Tag: Clifford Trafzer

FIRST PEOPLES features The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn First Peoples, Indian boarding schools, Sherman Institute, The Indian School on Magnolia Ave, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Picture 17

This month Oregon State University Press officially launched my co-edited (with Clifford E. Trafzer and Lorene Sisquoc) book The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute. The book is part of the First Peoples, New Directions in Indigenous Studies, initiative. Yesterday, Natasha Varner at First Peoples published a post about the book on their blog. She quoted at length from my Conclusion. Here’s the first paragraph of my Conclusion which I titled “An Open Vault”:

On a warm October day in 2004, I drove my car south on Magnolia Avenue in Riverside and made my way to Sherman Indian High School for the Sherman Indian Museum Open House. The event was a festive occasion, as alumni from across the nation came together to remember their school days and visit with old friends. Outside the Museum, the school’s choir was singing their alma mater, “The Purple and Gold,” and a group of older Sherman alums were taking refuge from the heat by sitting in the shade of a large palm tree. Near the school’s flagpole, children were laughing and playing, while their parents listened contentedly to the choir. The smell of frybread permeated the air.

To read the entire Conclusion, and to learn more about the book, be sure to check out the First Peoples website. They have done a terrific job in promoting the book on-line and at various academic conferences.

All royalties from this book will go to help fund educational and cultural programming at the Sherman Indian Museum in Riverside, CA.

Sherman Indian Museum and UC Riverside

On By Matthew Sakiestewa GilbertIn Sherman Institute1 Comment

I recently returned from the 25th Anniversary California Indian Conference held at the University of California, Irvine. My former graduate advisor from UC Riverside, Cliff Trafzer, organized a panel on Sherman Institute titled “Out of the Vault.” In addition to myself, the panel members included Lorene Sisquoc, Director of the Sherman Indian Museum, Galen Townsend, Sherman Indian Museum Volunteer, Kevin Whalen, a graduate student in history at UCR, and Leleua Loupe of California State University, Fullerton.

Sisquoc began the panel by talking about the unique relationship between UCR and the Museum. For the past 10 or so  years, UCR history graduate students have worked alongside Sisquoc as researchers, volunteers, and interns. Beginning with Jean A. Keller, author of the first book on Sherman Institute, Empty Beds, graduate students have utilized the Museum’s collections to write two monographs, and several master theses, dissertations, and articles. Today, the mutually beneficial relationship between UCR and the Museum continues, and provides an excellent model of collaboration and community.

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert