“Three Generations of the American Indian Boarding School Experience” free presentation by Dr. Evangeline Parsons Yazzie

The U.S. federal government’s harsh policy of compulsory Indian education in the form of boarding schools began in 1879 and continued through the Great Depression, with boarding schools on and off Indian Reservations remaining prominent through 1970. Presently, boarding schools are still the main means of K-8 education in rural Indian communities. This presentation will impart the dramatic stories of three individuals: a grandfather, his daughter, and his granddaughter who all attended boarding schools throughout the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the mid-1950s through 1971. Telling these stories promotes an understanding of how boarding schools changed the language, culture, lifestyle, and traditions of American Indian people. Dr. Evangeline Parsons Yazzie is a Navajo woman, originally from the Navajo Reservation community of Hardrock. She is Professor Emerita of Navajo at Northern Arizona University and author of four novels in Navajo and English (which are based upon the Navajo Long Walk of 1864 through 1868). She also has authored a popular Navajo language textbook and an award-winning bilingual children’s book. This event is funded by the Friends of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument with additional support from Arizona Humanities.
For more information call the Monument at 520-723-3172.