The slogan, originated by Richard Henry Pratt was “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”
Over several decades from the late nineteenth to the mid Twentieth Century, Indigenous Children were taken by agents of the federal government to boarding schools where officially, they were to be educated to become assimilated into mainstream (white) American society.
Unfortunately, in many cases these children were subjected to physical, including sexual, abuse, mental anguish, long term separation from their parents, the purging of their rich cultural language and heritage, and murder.
The revelation of this attempt at cultural genocide has been brought to the forefront of the national discussion thanks to local efforts from people like former Arizona State Legislator Jennifer Jermaine, Governor Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and the current Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland.
On May 4, 2022, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation declaring May 5 Missing Or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.
On Friday, October 25, President Biden came to the Gila River Indian Community in Laveen to apologize for the abuse agents of the government inflicted on Indigenous children at the Indian Boarding Schools during the time period they were in operation.
Calling this event one of “The most consequential things I’ve ever had an opportunity to do in my whole career and as president of the United States,” Mr. Biden said “We should be ashamed” as he recounted the horrors suffered by Indigenous Children in these boarding schools, commenting:
“It’s important that we know generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know with people they never met who spoke a language they had never heard. Native communities silenced. Their children’s laughter and play were gone. Children would arrive at schools. Their clothes taken off. Their hair that they were told was sacred was chopped off. Their names literally erased and replaced by a number or an English name. One survivor later recounted her days when taken away. She said, quote, “My mother standing on that sidewalk as we loaded into a green bus. I can see the image of my mom burned into my mind and my heart where she was crying.”Another survivor described what it was like at the boarding school, and I quote, “When I would talk in my Tribal language, I would get hit. I lost my tongue. They beat me every day.”Children abused — emotionally, physically, and sexually abused. Forced into hard labor. Some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents. Some left for dead in unmarked graves. And for those who did return home, they were wounded in body and in spirit — trauma and shame passed down through generations.”
“It’s horribly, horribly wrong. It’s a sin on our soul...After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program, but the federal government has never — never — formally apologized for what happened until today. I formally apologize as President of the United States of America, for what we did. I formally apologize. And it’s long overdue...I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologize to the Native peoples — Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans — and [at] Federal Indian Boarding Schools.It’s long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make. The Federal Indian Boarding School policy and the pain it has caused will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history. For too long, this all happened with virtually no public attention, not written about in our history books…We owe it to all of you across Indian Country. The truth — the truth must be told. And the truth must be heard all across America.”
Former State House Representative Jennifer Jermaine, one of the leading advocates for uncovering the truth at these boarding schools wrote on social media:
“Very sad that I was not able to join so many friends for such an impactful and important event in Gila River Indian Community today. The Indian Boarding School system is an issue that affects every single Native American alive today. What our ancestors survived was horrific.”
Before the event, Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis, who was at the ceremony, commented to NPR:
“This is going to really start the healing and the reconciliation and the redeeming of this sad part of history, not only for the boarding school survivors. A significant, very important part of this apology is admitting that this happened.”
Interior Secretary Deb Harland, who attended the event with President Biden issued several social media posts including:
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs reacted to the President’s apology to the Indigenous People Community by posting:
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes responded to the President’s apology with the below social media post.
Senator Mark Kelly, who was at the event, issued a statement and posted:
Representative Greg Stanton offered:
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.