A federal report commissioned by US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has uncovered that at least 973 Indigenous children died while attending boarding schools run or supported by the United States government. The report found dozens of graves at 65 of these institutions, where children were subjected to abuse, neglect, and forced assimilation. The schools were part of a 150-year effort to erase Indigenous culture and language, causing intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities.
Haaland, the first Indigenous person to lead the Department of the Interior, called for an apology for the pain caused by the boarding schools. Indigenous leaders in the US and Canada are urging authorities to investigate unmarked graves at former school sites, following a similar discovery in British Columbia in 2021. Thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly placed in these schools over the years, with the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition reporting that nearly 83% of school-aged Indigenous children were attending these institutions by 1926.
The findings in the report released on Tuesday come after years of listening sessions where former students recounted the abuse they endured. The recommendations from the Interior Department include issuing a formal acknowledgment and apology for the government’s role in the boarding schools, investing in remedies for the lasting effects, establishing a national memorial, and identifying and repatriating the remains of children who died at these institutions.
Survivors like Donovan Archambault, who was sent to boarding schools as a child, are calling for broader education on this forgotten history and a formal apology. Archambault, now 85, shares his experience of mistreatment and the impact it had on his life, highlighting the need for acknowledgment and healing for the Indigenous communities affected by the legacy of these boarding schools.
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