Albuquerque Indian School

Albuquerque Indian School (AIS) was a Native American boarding school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which operated from 1881 to 1981. It was one of the oldest and largest off-reservation boarding schools in the United States. For most of its history it was run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Like other government boarding schools, AIS was modeled after the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, using military-style discipline to assimilate native students into white American culture. The curriculum focused on literacy and vocational skills, with field work components on farms or railroads for boys and as domestic help for girls. In the 1930s, as the philosophy around Indian education changed, the school shifted away from the military approach. It offered more training in traditional indigenous crafts such as pottery, weaving, and silversmithing. In 1977, administration of the school was taken over by the All Indian Pueblo Council, a coalition of the 20 Pueblos in New Mexico and Texas. By this point the campus was in disrepair, and it closed soon afterward. Most of the abandoned school buildings burned down and were razed between 1981 and 1993. As of 2022 the sole remaining building is the Employees' New Dormitory and Club.

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