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- By Neely Bardwell
An emotional day in Indian Country yesterday, May 11, as the Department of Interior released their Boarding School Initiative Volume 1 Investigative Report. Shortly after this report was released, Native News Online spoke with Deb Parker and Dr. Samuel Torres, Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chief and Executive Officer of the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS), respectively.
Parker spoke to the process of the initiative and her involvement with the initiative.
“We are still analyzing and we’re still trying to find the words to support this document and the words to find understanding in this time of exploration and this time of truth telling. It has been an emotional week,” she continues, “NABS has brought boarding school survivors to Washington D.C. to talk to senators and congressmen and women.”
Torres emphasized the groundbreaking nature of the report
“Really what I think was most enlightening for us and what has put us in a very profoundly reflective place today is that for the first time the federal government has put together a blueprint, an overall apparatus, that has identified that this is, for the first time, an accounting of all of the federal boarding schools,” he continues, “This is a foundational moment.”
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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.
