WARNING: This story contains disturbing details
The first-ever federal study of Native American boarding schools in the United States – which has been trying to assimilate indigenous children to white society for more than a century – has found more than 500 deaths in institutions, but officials say the number could rise. exponentially as research continues.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s report, released Wednesday, extended to more than 400 schools known to have functioned for 150 years, beginning in the early 19th century and coinciding with the removal of many tribes from lands of their ancestors. He identified the deaths in records of about 20 of them.
The grim history of boarding schools – where children have been forced to leave their families, banned from speaking their Indian languages and are often abused – is deeply felt through generations of families.
Many children never returned home, and the interior department said a further investigation could increase the number of known student deaths to thousands or even tens of thousands. Causes include illness, accidental injuries and abuse, officials said.
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“Each of these children is a missing family member, a person who could not live out his purpose on this earth because they lost their lives as part of this horrible system,” said Home Secretary Deb Haaland, whose grandmother and paternal grandparents were sent to boarding school for several years as children.
The agency is in the process of reviewing thousands of boxes containing more than 98 million pages of records, with the help of many indigenous people who had to deal with their own trauma and pain. It will be difficult to count the number of deaths because records are not always kept.
The second volume of the report will cover burial sites, as well as the federal government’s financial investments in schools and the impact of boarding schools on indigenous communities, the interior ministry said. So far, she has identified at least 53 graves in or near boarding schools, not all of which have marked graves.
The study started last year
Tribal leaders have pressured the agency to ensure that all found child remains are properly cared for and returned to their tribes if desired. Funeral sites will not be made public to prevent violations, said Brian Newland, assistant secretary of the Indian affairs department.
At a news conference Wednesday, Haaland burst into tears as he described how the boarding school era perpetuated poverty, mental disorders, substance abuse and premature death in local communities.
“Recognizing the impact of India’s federal boarding system cannot be a mere historical calculation,” she said. “We also need to chart a way forward to address these inherited issues.”
Hollande, who is Laguna, announced an initiative last June to investigate the problematic legacy of boarding schools and reveal the truth about the federal government’s role in them. The 408 schools identified by her agency operate in 37 states or territories, many of them in Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico.
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The interior ministry acknowledged that the number of schools identified could change as more data is collected. The coronavirus pandemic and budgetary constraints have hampered some research over the past year, Newland said.
The US government directly ran some of the boarding schools. Catholic, Protestant, and other churches operated on others with federal funding, backed by American laws and policies to “civilize” Indians. The federal government still controls more than 180 schools in nearly two dozen states that serve Indians, but the missions of the schools are vastly different from the past.
The Home Office report was prompted by the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves in former Canadian housing schools that brought back painful memories of local communities.
Hearing stories of survivors
Haaland also announced a one-year tour for law enforcement officers Wednesday that will allow former boarding school students from Native American tribes, Alaska Native villages and local Hawaiian communities to share their stories as part of a permanent collection of oral history.
Boarding conditions vary in the United States and Canada. Children in schools were often subjected to military discipline and had their hair cut long. Early curricula focused heavily on outdated vocational skills, including housekeeping for girls.
A subcommittee of the US House of Representatives will hear evidence of a bill to establish a truth and healing commission modeled on that of Canada. Several church groups support the law.
Deborah Parker, chief executive of the National Coalition for the Treatment of Indian Boarding Schools, recalls with tears stories of a boarding school in the Tulalip Reserve, where she came from, which had a small prison cell and basement where at least one girl was routinely nailed to a heater. . She said others had gone into hiding to protect themselves from abuse.
“I’m worried when we start opening these doors for the survivors of our boarding schools to come out and share their stories,” she said.
The boarding school coalition, which created an early list of schools and shared its research with the interior department, praised the work of the interior, but noted that the agency’s powers are limited.
“Our children deserve to be brought home,” Parker said. “We are here for their justice. And we will not stop advocating until the United States fully recognizes the genocide committed against local children.”
Support is available to anyone affected by their experience in residential schools or recent reports.
A national crisis line has been set up for Indian housing schools to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis services by calling the 24-hour National Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419.
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