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- By Levi Rickert
Opinion. I keep thinking about my grandmother as a young child attending Genoa Indian Industrial School in Nebraska, 240 miles from her family in Mayetta, Kansas. Native children arrived by train in Genoa, where their first experience was being sprayed down for lice.
I keep thinking about walking among the graves of young Native children still buried so far from their tribal communities in the Carlisle Cemetery on a US Army base on the grounds of the now closed Carlisle Indian Industrial School. So many are still buried there since the early 1900s, so far from their tribal lands. Not even buried at home with their ancestors.
I keep thinking about the dozens of boarding school survivors I met and reported on from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s “Road to Healing” tour. I saw elders, now in the advanced parts of their lives, vividly recount accounts of the physical, emotional, and sexual abuses they suffered — as if the horrific events happened just two weeks ago.
There are some stories that stick out more vividly than others. Such as the testimony from a Lakota elder about Native children who were homesick for their parents at nighttime and were crying. Instead of consoling them so they could fall asleep peacefully, priests came in and beat the children, some with a belt, some with razor straps, and some with the “Jesus” rope.
Of course, these are the stories of the federal Indian boarding school policy that allowed for the vast mistreatment of Native American children who were stolen from their familial homes in the name of assimilation. The mantra for this policy was “Kill the Indian” to “save the Man.”
Federal officials believed they could “Americanize” Native children by stripping them of their tribal cultures: cutting their hair, forcing them to wear Anglo-American clothing, and requiring them to speak English. The practice lasted for over 150 years in 523 different schools. The federal government reports about 1,000 died away from their homes — though, the government acknowledges the number may have been far greater.
On Friday, the president of the United States apologized for the evil deeds perpetrated at the Indian boarding schools that left tribal communities scarred for generations. The historical trauma continues to this day.
Here was President Joe Biden, in the final days of his presidency, on the Gila Indian Reservation giving an apology.
In his apology, Biden said of the federal Indian boarding school policy: “It’s horribly, horribly wrong. It’s a sin on our soul… I formally apologize.”
"This to me is one of the most consequential things I've ever had an opportunity to do in my whole career," Biden said.
“I know no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the Federal Boarding School policy. But today, we’re finally moving forward into the light,” Biden continued.
Biden also said: “As I’ve said throughout my presidency, we must know the good, the bad, the truth of who we are as a nation. That’s what great nations do. We’re a great nation. We’re the greatest of nations. We do not erase history; we make history. We learn from history, and we remember so we can heal as a nation. It takes remembering.”
Credit should be given to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community) and their staff at the Interior Department for the apology. The vigorous work they did through the Federal Indian Boarding School initiative that yielded two volumes of research, including testimonies from the “Road to Healing,” caught President Biden’s attention. Additional credit must be given to the dedicated work of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS).
Some have criticized the apology coming within two weeks of the 2024 presidential election. Some say it was merely political.
On Friday, I was asked if it was political on NPR’s “Here and Now.” My answer: “I don’t care…it happened.”
For those who understand the American system, most everything done in government is done for political purposes. During elections, it is called the power of incumbency.
President Biden’s track record with Native Americans during his administration speaks for itself. He has been the best president for Indian Country in U.S. history.
There is no way one person–or even one presidential administration–can remedy the centuries of abuse and neglect perpetrated against tribal nations and communities.
So, the apology will not correct those wrongs or ills. However, the Federal Indian Boarding School Investigative Report, Volume II, released by the Interior Department in June 2024, contains eight recommendations for further healing of Indian Country. President Biden’s apology was the first recommendation and he fulfilled it.
After January 20, 2025, the recommendations will still be there for the next presidential administration to move along the track to healing.
We have seen the results of the Biden-Harris administration. And we have seen the deplorable lack of concern for Indian country during the most previous administration.
Indian Country has a say to determine our future by voting for the tribal sovereignty ticket.
On the Monday night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, thousands of delegates and others held signs that read “Thank You Joe!” and waved them as President Biden addressed the audience. They thanked him for his years of service and dedication to this country.
I say “Thank you Joe,” out of respect for the long overdue apology. I thank you on behalf of my grandmother, for me, and the future generations in my family. And, for Indian Country.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.
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