Native Boarding Schools

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The November election is almost here! This election will bring new members of Congress to the Hill, along with a new administration in the White House in January 2025.

The period after the election and before the new Congress takes their seats is often referred to as the lame duck period. It is difficult to discern which legislation may make it out of the flurry of activity that follows elections. This month, we are highlighting bills and actions that impact Native communities and may move in the lame duck:

FCNL welcomes and celebrates President Joe Biden’s apology for the abuses committed against Native children, their families, and their communities by the federal Indian Boarding School System.

For many families, September is back-to-school season. Teachers return to the classrooms, parents breathe a sigh of relief and kids head back to school. For Native American communities, though, the start of a new school year can also bring up memories of separation, pain and heartache inflicted on Indigenous children and families through what were called Indian boarding schools.

Today, September 30, is Orange Shirt Day, Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. On this day, Native communities and allies honor and remember the survivors of Indian Boarding Schools, as well as the children who never returned home. Native communities in Canada have recognized this date as a day of recognition since 2013, and in 2021 Canada formally recognized it as a holiday.

This past spring, I led a group of young Alaskans to Washington, D.C. We traveled across the continent to attend a youth conference organized by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a nonpartisan Quaker advocacy organization. We joined hundreds of young people from across the nation and lobbied Congress to pass a bill that would create a Truth and Healing Commission on the Indian Boarding School Era. Months after returning from Washington, I once again urge the Alaskan Congressional delegation to work together and ensure passage of the bill this Congress session.

Space on the calendar – as well as an election – may be standing in the way of long overdue progress and justice for millions of Native Americans who continue to suffer the consequences of past abuses in boarding schools.

In a bipartisan vote on June 13, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (H.R. 7227) passed the House Education and Workforce Committee 34 to 4. This is a major win for Native American communities, survivors, and their descendants, who were terrorized by these policies for decades. The bill now needs to be approved by two other committees for a floor vote.

While Congress continues to consider federal legislation for Truth and Healing from the trauma of Indian boarding schools, the Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Deb Haaland, has continued its own investigation.

In a bipartisan vote on June 13, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (H.R. 7227) passed the House Education and Workforce Committee 34 to 4. This is a major win for Native American communities, survivors, and their descendants, who were terrorized by these policies for decades. The bill now needs to be approved by two other committees for a floor vote.