Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum Temporarily Closing

Carson City, Nev. – (Nov. 11, 2020) The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum announced today it is immediately, temporarily closing to the public to comply with Governor Steve Sisolak’s request for Nevadans to stay home to bring the virus numbers down over the next 2 weeks. 

“Out of an abundance of caution for our visitors and for the Stewart alumni, elders, and our volunteers, we want to ask the community to stay home except for essential functions and to wear masks and practice social distancing if going out, said Stewart Museum Director Bobbi Rahder. “We want everyone to remain safe and healthy and hope that the infection numbers will go down so we can reopen again, hopefully by the beginning of December.”

The staff will continue working and are available for questions or research requests by phone or e-mail.

For more information, please contact Bobbi Rahder, Museum Director, at 775-687-7606 or e-mail at brahder@nic.nv.gov.

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The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum is part of the Nevada Indian Commission, a Nevada state agency. Long a dream of alumni and tribal leaders – the museum opened on Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. Located at 1 Jacobsen Way, in Carson City, Nev., the Cultural Center & Museum occupies what was once the school’s administrative building. With vital backing from Nevada Governors Brian Sandoval and Steve Sislolak, and $4.5 million in funding from the Nevada Legislature, the Cultural Center & Museum provides a place for healing for thousands of American Indians affected by federal boarding schools such as Stewart. The cultural center shares with the public first-hand accounts of the Native American students, and how these federal policies still reverberate in Native communities. In addition to the permanent exhibition, “Our Home, Our Relations,” the Cultural Center & Museum features the Wa-Pai-Shone Gallery, displaying art of the Great Basin Native Artists; the Storytelling Room for storytelling and craft making; a research room where relatives can research their family members who attended Stewart; and classroom space for educational activities, lectures, and public programs. 

The Nevada Indian Commission (NIC) serves approximately 22,000 citizens of 27 federally recognized Tribal Nations, plus an additional 50,000 self-identified Native Americans who make the Silver State their home. Nevada’s Native American communities vary greatly in their respective languages, songs, traditional foods, and Indigenous territories. Created by statute in 1965 to “study matters affecting the social and economic welfare and well-being of American Indians residing in Nevada,” the Commission effectively serves as a liaison between the State and our Tribal communities and citizens.