- Details
- By Levi Rickert
This past Tuesday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) addressed the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Mid Year Conference.
She quickly mentioned the discovery late last month of 215 children buried in an unmarked grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada.
Want more Native News? Get the free daily newsletter today.
“Like many of you I was deeply impacted by the news of the 215 children found in a mass grave at a boarding school in Canada. I couldn’t help but think of their families. Each of those children were a missing family member, a person who were not able to live out their purpose because forced assimilation policies ended their lives too soon… I wept with the Indigenous team here at Interior,” Haaland said.
Haaland’s remarks stuck with me all week, because as this nation’s first Indigenous cabinet secretary she understands our pain.
“Our communities are still mourning,” Haaland continued.
She then announced the establishment of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative in the United States. The work of the initiative will be enormous in scope. The initiative is tasked with identifying past boarding schools throughout the country and investigating possible burial sites, then identifying those buried and returning the remains to their rightful tribes. Haaland asked the initiative to submit a written report to her office by April 1, 2022.
Two days later, on Thursday, Chief Cadmus Delorme of the Cowessess First Nation announced the discovery of as many as 751 unmarked graves on what was formerly the Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.
Though the latest discovery was yet again in Canada, investigations of Indian boarding schools in the United States are long overdue.
Native Americans have known there to be graves on the grounds of Indian boarding schools for decades. We also have known about physical and sexual abuses perpetrated by those who operated the schools.
We also know about the historical trauma inflicted on our communities that have yielded countless social ills among us.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) has identified 367 historically assimilative Indian boarding schools that operated nationwide between 1870 and 1970. According to NABS, the organization has only been able to locate records from 38 percent of those boarding schools.
Because the records have never been fully examined, it is still unknown how many Native American children actually attended, died, or went missing from the schools.
NABS supports Haaland’s initiative because the organization believes that it is time for truth and healing.
“We have a right to know what happened to the children who never returned home from Indian boarding schools,” NABS said in a statement on Friday.
There is no doubt that the work of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative will be painful. It will be like pulling back a scab only to find out how bad the injury really is.
But with only nine months to do the job, the initiative may not provide all the information that has been buried for decades.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) will soon reintroduce the “Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act” that she introduced last year with then-Rep. Deb Haaland.
The Commission would “formally investigate and document, for the first time in history, cultural genocide, assimilation practices, and human rights violations of Indian Boarding Schools in the United States, to study the impact and ongoing effects of historical and intergenerational trauma in Tribal communities, and to provide a forum for Indigenous victims and families to discuss the personal impacts of physical, psychological, and spiritual violence.”
On Thursday, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) approved a resolution calling for a federal commission to build on the Interior Department’s initiative.
Since being sworn in as the 54th secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Haaland has proven she is the right person at the right time.
Having an Interior secretary who weeps with her fellow Indigenous peoples and nations offers hope during these dark, painful times. And establishing an initiative to investigate the boarding school era may prove to be the right step towards truth, reconciliation, and healing.
More Stories Like This
Double Down on What Works: Invest in Native CDFIs, Don’t Eliminate ThemThe Big Ugly Bill Attacks Tribes, Our Lands, and Our Rights
Native Mascots Don't Honor Our Ancestors. They Harm Our Children.
Modernizing the Path to Homeownership in Indian Country
The Future is Bright for Cherokee Nation Health Services at Claremore
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
