fbpx
 

The Department of Interior’s year-long “Road to Healing Tour” will visit Arizona this week, with stops at the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix this Friday and Navajo Nation at Many Farms on Sunday.

The tour is the second phase of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative that was launched in June 2021 by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo). 

Never miss Indian Country’s biggest stories and breaking news. Sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. 

Haaland announced the Road the Healing Tour on May 11, 2022, in conjunction with the release of Volume 1 of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. The report, penned by Assistant Secretary of the Interior - Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community), recommended connecting with Indigenous communities and hearing about their experiences in Indian boarding schools directly. 

The stops along the tour allow for survivors and descendants of those who attended Indian boarding schools to come and tell their Indian boarding schools experiences. 

To date, the Interior has brought the tour to Native American communities in Oklahoma, Michigan and South Dakota.   

The Arizona events will allow Interior officials, including Haaland and Newland, to listen to testimonies and gather additional information about boarding schools in the southwestern United States. During the first hour, media will be allowed and then dismissed so that those who don’t want to make testimony with the press present may do so. 

Enjoying Native News Coverage?
NNO Logo Make A Monthly Donation Here

The location of the Gila River Indian Community event will be at Gila Crossing Community School, 4665 West Pecos Road, Laveen, Arizona, on Friday, January 20, 2023 at 10 a.m. - Mountain Time.

The location of the Navajo Nation event will be at Many Farms High School, N Highway 191, Many Farms, Arizona, on Sunday, January 22, 2023 at 10 a.m. - Mountain Time.

Trauma-informed support will be available on-site during the Arizona events.

More Stories Like This

US Army to Return 5 Native Ancestors to Their Descendants This Fall
‘Road to Healing’ Will Visit Boarding School Survivors in Minnesota on June 3
Senator Warren Revives Indian Boarding School Legislation with Bipartisan Support
Sweeping Maine Tribal Sovereignty Effort Likely Won’t Happen Until 2024
A Quarter-Century Later, Cal State Fullerton Prepares to Repatriate Native Ancestors Again

Native News is free to read.

We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.

Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps.  Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.

Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you. 

About The Author
Levi Rickert
Author: Levi RickertEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at [email protected].