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The Impacts and Legacy of Boarding Schools Across the United States and Canada
The Impacts and Legacy of Boarding Schools Across the United States and Canada
Residential Schools across the United States and Canada have been an important reflection in recent years, due to the discovery of mass graves containing the remains of Native American children who were former attendees of these schools.
Residential/boarding schools in the United States were often operated under the philosophy of "save the Indian, kill the man", referring to the cultural assimilation of indigenous peoples across the Americas into white society.
In 2022, Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, released an investigative report as "a comprehensive effort to address the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding school policies". Residential schools are a representation of the ongoing cultural genocide that indigenous peoples have faced in the United States.
The Unique Experience of Albuquerque Indian School
The Unique Experience of Albuquerque Indian School
Albuquerque Indian School offers a different perspective into the lives of those who attended boarding schools. It is important to understand the nuances of what makes AIS an exception to the typical narratives we hear around boarding schools, and also the many ways it is not an exception. Agnes Dill is a former student of AIS. In her interview video, she speaks highly of her experiences at the school, and in the positive ways they served her. Agnes is not an outlier in her stories, with many former students speaking fondly of their time at AIS. An unusual perspective when it comes to residential schools in the US.
AIS was an integral part of Albuquerque's development both physically and culturally, as it was developed in the very early years of the city’s history. Unlike most boarding schools, AIS was not isolated from the larger Albuquerque community. At the school’s prime, it served as a community hub for both students and residents outside of the school. The school’s campus included a gazebo and large quarters for hosting events. Often, students and faculty would have parades and celebrations that were open to the public. Many were encouraged to come to campus and participate in events, fostering a relationship between those who went to the school and those who did not. Students at the metal shop were also able to help contribute to the neighborhood of Barelas, another early, historic community in Albuquerque. AIS students created the infamous entry sign that sits at the old Barelas community center, as well as contributing multiple murals. Many burqueños spoke highly of the school and its students
Cultural Retention is another important aspect that helped contribute to a more positive environment for Native American students at AIS. Students were allowed to go home during the summer, would dress up in traditional regalia, and their respective communities were involved with the school’s operations. This was not at all standard when it came to other boarding schools across the US, even within the state of New Mexico.
AIS had a heavy emphasis on mostly trade jobs for the boys, and home ec skills for the girls. Students were allowed to participate in many activities, including but not limited to, sports, recreations and academic clubs, school band, etc. Students would often travel outside of AIS in order to compete for their sports teams, science fairs, and art fairs. AIS students also had a relationship with the University of New Mexico. When the Kiva Club was first formed at the university, they emphasized reaching out to AIS in order to recruit students for UNM, to increase the number of Native American students who went to college.
When memorializing the students at AIS, it is not only important to remember those who passed while in attendance at the school, but also the larger impact AIS had within the community of Albuquerque. It is extremely important that we continue to educate the City of Albuquerque on the many ways Native American communities were essential to the development, as well as the positive cultural impacts.
The Burial Grounds at Albuquerque Indian School
The Burial Grounds at Albuquerque Indian School
The formal burial grounds for Albuquerque Indian School are now within what is known as 4H park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is a common misconception that these burial grounds are unmarked mass graves, however, this is not the case as there were marked plots in a structure that represents the way cemeteries were planned out at the time. The old burial grounds were not mass graves, and often contained the burials of those who passed away due to illness at the school's public hospital.
At the 4H park, there is a temporary memorial dedicated to the lives that had passed while in attendance to at the school.
Putting Albuquerque Indian School Into the Larger Context
Putting Albuquerque Indian School Into the Larger Context
While we make sense of the nuances that sets apart Albuquerque Indian School from other residential schools, it is still improtant we ackowledge the larger context in which these schools existed. Despite all of the great experiences and opportuniteis that AIS provided students, at the end of the day it still was a boarding school. Boarding school's served as an on going colonial practice, and were meant to stip Indigenous People's of their culturers and langauges. It is important to still acknowledge that this history and this intention is still embedded within AIS, and that not all of the student's experiences were pleasant. Native Americans now had to navigate a cultural landscape in which white culture dominated, and this was at the expense of their own practices and traditions. Understanding the dialectics of AIS and it's relationship to the larger narrative of boarding schools is crucial. We must be able to recognize the beneficial experiences that were shared at AIS, while also remembering the brutal history of boarding schools across continental North America.
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