[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING THE STEWART INDIAN SCHOOL CULTURAL CENTER AND MUSEUM

 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I come forward today to 
recognize the grand opening of the Stewart Indian School Cultural 
Center and Museum. Three miles south of Carson City, the Stewart Indian 
School opened in 1890 with the official purpose of addressing 
Indigenous education. In reality, students were made to forget their 
Native languages and were allowed little to no contact with family 
members for decades, thereby destroying important cultural and social 
connections. Today, Stewart Indian School is listed on the National 
Register of Historic Places and remains open as an important 
educational and historic landmark in Nevada.
  After its closing in 1982, the State of Nevada assumed the property 
and began taking steps to reconcile its painful history with our 
community. Most notably, it returned 130 acres of land to the Washoe 
Tribe of Nevada and California. Since then, the Nevada Indian 
Commission has worked hard to preserve the history and stories of its 
alumni. In 2008, it helped establish a self-guided walking tour of the 
campus, and in 2015, it worked with the Nevada State Legislature to 
secure funding for a museum director and curator for the location. With 
the help of volunteers and staff, members of this museum have worked 
hard to record and display only some of the 30,000 Stewart Indian 
School alumni stories, with many members being alumni or descendants 
themselves.
  On May 11 of this year, the U.S. Interior Department released the 
Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report that 
summarized the treatment of Indigenous children in over 400 boarding 
schools across the country. The report unveils heartbreaking findings. 
Many of these children were taken from their communities and were 
forced to attend these schools. While there, they often faced rampant 
emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. The report also makes it clear 
that, from the beginning, these schools were designed to strip children 
of their Indigenous identities. The resulting trauma impacted families 
for generations, and some parents went as far as refusing to teach 
their children their Native language or ways of life for fear that they 
too would be severely punished in school for expressing themselves. 
Stewart Indian School stands here today as one of these former 408 
boarding schools.
  I would like to commend the efforts of the Nevada Indian Commission, 
of museum directors and staff, and of alumni and their descendants who 
have made the official grand opening of the Stewart Indian School 
Cultural Center and Museum possible. It is important that we recognize 
the history of our community and acknowledge the testimonies of all 
those who continue to endure the pain and loss that resulted from 
decades of separation and cultural erasure. Finally, thank you to all 
of those who bravely shared and publicized their stories so that we may 
learn a bit more and work to never forget.

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