Corpus Christi Catholic Church

This is the Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Snyder Avenue. While the church is not on the campus of the Stewart Indian School, it is immediately adjacent to the school grounds.

“On 15 of June, 1949, the Bureau Indian Affairs granted the Catholic Bishop of Reno permission to use an acre of land at the Stewart Indian School in Stewart, Nevada, to use as a mission and school. Later that year, with the help of Native American stone masons Joe Burkeheart and Randy Wungnema, construction commenced on a 2,900 square foot building.

By May of 1950, the church was ready, and the first mass was celebrated by Bishop T.K. Gorman. Stone for the church was taken from the Federal quarry east of Carson City. The church owes its unique look to the fact that the inside mortar was mixed with brick dust, and the outside mortar was mixed with coal dust.” (http://www.ccchurchcc.org/our-story.html)

The Wungnema Family was known to use coal and/or dust in the mortar they used in their masonry projects.

The entry way and grotto was added by members of the Wungnema Family in the late 1970s. The stonemasons on the addition were Randall Wungnema, Donald Talas, and Inez Raymond. The supervising foreman was Louis K. Koontz.

In 2009, the parish moved to Douglas County, Nevada where a new Corpus Christi had been built. The beautiful pipe organ was moved from the original church to the new church in August of 2015.

The original Corpus Christi Catholic Church building on Snyder Avenue was returned to the Washoe Tribe on February 1, 2016. Prior to the tribe taking ownership of the building, the altar and all sacred items were moved to the new Corpus Christi Catholic Church building.  

The original Corpus Christi Catholic Church building is now on private land. As such, please do not trespass. Instead, you may admire this fine example of Native American workmanship from across the street.