Biden makes historic apology for US role in indigenous boarding schools

President Joe Biden officially apologized on Friday for the abuses committed by indigenous boarding schools for more than a century during a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, an important step toward healing wounds inflicted on survivors and their descendants, Native American leaders said in Oklahoma.

More than 417 schools were funded by the US to assimilate Native American children federal report under Biden and his Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland. There were more schools (87) in Oklahoma than in any other state.

At least 973 Native American children died in U.S.-funded boarding schools they were forced to attend, and there were 74 locations where children were buried on school grounds, including 16 in Oklahoma, according to the report.

Biden called his apology the most consequential thing he could ever do as president. He said he wanted to chart a new path to healing.

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“As President of the United States of America, I formally apologize for what we did. I offer my formal apologies. That should have happened a long time ago,” Biden said. “There is no excuse that this apology has lasted 50 years.”

Biden’s apology comes after Haaland’s three-year investigation into federally operated and funded boarding schools for Indigenous children. Her department concluded in 2022 that the schools have been using the express goal of eradicating indigenous cultures and communities. The federal government did not abandon this model until the mid-20th century.

A subsequent 105-page report released earlier this year expands on the department’s previous findings and calls for a series of actions, including a formal apology from the US government.

President Joe Biden apologizes for Native American boarding schools

During his speech Friday, Biden described the injustices caused by the boarding schools as horrific and horrific and said they cannot be buried.

‘The truth must be told. The truth must be told across America,” Biden said. “This official apology is just one step forward.”

Biden called Indians the first Americans, and the most patriotic. Generations of Native Americans have served in the military at higher rates than the nation as a whole.

“Share your knowledge for the good of the future generation,” Biden said.

Indigenous leaders in Oklahoma say Biden’s apology is not the final step needed for healing

Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. called Biden’s apology a profound moment for Native Americans across the country. He applauded Biden’s recognition of the pain and suffering inflicted on tribes and boarding school survivors.

“Our children were created to live in a world that erases their identity and culture and turns their spoken language upside down,” Hoskin said in a statement. “They often suffered harm, abuse, neglect and were forced to live in the shadows.”

Margo Gray, executive director of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, told The Oklahoman that Biden’s apology is a step in the right direction.

“We drive through our communities now and you see a school. You don’t see a cemetery next to it, but that’s what it was like for Indian children who went to boarding school, never went home, and so often, ‘I never told them they were going to boarding school. had died,” said Gray, an Osage Nation citizen. “They suffered tremendous cruelty that we will never understand.”

Generations of Native Americans were separated from tribal culture, traditions and ceremonies, Gray said.

“They cut their hair. They did everything they could to change their culture, their language and who they were as a people,” Gray said. “The way they bathed has changed. It’s just unheard of, but that’s how we were treated.”

Shawnee Tribal Chief Ben Barnes, who attended Biden’s speech in Arizona, said in a statement Thursday that he was pleased to work with boarding school survivors and allies to bring this chapter of American history to light.

“Survivors have said it is important for them to receive an apology for the atrocities that occurred in these institutions,” said Barnes, who also serves on the organization’s board of directors. National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.

Hoskin said citizens of the Cherokee Nation continue to feel the impact of Native boarding schools today. He said Biden’s apology should be followed by continued action, calling the Interior Department’s recommendations for the preservation of indigenous languages and the repatriation of ancestors and cultural artifacts a path to healing.

“We know from experience that true healing goes beyond words – it requires action, resources and commitment,” Hoskin said. “Cherokee Nation publicly recognized our own role in the painful history of Cherokee Freedmen and has worked for positive change, and this country can do the same.”

‘This is American history’: Advocate says stories of boarding school survivors should be recorded

Gray said the next step the U.S. must take toward healing the damage caused by Indigenous boarding schools is to pass the bill Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy Act.

The bill would establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy and formally investigate, document, and report on the history of boarding schools, their policies, and their systematic effects on Native Americans.

It would also develop recommendations for federal action based on the commission’s findings and seek to promote the healing of Native boarding school survivors and their descendants and communities.

Gray said this bill is important for creating a way for survivors to tell and document their stories.

“This is American history,” Gray said. “It’s just not my family history. It’s just not Oklahoma’s Indian history. This is American history.”