Our History

Education is one strand in the history of Federal and State Indian policies, and Santa Fe Indian School’s unique history is inextricably tied to those policies. Navigate the drop-down to access historical information about the school.

Late 1800-1920 | Federal Boarding School Era

A large group of people, both men and women, gathered in front of a row of buildings, with a tall structure in the background, in a black and white photograph dated 1890.

After the Indian wars in the 1800s, US policy moved from military subjugation to cultural genocide. Boarding schools were a major approach to assimilation through a deliberate process to break tribal bonds by requiring children to abandon their languages, religions, and traditions. The Albuquerque and Santa Fe Indian Schools were established in the late 1800s by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as federal, off-reservation boarding schools. These schools’ primary goal was the assimilation of Native Americans, as articulated by Captain R.H. Pratt in 1892:

“All the Indian. . . in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”

The approach to assimilation was built on a military model: buildings on campuses were in straight lines, students marched daily, and the use of military terms was embedded into daily life. Children were forcibly removed from their communities to attend school. Their tribal clothing was destroyed, their hair was cut, and they lived a regimented life learning skills the Western world thought important: housekeeping for girls; farming and industrial work for boys. Students received corporal punishment for speaking their native languages, thus forcing students to learn English. The academic portion of the day was short, with low expectations for learning. Much of the day was spent in labor – for example: girls were sent to work as housekeepers and boys built furniture – the fruits of which benefited the boarding school employees or the surrounding non-Native communities.

1920-1940 | Reform and Cultural Revitalization

In the early 1920s, severe cuts were made to federal services for Indian people, despite the United States’ treaty and trust responsibilities for the health, education, and welfare of tribes. A group of Indian rights advocates made a case to the Department of the Interior (where the Bureau of Indian Affairs sits) regarding the devastating impacts that resulted from these and prior policies. In response, in 1926, the Secretary of the Interior commissioned a study of Indian education, health care, and reservation life. The result was the Meriam Report, which was published in 1928. The report’s dismal findings regarding the education of Native American children paved the way for the inclusion of more culture-based classes and renovated buildings at Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS).

The image depicts two figures, one in a white robe and the other in traditional Japanese attire, engaged in what appears to be a formal interaction or ceremony against a plain background.

A dimly lit interior space with a bar and tables, populated by people engaged in various activities, with decorative elements and artwork adorning the walls.

In the 1930s, Dorothy Dunn taught painting to students at SFIS, which developed into the Studio Style and led to hiring local Native artisans to teach local arts and crafts. Also at this time, through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), architect John Gaw Meem renovated the campus so the buildings were more reflective of the Pueblos, and he also designed and built a special U-Shaped building for cultural learning.

A black and white image depicting a building with a tree in the foreground, surrounded by a paved area and other structures in the background.

1960s | Closure and Community Response

1976: Superintendent Joseph Abeyta with the newly signed original contract for the 19 Pueblos to take tribal control.

By the 1960s:

More Pueblo students were attending public schools close to their home communities, which led to a decrease in boarding school attendance.
There were two federal boarding schools near each other in Pueblo country (Albuquerque Indian School and SFIS).
Santa Fe Indian School’s reputation as a school that excelled in the arts caught national attention.

These factors, combined with federal policies to continue assimilation through termination and education, led to the closure of Santa Fe Indian school. The BIA repurposed the Santa Fe Indian School campus into the Institute of American Indian Arts - a fine arts school offering the last two years of high school and the first two years of college - to serve all tribes in the United States. SFIS students were moved to Albuquerque Indian School (AIS). Pueblo tribal leadership was not consulted, and many mourned the loss of SFIS.

1960-1980 | Tribal Control and Reopening

In the 1960s and 1970s, Pueblo tribal leaders through the All Indian Pueblo Council (AIPC), simultaneously advocated for the BIA to uphold federal trust responsibilities to tribes while also laying a foundation for true self-determination. Younger Pueblo educators and leaders questioned the impact of an unchanged education system. They worked with established Pueblo leaders and elders to reclaim and redefine education. The concept of a tribally controlled school became a conduit for forcing a change in policy and laws. As Pueblo leaders became the architects of federal legislation, new partnerships developed with Congress and resulted in the 1975 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Under that Act, in 1976, AIPC assumed tribal control of the Albuquerque Indian School (AIS). Diminished funding for AIS resulted in deterioration of buildings and forced advocacy for returning to SFIS. From 1979-81, AIS merged with SFIS and relocated to its historic campus in Santa Fe, NM.

The visionaries who took tribal control of AIS and resurrected SFIS had ongoing impacts on Federal legislation, most notably, the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988. In the first 25 years of tribal control, the success of tribal leadership exercising its right to educational sovereignty and self-determination resulted in:

SFIS being the first tribally controlled school to receive the US Department of Education “Excellence in Education Award” in 1987;
SFIS becoming a tribally-controlled grant school that is owned and operated by the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico under Public Law 100-297, the Tribally Controlled Schools Act;
The transfer of the 115-acre campus in trust to the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico as an educational institution under the Santa Fe Indian School Act; and
Securing the BIA’s largest investment for new school construction since SFIS was built in the 1890s.

2000-Present Day | SFIS Today

In anticipation of the land transfer to the 19 Pueblos, construction to replace the school facilities began. In 2000, the first of the new buildings was completed for state-of-the-art math, science, and technology learning spaces. To date, new buildings include academic, student living, administration, traditional outdoor learning spaces, and a gym/wellness center. A major construction project that SFIS is currently undertaking is the renovation of the historic Paolo Soleri amphitheater as a performing arts educational center.

A paved walkway leads through a landscaped outdoor area with adobe-style buildings, lush greenery, and people walking around.

A nighttime scene of a high school dormitory building with a distinctive round tower, surrounded by illuminated trees and a dark sky.

A fenced outdoor area with a wooden structure and a tall, slender metal tower in the background, surrounded by a barren, rocky landscape.

The early years of SFIS as a tribally controlled school set the visionary foundation that through Pueblo approaches to education, students will be well-prepared for life. In 2010, the current Vision Statement was adopted to honor this concept. After over 30 years in development, in 2012, SFIS officially adopted the Ideal Graduate Statement as our Mission. Our Mission meets the criteria of a graduate profile, and our 10 Ideal Graduate Skills align what is important to our communities to the Common Core State Standards.

Santa Fe Indian School maintains strong student outcomes, including:

All SFIS graduates complete a Senior Honors Project as a capstone to demonstrate achievement of the 10 Ideal Graduate Skills;
Achievement gap closure for students as they progress from 7th grade to graduation;
A 4-year cohort graduation rate of 96%; and
National recognition as a Cognia School of Distinction.

See SFIS At a Glance for current annual data.

The image shows several young people, likely students, working together on computers at a table.

The image shows a classroom or educational setting with a large display screen showcasing various images, including landscapes, cultural events, and people in traditional attire. In the foreground, a person wearing a red shirt and holding a mobile device is visible.

Thanks to our Pueblo Governors and Board of Trustees, advocacy continues at both the federal and state levels to ensure our students receive a high-quality education grounded in Pueblo values and ways of knowing. Thus, the continued success of SFIS can be attributed, in large part, to the commitment of our tribal leaders, who regularly meet with students to continue their education and guide our work preparing students to be contributing members of their communities. We also are proud of our extremely well-qualified staff. Over 70% of employees are Native American, and an increasing number are SFIS alumni. All of our staff – whether they work in Facilities, Cafeteria, Counseling, Teaching, Administration, Student Living, Athletics – are vital educators. We support our wonderful students and together all of us – staff and students – contribute to our learning community.

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