Russell Eagle Bear of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation Tribal Council speaks with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland during a meeting about Native American boarding schools at Sinte Greska University in Mission, South Dakota, October 15, 2022. and talk. (Matthew Brown/Associated Press)
NORMAN, Okla. — President Joe Biden plans to formally apologize Friday for the country’s role in the Indian residential school system, which destroyed the lives of generations of Native American children and their ancestors.
“Never in a million years would I have imagined something like this would happen,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. “That’s a big deal for me. I’m sure it’s going to be a big deal for all of India.”
Shortly after becoming the first Native American to lead the Interior Department, Haaland began investigating the residential school system. They found that at least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, had been separated from their parents and forced to attend assimilated schools. They are trying to strip tribal nations of their lands. It also recorded nearly 1,000 deaths and 74 graves associated with more than 500 schools.
To date, no president has formally apologized for the forced abduction of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children (an element of genocide as defined by the United Nations) or other aspects of the U.S. government’s genocide of Native Americans.
In the second phase of the investigation, the Ministry of Interior conducted listening sessions and gathered testimonies from survivors. One of the recommendations in the final report was to recognize and apologize for his time at boarding school. Haaland said she conveyed that to Biden, who agreed to it because he recognized it was necessary.
Haaland, whose grandparents were forced to attend boarding school, said she was honored to work with staff to help bring about the apology. Haaland is scheduled to accompany Biden on Friday when he makes his first diplomatic visit and address a tribal nation as president. “This will be one of the high points of my life,” she said.
It is unclear what measures will be taken after the apology. The Department of the Interior continues to work with tribal nations to repatriate child remains on federal lands, but many tribes still refuse to comply with federal laws regulating the return of Native American remains. It is in conflict with the Army Corps of Engineers. When it comes to those still buried at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.
“President Biden’s apology is a deeply meaningful moment for the indigenous people of this country,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chuck Hoskin Jr. told The Associated Press.
“Our children were made to live in a world that erased their identity and culture and turned our spoken language upside down,” Hoskin said in a statement. “There were 87 boarding schools in Oklahoma, and thousands of Cherokee children attended them. Nearly every Cherokee Nation still feels its influence in some way.”
Melissa Nobles, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of “The Politics,” said Friday’s apology could lead to further progress for tribal nations still seeking continued federal action. He said this is because it acknowledges that the wrongs of the past have been left uncorrected and “known and buried.” A formal apology. ”
“These things are valuable because they validate the experiences of survivors and acknowledge that they were seen and we heard your stories. They also suggest that this happened. There’s also a lot of historical evidence,” Nobles said.
Canada, a country with a similar history of oppressing Indigenous peoples and forcing children into residential schools for assimilation, established a truth and reconciliation process following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s apology in 2017. billions of dollars were invested. Joined indigenous peoples to address the devastation left by government policies.
No such commission exists in the United States A bill to establish a truth and reconciliation process was introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren last year, but remains in the Senate.
Pope Francis will issue a historic apology in 2022 for the Catholic Church’s cooperation in Canada’s “disastrous” policy towards Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures and destroyed their families. He said it had led to a divided and alienated generation.
Francisco told school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered in Alberta that he was “deeply sorry.” He said the school’s policy was a “disastrous error” that was inconsistent with the gospel. “I humbly ask forgiveness for the wrongs committed by so many Christians against indigenous peoples,” Francis said.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed a law apologizing to Native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy a century earlier. In 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for his government’s past assimilation policies, including the forced removal of children. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made similar concessions in 2022.
Hoskin said she was grateful to Biden and Haaland for leading efforts to consider the country’s role in this dark chapter for Indigenous peoples, but that the apology was just “an important step, and it requires continued support.” This must be accompanied by action,” he said.
