Biden’s apology for Indian boarding schools is a step ‘forward to the light’

Last week, President Joe Biden apologized for the horrific abuses suffered by Indigenous children in residential schools across the U.S. that were supported by the federal government.

“The Federal Indian Residential School policy and the pain it caused will always be a significant shame, a stain on American history,” Biden said Friday during a ceremony at Gila Crossing Elementary School in Laveen Village, Arizona. “For too long, all this has happened with virtually no public attention, it has not been written about in our history books, it has not been taught in our schools.”

For more than 150 years, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children were taken from their homes and parents and sent to hundreds of boarding schools across the country. They were literally stripped, their hair was cut, their names were changed, and they were beaten for speaking their native language. Their culture, their history, their religion, their identity was taken from them as they were brutally assimilated into white culture. Many of them were subjected to physical and sexual violence. About 1,000 children are known to have died in schools, which were often run by churches. Some schools operated until 1969.

This story was unknown to most Americans.

“As president of the United States of America, I formally apologize for what we did,” Biden said.

“I know that no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the Federal Boarding School policy,” the president said. “But today we are finally moving forward into the light.”

Biden’s apology on behalf of the US government, which he acknowledged was overdue, is an important step. However, this is only the beginning of a new recognition of the history, abuse, rights and aspirations of Native Americans.

Bill Hall, 71, of Seattle was 9 years old when he was taken from the Tlingit community in Alaska and forced to attend boarding school, where he endured years of physical and sexual abuse, leading to many more years of shame, Associated Press reported. When he first heard Biden was going to apologize, he said he wasn’t sure he could accept it.

“But as I watched, tears came out of my eyes,” Hall told the AP on Friday. “Yes, I accept his apology. What should we do next?

Biden’s apology follows an investigation ordered in 2021 by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. A member of the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico, Haaland is the first indigenous cabinet secretary. The investigation described in detail the horrors of boarding schools and the abuses therein. This followed similar findings about residential schools in Canada.

The inquiry’s report made several recommendations, including revitalizing Indigenous languages, providing mental health care for survivors and returning the remains of children buried in schools that have long since closed. He also called for a fuller accounting of the schools and their atrocities, as well as the creation of a federal memorial to recognize and remember those who were forced to attend these schools.

These and other steps, especially those identified and supported by Indigenous communities, can be important steps toward accountability, understanding, and healing. Biden’s historic apology is the beginning of this work, not the end.

– Bangor Daily News