Legislation to establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools (S. 1723) was reintroduced this week with 26 Cosponsors but not Duckworth. — This is a crucial step toward investigating the atrocities of native boarding schools and opening a path toward healing and right relationship that protects human rights and tribal sovereignty.
From the early 1800s through the 1960s, the U.S. government partnered with 14 different Christian denominations to operate hundreds of boarding schools for Native American children across the country. The goal was to “assimilate” Native children into white American culture by any means necessary.
The traumatic separation of Native children from their families, identity, traditions, and spiritual beliefs was often coupled with psychological and physical abuse. Heartbreakingly, many of these children never returned home.
The intergenerational trauma created by these institutions is still felt today—yet, the federal government has never truly reckoned with the harms of the boarding school era. The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act would change that.
However, it is essential that the commission have the authority—such as subpoena power—to access records that faith organizations have not voluntarily disclosed in order to facilitate the atonement and healing process central to this legislation.
The establishment of the commission is an important first step in starting the truth, healing, and reconciliation process for all of us. Please make a well publicized public statement in support of the commission, and especially encourage Tammy Duckworth to do the same.
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