EXHIBITS

Intermountain Indian School: Introduction

Introduction

After several years of standing empty, Bushnell Military Hospital was transformed into the Intermountain Indian School, a boarding school for Navajo youths. (USU Special Collections & Archives, Intermountain Indian School Photograph Collection 1955–1970, P0327 Box 1 Folder 1 Item 1)

Intermountain School operated as an off-reservation Native American boarding school from 1950 to 1984. It opened in 1950 as Intermountain Indian School for students from the Navajo Nation, and in 1974, it became Intermountain Inter-Tribal School, admitting members of many Native nations. Over 20,000 students attended the school during its operation, and it had a long-lasting impact on both Brigham City and the Native nations that it served.

From its opening, Intermountain faced controversies. Many people agreed that off-reservation boarding schools were not the ideal place to educate Native children, but the politics and economics of federal-tribal interactions made it appear necessary. At various times, people questioned the academic standards of the school, its discipline methods, and its cost.

Despite these controversies, many of the students had a positive experience with Intermountain School. Like most aspects of modern Native American history, the school’s story is a complex one.

The Navajo students at Intermountain Indian School were able to enjoy the recreational facilities built for the patients at Bushnell, such as this indoor pool. (USU Special Collections & Archives, Intermountain Indian School Photograph Collection 1955–1970, P0327, Box 1, Folder 4, Item 8)

Intermountain Indian School class of 1966. Thousands of young Native Americans lived and studied at Intermountain Indian School over its thirty-four years of existence. (USU Special Collections & Archives, Compton Photograph Collection, P0313, 1966:05:13 no. 509)

Students waiting for the bus home at the end of the first year at Intermountain. Because Intermountain was a boarding school, students were away from their families for much of the year and had a long trip to reach their homes on the reservations.

A student receives treatment at the clinic located at the school.

Peter Iverson, Diné: A History of the Navajos (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2002).

Kaia Landon and Katie Conrad, "Outside the Homeland: The Intermountain Indian School," Box Elder Museum of Art, History, and Nature, http://exhibits.boxeldermuseum.org/exhibits/show/intermoutain-indian-school.