{"id":39020,"date":"2024-07-29T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T04:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=39020"},"modified":"2024-07-29T08:51:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T12:51:50","slug":"cronkite-news-bill-brings-accountability-for-indian-boarding-school-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/07\/29\/cronkite-news-bill-brings-accountability-for-indian-boarding-school-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Bill brings accountability for Indian boarding school era"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii): Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) speaks in support of S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, on July 24, 2024.The bipar…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\r\nIndianz.Com Video: Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) – S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Proposed federal commission would investigate abuses at Native American boarding schools that operated until the 1970s<\/div>\r\n
Monday, July 29, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Brianna Chappie<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — From 1819 until 1969, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools<\/a> \u2013 sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles from their families.

<\/P>\r\nThe schools were run by churches and the federal government with a clear purpose: to strip Native Americans of their cultures and force them to assimilate.

<\/P>\r\n \r\nAbuse was rampant. Overcrowded and unsanitary, the schools became breeding grounds for tuberculosis and other diseases. An estimated 40,000 children died<\/a> in these boarding schools.

<\/P>\r\nArizona was home to 59 of these schools<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\nA move is underway in Congress to bring accountability to the federal government for promoting these policies.

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.): Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) speaks in support of S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, on July 24, 202…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\r\nIndianz.Com Video: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) – S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe cannot rectify the past until we face it head-on,\u201d Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, said Wednesday evening on the Senate floor as she and a handful of colleagues held forth on the topic. \u201cThere isn\u2019t an indigenous community in this country that hasn\u2019t been affected.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nA bipartisan bill<\/a> that currently has 32 Senate co-sponsors would create a \u201cTruth and Healing Commission\u201d akin to those used in post-apartheid South Africa and in other places affected by conflict.

<\/P>\r\nThe commission would investigate Native American boarding schools and the lasting impact they had on families and tribal communities. It would hold hearings to gather witness testimony, and would have subpoena power to dig out documentation and unshroud a history that churches and governmental entities have kept hidden for decades.

<\/P>\r\nThe commission would also make recommendations on whether the dark history of these schools should shape current federal policy.

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska): Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) speaks in support of S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, on July 24, 2024.The bip…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\r\nIndianz.Com Video: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) – S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWarren introduced the bill with Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Both senators from Arizona are co-sponsors: Independent Kyrsten Sinema and Democrat Mark Kelly.

<\/P>\r\nOnly Oklahoma had more Native American boarding schools than Arizona, according to lists compiled by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s cheaper to educate Indians than to kill them,\u201d Thomas Morgan, the federal Indian Affairs Commissioner appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, said at the establishment<\/a> of the Phoenix Indian School in 1891.

<\/P>\r\nAs Captain Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania \u2013 which became the model<\/a> for government-run boarding schools \u2013 infamously said<\/a>, \u201cKill the Indian, save the man.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nThe education these schools provided was often inadequate.

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.): Truth & Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) speaks in support of S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, on July 24, 2024.Th…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\r\nIndianz.Com Video: Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) – S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nChildren were hit, slapped and starved if they dared to speak their native languages, practice their religion or display any behavior that indicated a resistance to assimilation.

<\/P>\r\nThere was also sexual assault.

<\/P>\r\nA recent Washington Post investigation<\/a> identified 122 priests and student workers at 18 schools alone who had been accused of molesting Native American children under their care. The perpetrators rarely faced repercussions and were instead often moved to other schools. The Catholic Church sent priests to facilities such as the Servants of the Paraclete<\/a> in New Mexico, set up for clergy with \u201cpersonal difficulties.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nSen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, recounted incidents in his own state. Fort Lewis College used to be known as the \u201cFort Lewis Boarding School<\/a>,\u201d he recounted as he, Warren and others held the Senate floor to spotlight their commission proposal.

<\/P>\r\n \"Indian<\/a>

Young Indian girls said to be on their first day of school at the Theodore Roosevelt School on the Fort Apache in Arizona on June 19, 1923. Photo: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs \/ National Archives and Records Administration <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nDr. Thomas Breen, superintendent at Fort Lewis, was known for raping girls at the school, the senator said, and staff were instructed to make any student who became pregnant \u201cdisappear.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWhy was our government preying on our own children?\u201d Hickenlooper said during his impassioned floor remarks.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe have not simply a moral responsibility, but a legal obligation to the welfare of tribes across the country to uphold treaty rights, and to recognize the dark history of our own country,\u201d he said. \u201cThis obligation cannot be met without securing truth, justice and healing for every Native person, family and tribe affected by these genocidal policies.\u201d

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts): Truth & Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) speaks in support of S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, on July 24, 2024.The b…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\r\nIndianz.Com Video: Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) – S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act<<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nNative American parents who refused<\/a> to give up their children were incarcerated or had their food rations cut off<\/a> by the U.S. government.

<\/P>\r\nWarren spoke about armed men sent onto reservations to pry children from their families, some as young as 4.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cIf I was a parent, I would be absolutely catatonic,\u201d Schatz said.

<\/P>\r\nMany of these parents would never see their children again.

<\/P>\r\nAt least 53 mass graves<\/a> containing the remains of Native American boarding school children have been found after an investigation launched by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland \u2013 the first Native American to hold a Cabinet position.

<\/P>\r\nHaaland\u2019s own ancestors had been forced to attend these boarding schools.

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Members of the U.S. Senate speak in support of S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, on July 24, 2024.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Indianz.Com\"\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIt\u2019s unclear how many living survivors of the boarding schools remain. Warren and others called it urgent to let them tell their stories before it\u2019s too late.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cMost of those affected have passed away. But there are remaining survivors in their 60s, 70s and beyond,\u201d Warren said. \u201cThese people have been harmed enough. Their wounds go deep, and they deserve a chance to stand before the United States government and tell their stories.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>. It is published via a Creative Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM>
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