It was among 25 off-reservation boarding schools opened by the federal government by 1898 in the plains region.
It was administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and operated until 1908 After the school closed, the federal government transferred it to the Catholic Church for use as a college.
[1] At this time, the children were not permitted to speak native languages or practice their religion.
[4] Congress authorized granting the Chamberlain School facilities to the Catholic Church for "college purposes".
In 1927, the government sold the former Chamberlain buildings and land to the Priests of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic institute who established St. Joseph's Indian School here.