The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum was created in 2019 by the Nevada Indian Commission to tell the history of the school as a federal boarding school for Great Basin tribal nations from 1890-1980. The school implemented the government's cruel assimilation policy which removed Native children from their families to send them to schools like Stewart to learn English and vocational skills. Eventually over 200 tribal nations were represented at Stewart from the Western states and it evolved into a high school for Native students. The Cultural Center interprets the complicated history of this school and tells the stories shared by alumni, led by a Cultural Advisory Committee made up of Stewart alumni and family members. In addition, the museum features a contemporary Great Basin Native Artist gallery, a Storytelling Room, a Research Room to share historical documents and photos with Stewart alumni and families, and a gift shop with locally made Native art. The vision of the museum is to tell the stories of the students' experiences from their perspective and to help them and their families to heal from the historical trauma of the boarding school experience.
