National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools
In recent years September 30th has come to be known as the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools in the United States. The recognition follows in the footsteps of our Canadian neighbors who have recognized Orange Shirt Day since 2013. The day became a federal statutory holiday in Canada in 2021 known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Both countries are facing a long overdue reckoning with the legacy of the racist practice of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families and placing them in residential schools. In May of 2021 it was reported that as many as 200 possible burial sites had been found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, Canada. The discovery came six years after the release of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 6-volume report, documenting the history and legacy of residential schools and setting out specific calls to action.
Following the discovery of the unmarked graves at the Kamloops school, a United States Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was announced by Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The primary goal of the Initiative was to “identify boarding school facilities and sites; the location of known and possible student burial sites located at or near school facilities; and the identities and Tribal affiliations of children interred at such locations.”
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report was issued in May of 2022, completed in cooperation with The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. The report documented 408 federal schools, including schools in Alaska and Hawaii, with approximately 53 of those schools identified as having marked or unmarked burial sites. The report also acknowledges the intergenerational trauma inflicted on the nation’s Indigenous populations by the federal Indian boarding school system. A full investigation continues, aided by a $7 million Congressional appropriation, and another report is expected to be issued.
Indian Boarding School History in the United States
Provision for the education of Indigenous populations has existed since Colonial times. Many treaties negotiated with Native tribes in the 1700’s and 1800’s included promised funds for the schooling of children. The federal government’s supposed intent was to provide Native children the skills needed to exist in the larger Anglo-American society. It soon became clear that the system of educating tribal children was an extension of the paternal policies of the U.S. government toward tribes, with the ultimate goal being destruction of Native customs and culture.
The first schools established for Native children were the so called “Mission Schools” run by religious organizations, aided by funds authorized in the 1819 Civilization Fund Act. The operation of mission schools reached its peak in the 1850’s and 1860’s. U.S. government funding of mission schools was discontinued in 1900.
Government operated day schools and boarding schools began operation in the late 19th century. The Bureau of Indian Affairs opened schools both on and off reservations. It was the hope of the Bureau that reservation day schools would be an entry point into reservation boarding schools, and later it was determined that establishment of off-reservation schools was needed, thus furthering the practice of assimilation through education.
The administration of Indian affairs by the U.S. government and its system of education came under attack in 1928 through an independent investigation by the Institute for Government Research, also known as the Brookings Institution. The resulting report, popularly known as the Meriam Report, called for a progressive more culturally appropriate education for Indigenous children.
Although boarding schools continued to exist, new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, encouraged policies moving away from assimilation and towards more autonomous governance by tribes. Collier was instrumental in securing passage of the Indian Reorganization and Johnson-O’Malley Acts of 1934, otherwise known as the Indian New Deal. Progress in education remained elusive with the advent of World War II and the termination period (the U.S. government’s failed attempt at assimilation by ending tribes’ sovereign status).
Following a scathing 1969 Senate Report criticizing the government’s Indian education policies, two pieces of landmark legislation, the 1972 Indian Education Act and the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, were passed. The measures provided tribes with self-determination in education matters, ushering in a new era in Native education.
Unfortunately, the enduring legacy of United States policies toward Indigenous populations has resulted in a continuing crisis in Native education. American Indian and Alaska Native dropout rates have been on a downward trend since 2008. Meanwhile former participants in the boarding school system examine their roles in the harm that took place, and survivors of Indian boarding schools grapple with the trauma caused by one of the ugliest chapters in U.S. history. We acknowledge their pain today. (SC)
This post is adapted from the 2017 Washington State Law Library display Selected Documents in Native American Education.
