{"id":24146,"date":"2022-05-11T12:01:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=24146"},"modified":"2022-05-11T12:22:29","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:22:29","slug":"initial-report-from-federal-indian-boarding-school-initiative-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/11\/initial-report-from-federal-indian-boarding-school-initiative-released\/","title":{"rendered":"Initial report from Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative released"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Albuquerque<\/a>
Early class of younger girls in school uniform at the Albuquerque Indian School, circa 1900. Photo: National Archives<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Department of the Interior Releases Investigative Report, Outlines Next Steps in Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, May 11, 2022<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe following is the text of a May 11, 2022, news release from the Department of the Interior<\/a>.<\/em>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON \u2014 Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland today released Volume 1<\/a> of the investigative report called for as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, a comprehensive effort to address the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding school policies. This report lays the groundwork for the continued work of the Interior Department to address the intergenerational trauma created by historical federal Indian boarding school policies.

<\/p>\r\nThis investigative report is a significant step by the federal government to comprehensively address the facts and consequences of its federal Indian boarding school policies\u2014 implemented for more than a century and a half\u2014resulting in the twin goals of cultural assimilation and territorial dispossession of Indigenous peoples through the forced removal and relocation of their children. It reflects an extensive and first-ever inventory of federally operated schools, including profiles<\/a> and maps<\/a>.

<\/p>\r\nThe investigation found that from 1819 to 1969, the federal Indian boarding school system consisted of 408 federal schools across 37 states or then territories, including 21 schools in Alaska and 7 schools in Hawaii. The investigation identified marked or unmarked burial sites at approximately 53 different schools across the school system. As the investigation continues, the Department expects the number of identified burial sites to increase.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThe consequences of federal Indian boarding school policies\u2014including the intergenerational trauma caused by the family separation and cultural eradication inflicted upon generations of children as young as 4 years old\u2014are heartbreaking and undeniable,\u201d said Secretary Haaland. \u201cWe continue to see the evidence of this attempt to forcibly assimilate Indigenous people in the disparities that communities face. It is my priority to not only give voice to the survivors and descendants of federal Indian boarding school policies, but also to address the lasting legacies of these policies so Indigenous Peoples can continue to grow and heal.\u201d

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThis report presents the opportunity for us to reorient federal policies to support the revitalization of Tribal languages and cultural practices to counteract nearly two centuries of federal policies aimed at their destruction,\u201d said Assistant Secretary Newland. \u201cTogether, we can help begin a healing process for Indian Country, the Native Hawaiian Community and across the United States, from the Alaskan tundra to the Florida everglades, and everywhere in between.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Last year, I wrote an op-ed on the history of federal boarding schools and the assimilation practices that Native children and their families were forced to endure at the hands of the federal government. https:\/\/t.co\/X2e3mEBQhM<\/a><\/p>— Secretary Deb Haaland (@SecDebHaaland) May 11, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>