The Interior Department identified roughly 19,000 children who attended a U.S. boarding school between 1819 and 1969, but the agency acknowledges there were many more. According to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, there were more than 60,000 Native children in the boarding school system by the 1920s. At the schools, teachers were known to do everything from cutting students’ hair to beating them for speaking their Native languages.
The report, the second and final from the federal boarding school initiative, found marked and unmarked graves at 65 of the 431 school sites. The Interior Department said it is working with tribes that want the remains repatriated.
Stacy Laravie, who is Ponca and a member of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, said the government should focus on “coming up with solutions and ways to heal the trauma. And one part of apologizing or acknowledging would be future investments into tribal nations.”
In fact, the report recommends the U.S. provide funding for culturally-based programs centered on intergenerational trauma, violence prevention, and revitalizing Native languages. The report also proposes creating a national memorial to “acknowledge and commemorate” the children’s deaths and educate the public.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
