The Stewart School for Indians operated in Carson City, Nevada from 1890-1980. This school was meant to run like a boarding school for Native American students between the ages of 4-18. It then became a full-time high school in 1935.
Although it sounds like a positive thing for kids to get an education at first glance, this school wasn’t as good as it seemed on the outside. Students were punished for being engaged in their culture and were forced to not speak their native languages. It was hard for them to leave everything they knew behind, especially when students were demanded to cut their hair and go by new western names.
While attending the Stewart School, they were also forced to adopt Christian beliefs. The reason for this behavior was because the government set up assimilation policies for boarding schools. Assimilation was intended to destroy native culture and practices, but the method wasn’t as effective as the government had hoped, as it caused trauma and deaths for many students.
The trauma came from students being kidnapped from their families just to be sent to this boarding school, as well as harsh discipline once there. It all came to an end in 1980, due to low budgets and safety concerns of the buildings. After all the suffering, the Stewart School became a museum and now the site is used for cultural healing. You can go to the site and listen to stories from former students and observe artwork and research.
Thank you to the Nevada State Museum for educating us on our local history, particularly of the darkness that still plagues many Native Americans in our local communities.
Related Links
Stewart Indian School (Facebook)
Photo credit: Main photo is in the public domain. Courtesy of U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
