StrongHearts Native Helpline: An apology for ‘mistreatment of our children’

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Image courtesy StrongHearts Native Helpline

Apology Opens Doors To Healing And Restoration

Friday, October 25, 2024

Indianz.Com

EAGAN, Minnesota — “We acknowledge President Joseph Biden as the first to formally apologize to Native Americans for the mistreatment of our children in Indian Boarding Schools. His eloquent speech recounted Native children forcibly taken from their parents to boarding schools – some as young as toddlers – who grew up in a world of trauma and forced assimilation. Deprived of love, family, and community, many did not survive and if they did, they returned to their communities as strangers.” said CEO Lori Jump, StrongHearts Native Helpline.

Native Americans experience some of the highest rates of domestic and sexual violence across the nation. Our experience of violence is related and connected to the historical trauma experienced by our relatives, which has been passed down from generation to generation due to the lack of resources dedicated to healing.

The majority of American Indian and Alaska Native victims have experienced violence at the hands of at least one interracial perpetrator in their lifetime — 97 percent of female victims and 90 percent of male victims.

Now in its seventh year of operation, StrongHearts Native Helpline is a culturally appropriate helpline for American Indian and Alaska Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Advocates have answered over 60,000 calls, texts, and chats and made over 27,000 referrals to resources.

“This apology comes from a leader with more than half a century serving the United States government. A president who understands that truth and reconciliation is required for healing to occur,” concluded Jump. “It is our deepest hope that the apology opens the doors to restoration of those things lost due to boarding school era policies – our culture, traditions, and most importantly our languages.”

StrongHearts Native Helpline serves all individuals who reach out for services regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor protected by local, state, or federal law. Advocates are available 24/7. Call or text 1-844-762-8483 or to chat online, visit our website at strongheartshelpline.org.