For more than a century, from the early 1800s to the 1960s, Native children were removed from their tribes and sometimes forcibly removed from their homes to attend government assimilation boarding schools. On Friday afternoon, President Joe Biden is expected to issue a formal apology from the US government to the affected communities.
“I understand that history,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to hold a Cabinet position, noting that grandparents and mothers were among those sent to these schools. he told host Brad Mielke on Friday’s “Start Here.” ABC News’ flagship daily news podcast.
An elementary class of Indian students with herbarium specimens at the American Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1901. (a boarding school for Native American students established in 1879 under the authority of the U.S. government).
Francis Benjamin Johnston/Heritage Images (via Getty Images)
“The children went to boarding schools. They were stripped of their clothes. Their hair was cut. They were forbidden to speak their native language and were beaten if they did.” said Haaland.
Haaland will speak with tribal elders and descendants of those who attended these schools as part of a federal investigation into government residential school programs and reported physical and emotional abuse and deaths. Participated in a reserved listening tour.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 22, 2024.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
She also investigated those who did not return home and discovered that hundreds of children were buried in unmarked locations far from their homes.
As part of the study, Haaland compiled a list of recommendations. The first step is to obtain formal recognition and an apology from the U.S. government.
A debate class at the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1901. A young woman stands in front of a group of seated students. A partially visible blackboard says “Debate.” Resolved: The United States Senate will do so.”
Francis Benjamin Johnston/Heritage Images (via Getty Images)
On April 11, 2015, the White Rose Singers, made up of students from Sherman Indian High School, a Native American boarding school in Riverside, perform on the Morongo Indian Reservation near Banning, California. sing native songs.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he was going to Arizona “to do something that should have been done a long time ago.”
“This is to formally apologize to the Indian nations for the way we have treated their children over the years,” he said. “So I’m going. So I’m heading west.”
Haaland said on “Start Here” that an apology is the first step toward healing trauma and pain.
“Frankly, Native American history is American history, so I believe it’s important for survivors and descendants to feel seen.”
ABC News’ Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
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