NABS

Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences

This short, photography-based book features short articles by a variety of authors who write about the experiences of children in American Indian boarding schools. It was published by the Heard Museum, which hosts the longest running exhibit on U.S. Indian boarding schools. Authors in the volume include Frank H. Goodyear (Director of the Heard Museum), […]

Native American Boarding School Stories: A Special Issue of the Journal of American Indian Education

Featuring articles of major scholars in the field of American Indian Boarding School Studies, this special issue of the Journal of American Indian Education provides new perspectives on boarding school research and scholarship. It highlights new findings about historical Indian boarding schools, provides commentary on how boarding schools are being memorialized in museums and public memory, and […]

Exploring American Indian Boarding School Experiences by Jolene Bowman

This presentation by Jolene Bowman explores the history of U.S. Indian boarding schools with a focus on her family history and boarding schools in Wisconsin. The presentation is about 40 minutes long and features a historical timeline, information about different aspects of the schools, moments for personal reflection, and interviews with boarding school survivors. You […]

Spiritual Leadership in Modern-Day Native American Culture and Approaches to Native American Religion and Christianity

This qualitative study focuses on the modern-day approaches to Native American religion and Christianity in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN metro area. The spiritual leaders interviewed were asked about the varieties of spirituality practices in the Native American community today, the potential conflicts or areas of compatibility among these various spiritual practices, and the role of […]

The Ribbon Skirt: Symbol of surviving cultural genocide

For Tala Tootoosis, a ribbon skirt is a powerful symbol of survival. Her grandmother attended a boarding school where she was forbidden to speak her language and the school tried to cut her hair. Despite her experiences, her grandmother encouraged her to wear ribbon skirts. Her culture has also helped Tootoosis battle her own issues. […]

Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School

This documentary gives the history of Native American boarding schools and policies that were established to assimilate Native American students by stripping them of their culture and replacing them with western values. Survivor and descendents are also interviewed. Purchase Documentary Here Source: Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School. Directed by Chip Richie. 2008. DVD.

American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many

Boarding schools were seen as a way to assimilate Native American students into the dominant culture and teach them western values. Usually, little emphasis was placed on education, and students often were abused and lived in unsanitary conditions. In contrast, some students who attended boarding schools had positive experiences. In the present day, schools like […]

How does our boarding school experience affect us today?

In the beginning the author, Ivan F. Star Comes Out, tells of a conversation he overheard where a group of Native American youth conveyed they have little knowledge of boarding schools, and how this is connected to the problems plaguing Native communities today. Star Comes Out tells the story of his own boarding school experience […]