Contact:
Dr. Natasha Didos Ritsma
Schingoethe Center of Aurora University
630-844-6157
nritsma@aurora.edu
AURORA, Ill. (January 6, 2025) – Beginning 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. Up 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. “Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories” explores off-reservation boarding schools in a kaleidoscope of voices. “Away From Home”opens Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at the Schingoethe Center of Aurora University.
Native Americans responded to the often tragic boarding school experience in complex and nuanced ways. Stories of student resistance, accommodation, creative resolve, devoted participation, escape, and faith in one’s self and heritage speak individually across eras. Some families, facing increasingly scarce resources due to land dispossession and a diminishing way of life at home, sent their children to boarding schools as a refuge from these realities. In the variety of reactions, Ojibwe historian Brenda Childs finds that the “boarding school experience was carried out in public, but had an intensely private dimension.”
Unintended outcomes, such as a sense of “Pan Indianism” and support networks, grew and flourished on campuses, and advocates demanded reform. Boarding schools were designed to remake American Indians but it was American Indians who changed the schools. After graduation, some students became involved in tribal political office or the formation of civil rights and Native sovereignty organizations. The handful of federal boarding schools remaining today embrace Indigenous heritage, languages, traditions and culture.
Please note: “Away From Home”contains stories of resilience and revitalization, agency and honor. It also contains descriptions of human indignities and hardships and terms that reflect historically racist perspectives and language from past eras. In speaking the truth about acts of seemingly unfathomable violence and suffering in the lives of Native peoples, this exhibition is advised for more mature audience members, grades eight to adult.
This exhibition is made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was adapted from the permanent exhibition, “Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories,” organized by the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. It was adapted and toured for NEH on the Road by the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Exhibition: “Away From Home: Native American Boarding School Stories”
Host Organization: Schingoethe Center of Aurora University
Runs: Tuesday, Jan. 28–Friday, March 14, 2025
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays
Location: The Schingoethe Center is located inside of the Hill Welcome Center at 1315 Prairie St., Aurora, Ill., 60506
Admission: Free
Contact: 630-844-7843, museum@aurora.edu
The Schingoethe Center will host an opening reception for “Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories” on Tuesday, Jan. 18, from 5–7 p.m. Join us for art, refreshments and micro talks by AU alumnus, Dr. Em Loerzel.
Dr. Loerzel is White Earth Ojibwe and comes from a family with three generations of boarding school survivors. She is the founder of The Humble Horse, a nonprofit aimed toward the wellness of the Ojibwe Pony and their reconnection to Ojibwe people, and A Stable Path, a practice dedicated toward providing mental health and equine psychotherapy to the Western Wisconsin area. An MSW graduate of Aurora University, she also holds her Ph.D. from UW-Seattle in social welfare.
In addition, the Schingoethe Center will host three AU faculty Noon Talks in February and March focusing on different aspects of the “Away From Home” exhibition:
- February 13 – Mark Woolfington, Assistant Professor of Religion/University Chaplin
- February 18 – Kristen Brendel, Associate Professor of Social Work, and Marissa Happ, Associate Professor of Social Work
- March 11 – Donovan Gwinner, Associate Professor of English
All talks will begin at noon in the Schingoethe Center.
About NEH on the Road
NEH on the Road (NEHOTR) is a fully funded initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, designed to create wider national access to the ideas, themes and stories explored in major grant-funded NEH exhibitions. Mid-America Arts Alliance has provided the curatorial adaptation, design, production and tour management of the NEHOTR program since 2002. Each exhibition is designed to fit within 2,000 square feet and features abundant artifacts, integrated didactic panels, banner and other supporting materials that best reflect the content and scholarship of the original large-scale exhibitions. Learn more at nehontheroad.org.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.
About Mid-America Arts Alliance
Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations and communities throughout our region and beyond. We achieve this primarily through our national traveling exhibition programs, innovative leadership development and strategic grant making. We are especially committed to enriching the cultural life of historically underserved communities by providing high quality, meaningful and accessible arts and culture programs and services. We believe in more art for more people. Additional information about M-AAA is available at maaa.org.
About the Schingoethe Center of Aurora University
The Schingoethe Center is Aurora University’s art museum and is located inside of the Hill Welcome Center at 1315 Prairie St., in Aurora, Illinois. The exhibition can be viewed Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Tuesday from 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit aurora.edu/museum.
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