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- By Native News Online Staff
Your questions about Indian Boarding Schools, as answered by our team.
Survivor of 12 years of Boarding School. What's the purpose of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative? Asking for an apology is putting salt on the wound might as well not mess with it. I'm 60 years old now and I have carried these wounds for a very long time.
The stated purpose of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative is not about the government issuing an apology, but rather about taking responsibility and defining what existing responsibility the government bears in rebuilding the cultures it sought to destroy.
The primary goal of the investigation was to, for the first time in history, identify boarding school facilities; the location of known and possible student burial sites located at or near school facilities; and the identities and tribal affiliations of children interred at such locations.
“To begin the process of healing from the harm and violence caused by assimilation policy, the Department should affirm an express policy of cultural revitalization— supporting the work of Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Villages, and the Native Hawaiian Community to revitalize their languages, cultural practices, and traditional food systems, and to protect and strengthen intra-Tribal relations,” Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland wrote in the report’s conclusion.
Read previous Q & As on Indian Boarding Schools
Readers Ask Us 1, June 7th
Readers Ask Us 2, June 10
Readers Ask Us 3, July 21
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Following the release of the U.S. Department of the Interior's final report, we at Native News Online took a moment to reflect on our extensive three-year effort to highlight the traumatic legacy of Indian boarding schools. By covering all 12 Road to Healing events and publishing over 250 articles, we have amplified survivors' voices and illuminated the lasting impact on Indigenous communities. Our work continues. Please consider donating to help fund our ongoing coverage of Indian boarding schools.
