What's Next?
What is next for Native Americans? A formal apology from the United States.
The United States needs to follow the example set by Australia and Canada, two countries that have formally apologized for their government’s role in the removal of Indigenous children and the creation and implementation of boarding schools focused on the destruction of Native culture and identity.
CanadaIn June 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper formally apologized for the government’s “many years of forced assimilation” through residential boarding schools for Canadian First Nation’s peoples. [1]
Follow this apology, the Canadian government created the ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ responsible for collecting data on the “experiences, impacts and consequences” of residential boarding schools. [2] Completed in 2015, the report includes the stories and experiences of boarding schools survivors, their children, and details the continued effects the trauma of these assimilationist institutions have had on First Nation’s communities.
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AustraliaIn 1995, Australia’s attorney general Michael Lavarch launched an inquiry into the continued impact of boarding schools on Aboriginal communities. Although the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report was completed in 1997, the Australian government would not officially acknowledge for its role in the creation of boarding schools until February 2008, with an apology from Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. [3]
National Sorry Day is held annually on May 26 and is a day meant to pay respect to the generations of Aboriginal children who were stolen from their families and placed in assimilationist boarding schools. [4]
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The United States has never apologized or even acknowledged its role in the creation and implementation of Native American boarding schools. An apology is needed for the healing process within Native communities to begin and be effective. [5]
The simple act of saying “sorry” has great significance, as it finally acknowledges and hold the United States government accountable for its wrongdoings against our nation’s original inhabitants.
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If the mistreatment of children had happened in any other “sovereign state, anywhere else in the world, the United States would be among the first to condemn that nation.” [6]
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So why hasn’t the United States said anything, or formally acknowledge its own actions?
What Can You Do?
- Contact you congressional representatives and ask them what they are doing to help and support Native American communities.
- Follow current legislative bills impacting Native Americans, and read news sources that focus solely on the events within Native American communities. - Support organizations like the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition that aid Native communities in the healing of historical trauma. - Sign the Petition for a ‘Truth Report on Native American Boarding Schools’ – which asks the United States government to acknowledge and investigate the abuse, mistreatment and trauma caused by the creation and implementation of boarding schools. - Look at Canada’s ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ report or Australia’s ‘Bring Them Home’ report to see how these government-sponsored reports have begun the healing process for Indigenous communities and helped educate and inform the public. - Send this project to someone else and discuss your reaction with others. |
The first steps towards change are always the hardest and most daunting. But if we collectively raise our voice and ask for the acknowledgement of the government’s role in the creation of Native American boarding schools, we can begin the healing process for Native American communities by finally addressing and acknowledging the trauma of assimilationist policies on our nation’s original inhabitants.
Page Citations:
[1] Ann Piccard, “Death by Boarding School: “The Last Acceptable Racism” and the United States’ Genocide of Native Americans.” Gonzaga Law Review 49, 1 (December 2013): 171.
[2] “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.” Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian Govermnet. Accessed November 2016. http://www.trc.ca/websites /trcinstitution/index.php?p=7.
[3] Claire Palmiste. “Forcible Removals: The Case of Australian Aboriginal and Native American Children.” AlterNATIVE 4, 2 (2008): 86.
[4] Claire Palmiste. AlterNATIVE 4, 2 (2008): 86.
[5] Amy Lonetree. “American Indian Boarding Schools: An Exploration of Global Ethnic and Cultural Cleansing.” Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabee Culture and Lifeways (2011): 19.
[6] Ann Piccard. Gonzaga Law Review 49, 1 (December 2013): 185.
[1] Ann Piccard, “Death by Boarding School: “The Last Acceptable Racism” and the United States’ Genocide of Native Americans.” Gonzaga Law Review 49, 1 (December 2013): 171.
[2] “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.” Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian Govermnet. Accessed November 2016. http://www.trc.ca/websites /trcinstitution/index.php?p=7.
[3] Claire Palmiste. “Forcible Removals: The Case of Australian Aboriginal and Native American Children.” AlterNATIVE 4, 2 (2008): 86.
[4] Claire Palmiste. AlterNATIVE 4, 2 (2008): 86.
[5] Amy Lonetree. “American Indian Boarding Schools: An Exploration of Global Ethnic and Cultural Cleansing.” Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabee Culture and Lifeways (2011): 19.
[6] Ann Piccard. Gonzaga Law Review 49, 1 (December 2013): 185.
Photo Citations:
[Image 1.] Photograph of Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper during a closing press conference following the Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague, Netherlands on March 25, 2014 by Sean Kilpatrick. The Canadian Press.
[Image 2.] Video of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the National Apology to the Stolen Generation speech given February 12, 2008. Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.
[Image 3.] Photograph of National Sorry Day in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia by the Conversation, 2012.
[Image 4.] Photograph of student body of the Carlisle Indian School from March 1892 in from of the present-day school grounds by Charles Fox Staff Photographer at Philly.com. Student body photograph, 1892 from Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
[Image 1.] Photograph of Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper during a closing press conference following the Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague, Netherlands on March 25, 2014 by Sean Kilpatrick. The Canadian Press.
[Image 2.] Video of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the National Apology to the Stolen Generation speech given February 12, 2008. Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.
[Image 3.] Photograph of National Sorry Day in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia by the Conversation, 2012.
[Image 4.] Photograph of student body of the Carlisle Indian School from March 1892 in from of the present-day school grounds by Charles Fox Staff Photographer at Philly.com. Student body photograph, 1892 from Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.