Break the silence, Begin the healing.

The devastating impact of boarding school experiences on Native American individuals, families, communities, and Tribal Nations has had far-reaching consequences in the social, emotional, spiritual, and cultural realms. Today, these effects continue to reverberate through generations. It is essential to address and heal the intergenerational trauma caused by these experiences. The time to start this healing process is now.

The truth about U.S. Indian boarding school policy has been excluded from history books, and it is uncertain how many students were subjected to it. Experts estimate that approximately 500 government-funded Indian day and boarding schools operated in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their families by government agents and sent hundreds of miles away to these schools. If they spoke their Native languages, they were punished with beatings, starvation, and other forms of abuse.

Truth. Healing. Justice. Reconciliation. These words carry different meaning for Americans today, depending on what side of history you hail from. If you’re Native American, you know that Justice in Indian Country cannot be fully realized without a major shift in our national narrative. Namely, that the U.S. has never accepted responsibility for its Boarding School experiment—the forced removal of our children, the prohibition of our language and culture, and the violation of our human, civil, and indigenous rights.