{"id":42540,"date":"2024-10-25T14:02:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T18:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=42540"},"modified":"2024-10-28T16:37:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T20:37:51","slug":"sen-tina-smith-d-minnesota-this-isnt-ancient-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/10\/25\/sen-tina-smith-d-minnesota-this-isnt-ancient-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota): ‘This isn\u2019t ancient history’"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Tina<\/a>
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota). Photo: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
\r\nStatement from U.S. Senator Tina Smith on President Biden\u2019s historic apology to Native Peoples for federal Indian boarding schools\r\n<\/div>\r\n
Friday, October 25, 2024<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nMINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, released the following statement in response to President Biden issuing a formal apology for the federal government\u2019s policy of forcing Indigenous children for over 150 years into boarding schools:\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cFor over 100 years it was the official policy of the United States to forcibly separate Native children from their families and Tribes and remove them to boarding schools run by the government and religious institutions. These children, some barely more than toddlers, were stripped of their language, culture, and family and Tribal ties. Many children were physically and emotionally abused, and many died. This isn\u2019t ancient history; this was the policy of the federal government until the 1960s. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThis unspeakable tragedy is not well understood by most Americans, even as impacts of this trauma and injury live on to this day. This is why it is so important that President Biden is formally apologizing to Native peoples for this great injustice. This apology would not have happened without the leadership of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose own grandparents were stolen and taken away to boarding schools.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI live in Minneapolis, the birthplace of the American Indian Movement, and home of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. I was blessed to visit the Coalition with Secretary Haaland and Lt. Governor Flanagan and hear the stories of survivors of boarding schools. The incredible resilience of Native peoples, even as the United States government tried to erase and eradicate their identities, is deeply inspiring.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cMy hope is that President Biden\u2019s formal apology on behalf of the United States will be an occasion for more Americans to understand this tragedy and continue down the path of healing. And, it is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to strengthen Tribal sovereignty and deepen our respect for our trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.\u201d\r\n

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For over 100 years it was the official policy of the United States to forcibly separate Native children from their families and Tribes and remove them to boarding schools. These children were stripped of their language, culture, and family and Tribal ties. https:\/\/t.co\/rg8190UDs6<\/a><\/p>— Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) October 25, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>