{"id":25026,"date":"2022-06-08T16:58:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T20:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=25026"},"modified":"2022-06-08T16:58:18","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T20:58:18","slug":"gaylord-news-boarding-school-bill-faces-republican-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/08\/gaylord-news-boarding-school-bill-faces-republican-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaylord News: Boarding school bill faces Republican opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_youtu-be\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lFeCr0gDopU\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/14\/maxresdefault-670.jpg\" alt=\"SCIP Hybrid Legislative Hearing \u2013 May 12, 2022\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lFeCr0gDopU\">\n\t\t\tSCIP Hybrid Legislative Hearing \u2013 May 12, 2022\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lFeCr0gDopU\">\n\t\t\t<p>On Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET, in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building (Hearing Room) and online via Cisco Webex, the Subcommittee for Indig&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/s\/desktop\/3a93864d\/img\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"YouTube\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tYouTube\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States: <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/12\/house-subcommittee-for-indigenous-peoples-of-the-united-states-legislative-hearing-on-h-r-5444\/>Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444 &#8211; May 12, 2022<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Subpoena authority could jeopardize boarding school truth and healing commission<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Wednesday, June 8, 2022<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Dustan Heistand<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Gaylord News<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gaylordnews.net\/\">gaylordnews.net<\/a><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nBipartisan efforts to create a federal commission to explore and repair the legacy of the nation\u2019s notorious Indian boarding schools have hit a stumbling block over subpoena authority.<P><\/P>\r\nThe obstacle came last month as supporters worked to establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. The top Republican on the subcommittee hearing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/5444\/committees?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22correa%22%5D%7D&amp;r=11&amp;s=1\">House Resolution 5444<\/a> said it could lose bipartisan support if the commission is granted subpoena power to obtain witness testimony and produce evidence, which he called \u201cadversarial to the goal of healing.\u201d <P><\/P>\r\nThe commission is intended to work parallel to the Department of Interior\u2019s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bia.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/dup\/inline-files\/bsi_investigative_report_may_2022_508.pdf\">its first report<\/a> on May 11.<P><\/P>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"450\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/playlists\/1437344971&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/indianz\" title=\"indianz\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">indianz<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/indianz\/sets\/house-subcommittee-for-indigenous-peoples-of-the-united-states-legislative-hearing-on-hr5444\" title=\"House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444<\/a><\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Indianz.Com Audio: <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/16\/audio-house-subcommittee-for-indigenous-peoples-of-the-united-states-legislative-hearing-on-h-r-5444\/>House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444 &#8211; May 12, 2022<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nRep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, is the top co-sponsor of H.R. 5444, which was reintroduced by Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, on the National Day of Remembrance, September 30. The bill has 57 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, including fellow Oklahoman and Republican, Rep. Markwayne Mullin.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cEstablishing the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy will provide an important step toward resolving and healing from one of our nation\u2019s darkest periods,\u201d Cole said in September.<P><\/P>\r\nDavids said the commission would \u201cbuild off Secretary Haaland\u2019s Federal Boarding School Initiative by collecting documents and testimony outside the federal boarding school system.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\nCole is a member of the Chickasaw Nation; Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation.<P><\/P>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/08\/gaylord-news-boarding-school-bill-faces-republican-opposition\/deborahparker\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-25030\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" data-attachment-id=\"25030\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/08\/gaylord-news-boarding-school-bill-faces-republican-opposition\/deborahparker\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/08\/DeborahParker-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Deborah Parker\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Deborah Parker&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Deborah Parker, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, testifies in support of H.R.5444, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, at a hearing before the House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on May 12, 2022. Photo courtesy &lt;a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/naturalresourcesdems\/52069444921\/&gt;House Committee on Natural Resources, Democrats&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/08\/DeborahParker-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/08\/DeborahParker-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Deborah Parker\"  class=\"size-full wp-image-25030\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Deborah Parker, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, testifies in support of H.R.5444, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, at a hearing before the House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on May 12, 2022. Photo courtesy <a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/naturalresourcesdems\/52069444921\/>House Committee on Natural Resources, Democrats<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe partisan warnings arose at a <a href=\"https:\/\/naturalresources.house.gov\/hearings\/scip-hybrid-legislative-hearing_may-12-2022\">May 13 hearing<\/a> of the House subcommittee for Indigenous peoples of the United States to provide witness testimony about the federally funded efforts to assimilate Native American people and culture.<P><\/P>\r\nThe hearing centered on testimony from Native voices who survived the boarding schools or are descendants of those who attended the schools.<P><\/P>\r\nBen Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe and a descendant of boarding school survivors, told the subcommittee that the importance of the would-be commission is incalculable.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cAs time continues to pass, we will lose the testimonies of survivors and more documents will become misplaced,\u201d he testified. \u201cThat is the importance of H.R. 5444. Creating a mandated commission empowered to locate every available record and ensure this history is preserved and made available for examination.\u201d<P><\/P><div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><P><\/P>\r\nAlthough bipartisan support exists for an investigation into the individual impact of the policies and assimilation of Native Americans, a lack of agreement exists amongst supporters of the bill as to the methods and powers available to investigators.<P><\/P>\r\nRep. Jay Obernolte, R-California, the subcommittee\u2019s acting ranking Republican member, called the subpoena authority a reason for hesitancy.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cSo subpoena authority, while it might serve the goal of truth, might be adversarial to the goal of healing,\u201d Obernolte said before witness testimony. \u201cAnd I think that we should have that discussion because I am not sure that serves the purpose of the commission.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\nOf the 160 congressional commissions established since 1989, only 12 possess subpoena authority.<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_twitter-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NRDems\/status\/1524853498562609153\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/ext_tw_video_thumb\/1524853263421657096\/pu\/img\/MM0ua2kuSbU2y8tF?format=webp&#038;name=large\" alt=\"Natural Resources Democrats (@NRDems) on X\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NRDems\/status\/1524853498562609153\">\n\t\t\tNatural Resources Democrats (@NRDems) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NRDems\/status\/1524853498562609153\">\n\t\t\t<p>&#8220;It has taken generations for us to get to this point of public truth and accountability.&#8221; -Deborah Parker, @NABSHC LIVE NOW: Watch our hearing on @RepDavids&#8217; Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act \u27a1\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/jM2nDWZoVa<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"X (formerly Twitter)\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nDeborah Parker, CEO of the <a href=\"https:\/\/boardingschoolhealing.org\/\">National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition<\/a> and a citizen of the Tulalip Tribes, said subpoena power is \u201cabsolutely necessary.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s why we worked with this bill to make sure that this information comes to the boarding school survivors and their families, and tribal nations and organizations who work for the healing and the truth of the Indian boarding school experience,\u201d she said.<P><\/P>\r\nObernolte, however, doubled down on his contention that the use of subpoenas would make the process adversarial.<P><\/P>\r\nReps. Cole and Davids have stressed that the purpose of the bill is not to elicit conflict. Instead, they say, it\u2019s to provide answers for the individuals, families and communities affected by federally funded Native boarding schools.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThere are people that don\u2019t like the stories, and they\u2019re not going to want to willingly share,\u201d Barnes said in an interview after his testimony. \u201cAnd that subpoena power helps grease the wheels and helps get that information where it needs to be, so those tribal communities can discover the truth of what happened to our kids.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_twitter-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChiefBarnes\/status\/1534556068784791559\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/FUvWmzyWIAgmChz?format=webp&#038;name=large\" alt=\"Chief Ben Barnes (@ChiefBarnes) on X\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChiefBarnes\/status\/1534556068784791559\">\n\t\t\tChief Ben Barnes (@ChiefBarnes) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChiefBarnes\/status\/1534556068784791559\">\n\t\t\t<p>Summit for Tribal Nations to discuss Boarding Schools, survivors, &amp; human rights violations against our people. &#8220;Breaking the Silence&#8221; is a day-long summit hosted by @uinokt ,@saawanooki &amp; @NABSHC. @ShawneeMission #Truth #Healing #Reconciliation https:\/\/t.co\/KMDGjbuccP<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"X (formerly Twitter)\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tX (formerly Twitter)\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nEven though subpoena authority has become a partisan issue, Barnes remains hopeful that the bill will be passed during the current congressional session.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to wait one more year, one more week, not one more day,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the time to insist upon the answers is now. So, I have to believe this is the time, this is the one, this is the year.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n<em>Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.<\/em><P><\/P>\r\n<STRONG>For more stories from Cronkite News, visit <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=client\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n<P><\/p>\r\n<HR><EM>Note: This story originally <a href=\"\">appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>.  It  is published via a <A href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/\">Creative  Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkite.asu.edu\/\">Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at <A href=\"https:\/\/www.asu.edu\">Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM><HR>\r\n<P><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h4-responsive\">Related Stories<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"related-story\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/08\/house-committee-on-natural-resources-markup-on-indian-country-bills\/\" title=\"House Committee on Natural Resources markup on Indian Country bills\">House Committee on Natural Resources markup on Indian Country bills<\/a> (June 8, 2022)<\/div><div class=\"related-story\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/16\/audio-house-subcommittee-for-indigenous-peoples-of-the-united-states-legislative-hearing-on-h-r-5444\/\" title=\"AUDIO: House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444\">AUDIO: House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444<\/a> (May 16, 2022)<\/div><div class=\"related-story\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/12\/house-subcommittee-for-indigenous-peoples-of-the-united-states-legislative-hearing-on-h-r-5444\/\" title=\"House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444\">House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Legislative Hearing on H.R.5444<\/a> (May 12, 2022)<\/div><div class=\"related-story\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/05\/10\/indian-boarding-school-bill-up-for-first-hearing-on-capitol-hill\/\" title=\"Indian boarding school bill up for first hearing on Capitol Hill\">Indian boarding school bill up for first hearing on Capitol Hill<\/a> (May 10, 2022)<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bipartisan efforts to create a federal commission to explore and repair the legacy of the nation\u2019s notorious Indian boarding schools have hit a stumbling block over subpoena authority.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,13,1,14],"tags":[869,1907,418,88,2781,94,118,1017,176,49,48,3014,296,1729,85,51,299,297],"class_list":["post-25026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-117th","tag-ben-barnes","tag-boarding-schools","tag-deb-haaland","tag-deborah-parker","tag-democrats","tag-doi","tag-gaylord-news","tag-genocide","tag-hnrc","tag-house","tag-jay-obernolte","tag-markwayne-mullin","tag-nabs","tag-republicans","tag-scip","tag-sharice-davids","tag-tom-cole","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-6vE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/08\/DeborahParker-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}