art at residential boarding schools from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Specifically, I analyzed the evolution of the Native art curriculum at the Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma which operated from 1884-1980, and the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania which ran from 1879-1918. I chose these two schools for the thesis because they reflected commonalities experienced at most residential schools across the nation when it came to how and why the Federal Government implemented the Native art curriculum at residential schools. Second, the geographic locations of the schools show that the indigenous craft phenomenon did not take place in a specific area but in various states across the country. From the Chilocco Indian School, I gathered evidence that showed the advertisement of indigenous crafts in the schools’ local papers and journals. From the analysis of the Carlisle Indian School, I collected findings on the United States Federal Government's assimilation of indigenous art through reading the words of Angel De Cora, a Winnebago tribal art instructor who worked at the school and specifically taught indigenous crafts. To unite both schools in their adherence to federal residential school regulations I evaluated the federal curriculum written by Estelle Reel while she served as the superintendent at all residential schools during the early twentieth century.