Aurora museum opens ‘Away From Home’ exhibit on American Indian boarding schools

Aurora University's Schingoethe Center Museum opened “Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories,” an exhibition to March 14, with a reception Tuesday, Jan. 28, including displays, flute music and reflections by a family member of survivors.

The exhibition, in the Hill Welcome Center at 1315 Prairie St. in Aurora, features photographs, artwork, interviews, interactive timelines and immersive environments. Artifacts include a Seminole girl's skirt and a vintage barber chair similar to one used to cut students' hair.

Admission and parking are free. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Guest speaker Emi Loerzel, a 2017 AU social work alum and White Earth Ojibwe tribe member, addressed attendees during a micro talk. She discussed how three generations of her family survived federal boarding schools.

William Allison of Chicago, an Algonquin/Metis tribe member, played Native American flute music on various instruments crafted from maple wood. Allison offered CD recordings of his flute and piano music and took questions from visitors.

This exhibition is sponsored by Mid-America Arts Alliance, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Chickasaw Nation. The exhibition was adapted from the permanent exhibit of the same title by the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz.

Heard Curator Janet Cantley wrote, “In the 1870s, the U.S. government attempted to educate and assimilate American Indians into “civilized” society by placing children — of all ages, from thousands of homes and hundreds of diverse tribes — in distant, residential boarding schools. Many were forcibly taken from their families and communities and stripped of all signs of ‘Indianness,’ even forbidden to speak their own language amongst themselves.

“Until the 1930s, students were trained for domestic work and trade in a highly regimented environment. Many children went years without familial contact, and these events had a lasting, generational impact.

“Today, the Bureau of Indian Education runs four off-reservation boarding schools. These tribally controlled schools are supported by and reflect the values of Native communities. The boarding schools that survived into the 20th and 21st centuries changed substantially. New policies encouraged schools to celebrate Native heritage, with more emphasis on American Indian art, culture, language and history.

“It is a testimony to the human spirit that Native cultural expressions were maintained and a sense of independence, leadership and unity developed among the students,” Cantley said.

For more information visit aurora.edu/museum.