After the conquest of the American territory and the trusteeship of the Indians on reserves, their acculturation was completed by evangelization and education in boarding schools, inculcating the habits and practices of white Americans. These institutions included in their curriculum physical practices and more particularly sport, becoming part of the national culture. School sport, thought of as a factor of assimilation, became a substitute for ancestral playful practices. Against all odds, the schools of Carlisle and Haskell, home to Native Americans, become, through sport, eminent institutions in the network of major American universities. This unanticipated success gave new visibility to a marginalized minority. The government then decided to close these schools or reduce their sports programs. Educational sports policies of indian schools, however, contributed to the emergence of a sports Pan-Indianism that heralded the political Pan-Indianism emerging after the Second World War.