Not "New" News about Boarding Schools

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition remains on the frontlines, educating and informing. What may come as "breaking news" to many is knowledge that has been held within the Tribes and Native peoples for more than 100 years. The evidence that is coming out surrounding the deaths and mistreatment of Native children across the continent is finally being seen on a national scale.

Every Native person alive today had a parent, a grandparent, a great grandparent who was forcibly taken from their family and incarcerated at a "boarding school". These institutions were created to assimilate Native children and break their connection to their families, Culture and land.

My own grandfather had a brother who died at Haskell Indian Boarding School. There was never communication to his family how he died, nor was his body ever sent home for proper burial. This was knowledge our family simply had to live with. We hope his name will be found and that his grave will be marked and someday his body sent home. Given the evidence that has come to light recently, it is probably more likely that he is in an unmarked grave or possibly a mass grave of children.

I can only imagine the sadness and suffering my great grandmother experienced, being powerless to protect her children.

This is not "new" news for Tribal people. This is and has always been the way. Indian people have never been afforded the basic human rights and respect regardless of the topic or situation. I guess we learned to live with it because there has been no recourse or justice ever shown, even in a situation like the death of your own child. Maybe you can try on those shoes and imagine what it would be like to be forced to accept this inhumane treatment and how that conditioning can continue to manifest in future generations. By knowing, does this signal a change or does it hint at a shift for the Native American person?

The Indian boarding schools are just one example of the dark legislation and legal actions against Native people. This really is just the tip of the iceberg.

What do you think about that?

~Shelly Covert, Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribal Spokesperson

++Original post on National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition page…

BREAKING NEWS: The bill for a Truth & Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the U.S. is officially bipartisan in both the U.S. Senate and House. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, signed on as the lead Republican co-sponsor of the bill today. We applaud Senator Murkowski for her support and leadership on this important piece of legislation.

“S. 2907 would establish a commission to investigate and document United States Indian boarding school issues, locate the graves of Native children who died while attending these schools, and provide recommendations to Congress. This legislation is significant, but I recognize that it is a work in progress as we attempt to better understand the trauma that followed these policies. I look forward to holding hearings in the Indian Affairs Committee and favorably reporting a bill that will fully address the injustices done to Native peoples by Indian boarding schools as a result of federal assimilationist policies,” said Vice Chairman Murkowski.

Article: Senator Murkowski Joins Indian Boarding Schools Commission Legislation

#incarceratednativechildren #indianboardingschools #killtheindiansavetheman #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NisenanHeritageMonth