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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the federal government systematically took Native American children from their homes and shipped them to boarding schools across the U.S. to assimilate them into western society. 

Arizona is home to one of those boarding schools. 

In 1891, the Phoenix Indian Industrial School opened in central Phoenix. It housed thousands of children, stripped them of their heritage and taught them trades. Boys often worked construction in the sweltering heat while girls were taught domestic skills. The intention was to create a cheap labor force, not to educate them.

How did it change over time, to become more academic and even a point of pride for Native American students by the time it closed in 1990? And what was it like to be a student through the ages?

To learn more, we talked to multiple people who attended Phoenix Indian School for this episode of Valley 101, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com

https://megaphone.link/AZUSA5301043987

• From two Phoenix Indian School students who graduated in 1959.
• About the early history of Native American boarding schools from expertChristine Diindiisi McCleave, who is the director of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
• What's left of Phoenix Indian School today, and how the students and the school's history is being preserved.

Scenes from the “Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories" exhibit at the Heard Museum.

(Photo:Shondiin Silversmith/The Republic)