Frances and Preston Allen at the Sherman Institute of Riverside | Navigating Identity and Education as a Mixed-Blood Ute
The Sherman Institute, later known as the Sherman Indian High School, was one of the many federally operated Indian boarding schools established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the explicit goal of assimilating Native American children into Euro-American culture. The school, located in Riverside, California, was part of a broader system of institutions designed to eradicate Indigenous languages, traditions, and identities under the philosophy of "Kill the Indian, Save the Man."
Frances and Preston Allen’s Experience
Frances and Preston Allen, siblings from the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation (home to the Northern Ute people in Utah), were among the many Native children forcibly or coercively sent to Sherman Institute. Like other students, they faced:
Language Suppression: Students were prohibited from speaking their Native languages (in their case, likely Ute or another Numic language) and punished for doing so. English was enforced as the sole means of communication.
Gender Segregation: Male and female students were kept strictly separated, even during meals and recreation, to prevent traditional kinship and social structures from being maintained.
Forced Labor: Students were often required to work—boys in farming or trades, girls in domestic tasks—under the guise of "vocational training," which often served the school’s economic needs more than the students' education.
Religious and Cultural Erasure: Indigenous spiritual practices were banned, and children were compelled to adopt Christianity. Traditional clothing, hairstyles, and customs were replaced with Euro-American norms.
Sherman Institute’s Broader Impact
Opened in 1902, Sherman was one of the last federally run off-reservation boarding schools.
At its peak, it housed over 1,000 students from dozens of tribes across the West, including Ute, Navajo, Hopi, and Paiute children.
Many students experienced trauma, abuse, and homesickness, with some dying at the school due to disease or harsh conditions.
Over time, Sherman shifted from a strict assimilationist model to a high school format, though its early legacy remains deeply controversial.
Legacy and Healing
Today, Sherman Indian High School still operates but as a voluntary institution focusing on Native American education while honoring cultural identity. However, the traumatic history of forced assimilation remains a painful memory for many Native families, including descendants of students like Frances and Preston Allen.
The U.S. government has begun acknowledging this dark chapter, with the Department of the Interior’s 2022 investigation into Indian boarding schools highlighting systemic abuses. For the Ute and other affected tribes, efforts continue to reclaim languages, traditions, and histories that schools like Sherman tried to erase.
