Sherman Indian School: 100+ Years of Education and Resilience

By the late nineteenth century, the federal government’s efforts to fully assimilate Native Americans had proved unsuccessful. Growing concerns over the welfare of Native communities led to the establishment of twenty-five federal off-reservation boarding schools for Native American children, where students could be formally educated and “civilized” through a strict program of academics, vocational training, and Christian teachings, far away from their families and tribal communities.