US President Joe Biden recently issued a formal apology to Native Americans for the US government’s role in operating boarding schools that aimed to assimilate Native children by stripping away their culture, language, and identity. The apology, given at the Gila Crossing Community School in Phoenix, Arizona, marks Biden’s first visit to the Indian Country as president.
Biden acknowledged the dark history of Native American boarding schools as “one of the most horrific chapters in American history.” For over 150 years, starting in the early 1800s, thousands of Native American children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools. These schools, funded by Congress and often run by religious institutions, prohibited Native languages, assigned new names to the children, and imposed religious conversion. Many children endured physical and sexual abuse in these institutions.
In July, a report from the US Interior Department identified nearly 19,000 Native American children who attended these schools from 1819 to 1969. The report disclosed that at least 973 children died at these schools, with many buried in unmarked graves. Survivors have since shared traumatic memories, describing their experiences as “pure hell.”
The government spent an estimated $23 billion (adjusted for 2023) on these programs, which included withholding food rations from families that resisted sending their children to the schools. Biden’s apology is seen as a significant, albeit overdue, step toward acknowledging and addressing the pain endured by generations of Native American families.
