Editorial: Indian children still being left behind

Thursday, October 4, 2007  

"The mass grave of children and babies, more than two dozen of them, was uncovered by a contractor's blade last month on the Blackfeet Reservation. They lay outside the government-run Willow Creek boarding school, a turn-of-the century establishment described by one historian as a "gothic horror," as reported by Tribune Projects Editor Eric Newhouse.

The tiny bones are a reminder of just how far we've come from those Draconian days, when Indian children were wrested from their families and sent to boarding schools to be "reformed" to white ways.

But a century later, Indian children's prospects are still grim compared with their peers.

At a meeting in Helena last week, Indian legislators from across the country were told that Native American students lag far behind their classmates.

Indian students are often performing two grade levels behind. They're more likely to contemplate or commit suicide.

Obviously, we still have a long way to go to give all American kids the childhood they deserve."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Unmarked children's grave demands reflection by all (The Great Falls Tribune 10/4)