Shiprock New Mexico Navajo Indian Police Chief Real Photo Postcard

The image captures Native American children, likely students, at an Indian boarding school, a common sight across the United States from the late 19th through mid-20th centuries. These institutions, often run by the U.S. government or religious organizations, were established with the explicit aim of assimilating Indigenous children into Euro-American culture, often forcibly removing them from their families and tribal communities. This period represents a significant, often traumatic, chapter in U.S. history concerning its policies toward Native peoples.

Students at these schools were typically forbidden from speaking their native languages, practicing their cultural traditions, or wearing traditional clothing. Their hair was often cut, and they were given new names and instructed in trades and Western academics, as well as Christian religious practices. Such photographs serve as primary historical documents, offering a visual record of the federal government's concerted effort to eradicate Indigenous cultures and foster assimilation, the profound and lasting impacts of which are still felt today.