Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum Announces New Exhibit: Basketry: Resilience, Beauty, and Ingenuity of the Great Basin

Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum Announces New Exhibit:

Basketry: Resilience, Beauty, and Ingenuity of the Great Basin

Curated by Melanie Smokey (Western Shoshone/Washoe)

Carson City, Nev. — Jan. 22, 2026 — The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum is proud to unveil its newest exhibit, Basketry: Resilience, Beauty, and Ingenuity of the Great Basin. This exhibition honors the cultural traditions of basketry among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, showcasing how these works embody resilience, resourcefulness, and beauty.
Curated by Melanie Smokey, the exhibit features a stunning collection of handcrafted baskets, each telling a story of survival, adaptation, and creativity passed down through generations and vital to life ways to this day.
“In the Great Basin, our creation stories tell how we came to be here as Washoe, Shoshone, or Paiute, and each story has a basket that plays a key role in the story. One of my goals for the exhibit is to provide an opportunity to share basketry as a way of life through storytelling, pictures, videos, and discussions. I come from basket weavers on both sides of my family and have passed this knowledge on to my own children. I have been blessed to learn from my grandmothers as well as elders who also believed in basketry as a part of life. It is an honor to share their traditional knowledge, and to illustrate the ingenuity of the Great Basin People,” said Smokey.
“The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum, in addition to being responsible for telling the complicated story of the Stewart Indian Boarding School, celebrates contemporary contributions of the Native American community to Nevada and American culture. This exhibition highlights traditional knowledge that is still used to this day and celebrates that we are still here and the assimilation period of the boarding schools did not win,” said Dr.Joshua Bonde (Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone) Museum Director.
The exhibit opens Jan, 22 at the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum, located at 1 Jacobsen Way, Carson City, Nev. Admission is free, and all are welcome to attend. Our museum hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit: www.StewartIndianSchool.com or call 775-687-7606.

About Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum
The Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum preserves the complex history of the Stewart Indian School and celebrates the rich heritage of Native communities. Through exhibits, educational programs, and cultural events, the museum provides a space for learning, reflection, and honoring traditions.

Media Contacts:
Melanie Smokey, Education Curator
Phone: 775-687-7611
Email: [email protected]
Joshua Bonde, Ph.D., Museum Director
Phone: 775-687-7606
Email: [email protected]
Pictured: Basketry: Resilience, Beauty, and Ingenuity of the Great Basin exhibition at the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum.