- Details
- By Levi Rickert
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday announced the launch of a statewide criminal investigation into Indian boarding schools and related institutions that once operated in Michigan.
The Department of Attorney General will work to identify, document and investigate potential criminal conduct at the schools and pursue prosecutions when warranted.
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The department is asking survivors, witnesses and others with firsthand knowledge to come forward with information that could assist the investigation.
“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”
The Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) reports that eight Indian boarding schools operated in Michigan. The two largest were the Holy Childhood of Jesus School, which operated in Harbor Springs from 1829 to 1983, and the Michigan Indian Industrial Boarding School, which operated in Mount Pleasant from 1893 to 1934.
On Aug. 13, 2022, then–Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community) held a listening session during the second stop of “The Road to Healing” tour at Pellston High School’s gymnasium. Throughout the day, dozens of Indian boarding school survivors and their descendants gave testimony, sharing stories of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that occurred at the schools.
"I am pleased with Attorney General Nessel for taking steps to hold accountable any individuals, institutions, or systems that abused Native American children during the Indian Mission and Boarding School era, which lasted until 1984," Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Councilor Aaron Payment said to Native News Online. "During Secretary Haaland's Road to Healing tour, one by one, victims stood in solidarity and testified, often weeping and naming their perpetrator as Sister X or Father Y. Case by case such physical assault and corporate punishment could be excused away, but collectively, you see a clear pattern of systemic racism and abuse that was allowed to happen. These schools operated by states with federal funds under the guise of civilizing and education the "savages."
"The true intention was to decimate the very fabric and social systems of American Indian life that has had lasting impacts called historical and intergenerational trauma," Payment continued.
Anyone with information related to the investigation may contact the Department of Attorney General by email or by phone at 517-897-7391. Tips may be submitted anonymously. Additional information is available on the department’s Native Boarding School Investigation webpage.
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