J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee
PO Box 220, Los Alamos, NM 87544

 JROMC  is pleased to co-host with Los Alamos Public Library a new talk on the History of the Santa Fe Indian School from school principal, Bernie Gurule, on Thursday, February 13, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m at the Mesa Public Library, in Los Alamos NM.

Title: 

History of the Santa Fe Indian School

Abstract: 

The Santa Fe Indian School educates the youth of 19 indigenous pueblos from the state of New Mexico. The roughly 700 students from grades 7 to 12 study their own native languages, participate in the culture of their communities, and develop skills to pursue their futures. 

The Santa Fe Indian School’s long history in our region began in 1890 when it was established as part of the federal boarding school initiative to assimilate Native American children. Starting in the 1920s and 1930s, shifts in federal Indian policy led to the creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the beginning of a new direction for the Santa Fe Indian School. In 2000, the Santa Fe Indian School Act returned the land of the school to be held in trust for the 19 Pueblo Governors of New Mexico. Today, this trust has built a program based on educational sovereignty supporting their own cultural and traditional beliefs. 

Speaker Biography:

Bernie Gurule, originally from Los Lunas, has had a long career in education. Upon retirement from his role as principal of a high school in Alaska, he returned to his family in New Mexico and has taken up the post of principal of the middle school at Santa Fe Indian School.