In Their Own Words: Stewart Indian School Writings and Reflections examines Stewart Indian School through writings produced by its students. Stewart was established in 1890 in Carson City, Nevada, to educate and assimilate Native American children. Students from across the West attended the school, which evolved from a militaristic institution into one that, by the late 1960s and 1970s, emphasized academics and athletics. The U.S. government closed Stewart in 1980, citing financial and structural concerns.

In the book, student writings document daily lessons and activities, thoughts about academic and vocational training, and responses to life within the institution. The school’s publications also gave students a platform for expression, serving as a window into what it meant to be Native in a government-run boarding school system. 

The book includes original interviews with Stewart alumni covering the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. These firsthand accounts provide new information about student life, including positive and negative perspectives, and offer context for the varied experiences of those who attended.

Together, the writings and interviews offer a fuller understanding of student life at Stewart.

Samantha M. Williams is a historian and writer who studies the Native American boarding school system in the United States. She has a PhD in U.S. history from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Williams has conducted extensive archival research on the history of the Native American boarding school system, as well as many interviews with former boarding school students and their families. Her first book, Assimilation, Resilience, and Survival: A History of the Stewart Indian School, 1890–2020, was published in 2022.