Judy: The federal government
detailed for the first time the
brutality and treatment native
American children suffered.
Beginning in the 1800s, they
were forcibly moved into U.S.
Boarding schools.
Leaders of different tribes and
communities spelled out a litany
of horrors they say lead to a
cultural genocide that still
impacts native Americans to this
day.
We looked at what the
investigation found.
>> Between 1819 and 1969,
thousands of native American,
Alaska native, and hawaiian
native children attended these
U.S. Government schools.
Part of a system of over 400
facilities across 37 states, or
then, territories.
More than 500 children died
while attending.
Kids as young as four were
removed from their families,
transported across the country
to schools where they were
banned from speaking their
language, forced to do manual
labor, and suffered physical and
sexual abuse.
The secretary of interior spoke
about her own connection to
those schools during a difficult
and emotional press conference.
>> The fact that I'm standing
here today is the first
indigenous cabinet secretary is
testament to the strength and
determination of native people.
I'm here because my ancestors
persevered.
I stand on the shoulders of my
grandmother and my mother, and
the work we will do with the
federal Indian boarding school
initiative will have a
transformational impact on the
generations who follow.
>> Also at that event was our
guest, Deborah parker.
CEO of the national native
American boarding school healing
coalition and member of the --
tribe in Washington.
They work with the government on
this report.
Welcome to the newshour and
thanks for making the time.
We can hear it in the sec.'s
voice.
I heard it in your voice when
you were speaking.
It is difficult.
I wonder if you can tell us what was like in that moment. At it felt like in the room to
finally come forward and share
these findings.
>> In that moment, it was like a
release of an extreme amount of
sorrow and grief.
But also this feeling of pride
that we are here today, we are
in Washington, D.C., at our
nation's capitol.
I'm sitting next to an
indigenous woman known as the
secretary of interior.
And we are here to share a
story, share a truth that has
not been told for generations.
The enormous feeling of that has
impacted so many of us for
generations.
And it is time that we tell this
story.
It starts with the interior
report on the U.S. Boarding
schools and how we have been
impacted by the federal
government on the lives of
indigenous children and
families.
>> This first report is volume
one.
There will be more findings to
come.
Specifically, this work found
marked and unmarked burial sites
at 53 different schools.
The remains of hundreds of
children who died in U.S.
Government custody.
Tell us about the details
uncovered in this investigation.
What kind of treatment did those
children go throughout those
schools?
How did they die?
>> So many children were taken
and never returned.
Some were more murdered, buried
on residential school --
boarding school sites, and near
rivers, on hillsides.
The stories are so enormous, and
we know these stories from our
relatives.
We know these stories so well.
We are waiting for the federal
government, we are waiting for
churches, for others to tell the
story.
When we talk about the pain, the
beatings, tortures, children the
other day -- a member from the
alaskan tribe shared with me his
mother was put in the basement
of one of the boarding schools.
She was chained to a heater and
beaten daily.
So hearing these stories,
knowing that our relatives
suffered so enormously is a lot
to carry.
>> We heard secretary Holland
mentioned the idea of
intergenerational trauma, that
there is a lasting impact and
legacy after what children went
through, what a generation went
through in those schools.
The reports show the disparities
are absolutely there.
When you look at the American
Indian and alaskan native
communities, you see the highest
rates of poverty, premature
death, suicide, lowest
rates of graduation.
You believe this investigation
can help to close some of those
gaps?
>> Absolutely.
The hope is we find healing.
The hope is we come together as
a nation to not only tell of
these truths, but also to begin
to heal together.
And our communities have known
this truth for generations.
It is time the U.S. Government
understands these truths.
It is time we listen, that we
hold space for our traditional
elders, our keepers of our
language, it is time that we
support tribal nations and
indigenous peoples who continue
to suffer.
And we suffer -- when our
children attend these schools,
they are not taught our history.
We are written out of the
history books.
The goal was killed the Indians,
save the man.
So for so many of us growing up
in the U.S., all we wanted to be
was the very best self we could
be.
We wanted to carry our
traditions, we want to speak our
language.
But for our children and
grandparents, that was beaten
out of them.
For me to take a class from my
trbe, I sat there and cried.
It was so difficult and I could
not understand why.
But my father shared with me
that grandmother cried --
she tried to sing her song, but
grandfather would say "Don't
sing, they will arrest you, they
will come and get you."
These are moments that were so
painful for our family, and
meant for us to forget our
songs.
It was meant for us to forget
our dances, ceremonies, and
language.
This generational pain exists
very deep within our relatives
across what these lands are now
called, United States.
This is our way of life.
>> You mentioned you are not
going to stop advocating until
there's a full accounting from
the U.S. Government.
What does it mean to you?
>> It means records.
The records go back to the
families that tribal nations are
able to find the missing and
murdered children, the
government apologizes to these
nations.
Not only apologizes, but make
amends.
I don't have the recipe for the
amends.
It will be up to each tribal
nation, each indigenous person
who has suffered at the hands of
this colonial system.
We are just getting to the point
we are telling our story.
I think the rest of that will
come as we listen to our elders,
the stories.
>> That is Deborah parker, CEO
of the national boarding school
healing coalition.
Thanks for your time.