The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum opens today. It's housed in the school's old administration building. The Stewart Indian School opened in 1890 and educated thousands of Native Americans in its 90 years of operation.

"When the United States government was trying to form policy regarding the first people of this land, the Native Americans that were here prior to contact, one of the strategies was called forced assimilation," said Stacey Montooth, Executive Director of the Nevada Indian Commission. "And what that meant was that representatives of the federal government rounded up students as young as four years old and took them to what were called Indian boarding schools. The Steward Indian School was opened for that forced assimilation in 1890 and it impacted every Paiute, Washoe and Shoshone native and still does today."

Once at the school, students had to wear uniforms, cut their hair and speak English. The cultural center serves to tell the stories of the generations of families that spent their childhood years at Stewart.

"What we're trying to do here is take this dark - at times deadly - site, and turn it into a platform in which any civic-minded citizen of the world can come and learn a first hand account of what happened at this institution," Montooth said. "My grandmother was four when she was taken from her family. When she graduated at 17 and returned to Schurz, she came across a very different community. She didn't speak Paiute anymore; they were complete strangers. This is where my relatives were raised without their families in an institution. Often hungry, clearly scared, but this was their home."

Former Governor Sandoval and Governor Sisolak have supported the project with $4.5 million in funding for renovations.

"It's breathtaking; this is a world-class museum," Montooth said. "It's so interactive. We have a research room so anyone can look up their families and their history here at the school. We have a library in the truest sense; hundreds of books that address everything from historical figures to current government policies. We have a reflection room, a listening room where you can hear the beautiful native languages of the Paiute and Shoshone. And my favorite part is that we have a classroom in the basement. Our intent is to bring in young people for classes in traditional arts like beading, basket weaving and storytelling."

The Cultural Center and Museum is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"It's not just a museum," Montooth said. "This is a living, evolving center. You can see modern day art by American Indian artists. It's proof positive not only are we still here - which wasn't the government's intent - but we're a thriving, beautiful rich culture."

A large part of the Stewart campus can be explored with a self-guided walking tour.

"We want it to be authentic and there is no place on this planet you can get a more authentic count of Native American history," Montooth said.

https://stewartindianschool.com/

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