EXHIBITS
Intermountain Indian School: Closing the Intermountain Indian School
Closing the Intermountain Indian School
In the 1980s, Intermountain faced increased scrutiny from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). On one hand, it provided services not found in many other Native education programs, such as the solo parent dorm and extra attention for students who were behind in school. On the other hand, the school was far from the reservations it served and expensive to operate, and the BIA was under intense pressure to cut its budget. The BIA began discussing shutting the school down.
Though some Native leaders would be glad to see students educated closer to home, they worried that the facilities were not already in place for transferring the students. Where else, they asked, could students get the support and programs already available at Intermountain?
The BIA claimed that all the students’ needs could be met at other schools and began plans to close the school. Students responded with outrage. They used the skills they had been encouraged to learn both by the mission of the school and the examples of the American Indian Movement to organize peaceful protests, most notably a marathon from the school to Ogden. There they hoped to meet with state political leaders and express their opinion that Intermountain was serving them well, giving them social connections and confidence in their heritage as it prepared them for their futures and careers. The student council president gave an emotional appeal on the value of the school and the young people being educated there, but no state representatives showed up to listen.
Many people believed that the BIA had already made its decision based on its budget more than any real concern for the students.Worries about relocating the students to other schools bought Intermountain another year, but by 1984, it was clear that the school would be shut down for good.
In 1984, the students said emotional goodbyes and returned to their homes. Many went on to attend other schools closer to home. For some—like the single mothers benefitting from the solo dorms or those struggling with academic or personal issues that could be met by Intermountain’s strong support network—there were not many options available. A large number of students never went back to school after 1984, and among those who did, the graduation rates remained dismally low.
Many were left feeling that, in closing Intermountain Inter-Tribal School, the government was once again failing to keep its promises to Native Americans and especially their children.