historic sherman indian boarding school

The Sherman Indian Boarding School, located in Riverside, California, is a historic site established in 1892 that was previously the first off-reservation "Indian Boarding School" in the state founded to forcibly "integrate" Native American children into “American, civilized” society. Now an off-reservation boarding school staffed by mainly Native educators, Sherman hosts hundreds of Indigenous students from across the country. Kinsale’s own maternal great-grandparents met as students at Sherman Indian School when it operated as a residential boarding school.

As part of her responsibility as National Student Poet to spread a love of poetry in her community and region, Kinsale held workshops at the high school for Native students, culminating in a Poetry Slam in the spring of 2018. The theme for their work was "Where I Come From" to discuss and decipher through poetry what it means to be a contemporary Native person navigating various educational and community spaces, and to celebrate the diverse and complex places they truly call home. 

A collection of published poetry created in the workshop can be purchased here.