Story at a glance
- The U.S. government will be investigating the “unspoken traumas” that occurred at Native American boarding schools.
- Beginning with the Civilization Fund Act in 1819, the U.S. government established boarding schools for Native American children, which took them from their homes in an attempt to “civilize” the children and eliminate their Indigenous cultures.
- Renewed attention to the injustices that took place at such institutions comes following last month’s discovery of an unmarked mass grave of Native American children near one of these schools in Canada.
The U.S. government will be investigating the “unspoken traumas” that occurred at Native American boarding schools to “uncover the truth about the loss of human life and the lasting consequences” of what took place.
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, herself a Laguna Pueblo woman who made history as the first Native American Cabinet secretary, made the announcement on Tuesday to the National Congress of American Indians, The Guardian reported. She stated the department would be analyzing historical records, with an emphasis on cemeteries and possible burial grounds.
“The Department of Interior…must address the intergenerational impact of Indian boarding schools to shed light on the unspoken traumas of the past,” Haaland said in a memo.
“I know that this process will be long and difficult,” Haaland added in her remarks. “I know that this process will be painful. It won’t undo the heartbreak and loss we feel. But only by acknowledging the past can we work toward a future that we’re all proud to embrace.”
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Beginning with the Civilization Fund Act in 1819, the U.S. government instituted policies which allowed the government, with the help of Christian missionaries, establish boarding schools for Native American children, which took them from their homes in an attempt to “civilize” the children and eliminate their Indigenous cultures.
Renewed attention to the injustices that took place at such institutions comes following last month’s discovery of an unmarked mass grave of Native American children near the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada.
“Over the course of the Program, thousands of Indigenous children were removed from their homes and placed in Federal boarding schools across the country,” Haaland wrote. “Many who survived the ordeal returned home changed in unimaginable ways, and their experiences still resonate across the generations”
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