Following is information from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) about how we can support Senate Bill 2907 to establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies.
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Holds Hearing to Address Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
On June 22, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) held an oversight hearing on the findings of volume one of the Interior Department’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Report. They also held a legislative hearing to receive testimony on the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (S. 2907).
Committee members asked about efforts to revitalize Native languages and what Congress can do to address some of the consequences of former boarding school policy. “I believe that our obligations to Native communities mean that federal policies should fully support and revitalize Native health care, education, Native languages, and cultural practices that prior federal Indian policies, like those supporting Indian boarding schools, sought to destroy,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
The consequences of two atrocities in the history of this country continue to impact us today. The institution of slavery, and the genocide of and land theft from Native Americans continue to tear our social fabric because we have not done what is necessary to acknowledge the truth and seek ways for healing.
This book chronicles the efforts of one small group of Friends to achieve some measure of justice for Native people of North America. The Quakers persisted across the centuries, while often realizing-and sometimes denying-that notwithstanding some successes, their goal was fundamentally unattainable. Any justice achieved could only be considered restorative, given that Native peoples’ relationship to their ancestral lands–central to their identity and humanity–was under relentless assault. These activist Friends were guided by the belief, or “testimony” of equality among all humankind.
As They Were Led. Quakerly Steps and Missteps Toward Native Justice 1795-1940 by Martha Claire Catlin, Quaker Heron Press, 2021.
Many questions arise as the remains of thousands of Native children are being located on the grounds of Indian boarding schools.
White Quaker communities are learning about the history of Friends’ involvement in the forced assimilation of Native children. And grappling with questions such as what are the relationships among Quakers and Indigenous peoples today? How do we work to discover and better understand the damage that was done? What can be done to begin to heal? This article by my friend Bobby Trice talks about these questions. Quakers Grapple with Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools by Bobby Trice, FCNL, October 25, 2021.
There are a number of areas of concern.
One is seeing the deep trauma in Native communities as the children’s remains are located. And sometimes returned to their home.
And seeking answers about how this happened. Searching for what Native communities, and White Quakers, can do to act on the truth we find. Discern what healing involves and how we do that. Healing not only for Native peoples, but also for Quakers. Trying to understand what this means for Quakers, past and present. Some of us have relatives who taught in those schools.
[Note: There are objections to calling those institutions of forced assimilation “schools”. And referring to what occurred there as “teaching”.]
I think it is easy, from the place where we are now, to be critical of the attitudes of these Friends. And yet I think we will find that we have much in common with them. I think this research will provide an opening for us to examine ourselves today, and to ask ourselves, “What are we missing in our analysis of the issues of our time? What are blind to? What are the contradictions in our own expression of our religious values? Are we living with integrity in our communities and on the land?”
Well, today, 150 years later, we see the policy of forced assimilation in a very different light. Native people from Australia to Canada and throughout the United States are bearing witness to the damage that was done to generations of Native children, especially in the boarding schools. Whether the children were treated cruelly or kindly, the intention of the schools really was to annihilate Indigenous cultures, to “kill the Indian; save the man.”
From our twenty-first-century vantage point, we know (or can learn) how Native people suffered and continue to suffer the consequences of actions that Friends committed 150 ago with the best of intentions. Can we hold those good intentions tenderly in one hand, and in the other hold the anguish, fear, loss, alienation, and despair borne by generations of Native Americans?
Native organizations are not asking us to judge our Quaker ancestors. They are asking, “Who are Friends today? Knowing what we know now, will Quakers join us in honest dialogue? Will they acknowledge the harm that was done? Will they seek ways to contribute toward healing processes that are desperately needed in Native communities?” These are my questions, too.
The Department of the Interior has released the first volume of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Report. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland first announced the creation of the Initiative last June, with a primary goal of investigating the loss of human life and the lasting consequences of these schools. The report was assembled with the input of tribal governments, Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiian communities.
FCNL welcomed the release of the first volume of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative’s long-awaited investigative report. Assembled by the Department of the Interior, this report serves as historic documentation of the trauma inflicted by Indian boarding schools. It also underscores the need for further reckoning on this vital issue, both in Congress and in the Quaker and faith communities.
According to the report, between 1819 and 1969, there were 408 schools across 37 states (or then-territories). Quakers managed at least 30 Indian boarding schools, and the conditions at these institutions were often horrific. These schools aimed to “assimilate” Native children through tactics such as renaming children with English names, cutting their hair, prohibiting the use of Native languages and religions, extensive military drills, and manual labor. Abuse ran rampant, including the withholding of food, solitary confinement, and physical punishment.
The investigation also found 53 burial sites at boarding school locations so far. As the Interior Department continues their investigation, they will produce a list of marked and unmarked burial sites and approximate the total amount of federal funding used to support the Indian boarding school system.
“This new report shines a much-needed light on the atrocities committed at Indian boarding schools, some of which were run by Quakers,” said FCNL General Secretary Bridget Moix. “We commend the Department of the Interior for doing this difficult work and we remain committed to doing our part to advance the reckoning and healing process for this dark chapter in American history.”
“Further, we call on the faith community at large to share records and accounts of their administration of these schools. Only through complete honesty and transparency can we begin moving towards a more just future,” she continued.
“For far too long, the truth of cultural genocide led by European-Americans at Indian boarding schools has remained hidden in secrecy and ignored,” said (past) FCNL General Secretary Diana Randall. “Christian churches, including Quakers, carry this burden of transgression against Indigenous people.”
I believe we must deal with the past, with these transgressions, before we can know how to move into the future.
FCNL welcomed the release of the first volume of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative’s long-awaited investigative report. Assembled by the Department of the Interior, this report serves as historic documentation of the trauma inflicted by Indian boarding schools. It also underscores the need for further reckoning on this vital issue, both in Congress and in the Quaker and faith communities.
According to the report, between 1819 and 1969, there were 408 schools across 37 states (or then-territories). Quakers managed at least 30 Indian boarding schools, and the conditions at these institutions were often horrific. These schools aimed to “assimilate” Native children through tactics such as renaming children with English names, cutting their hair, prohibiting the use of Native languages and religions, extensive military drills, and manual labor. Abuse ran rampant, including the withholding of food, solitary confinement, and physical punishment.
The investigation also found 53 burial sites at boarding school locations so far. As the Interior Department continues their investigation, they will produce a list of marked and unmarked burial sites and approximate the total amount of federal funding used to support the Indian boarding school system.
“This new report shines a much-needed light on the atrocities committed at Indian boarding schools, some of which were run by Quakers,” said FCNL General Secretary Bridget Moix. “We commend the Department of the Interior for doing this difficult work and we remain committed to doing our part to advance the reckoning and healing process for this dark chapter in American history.”
“Further, we call on the faith community at large to share records and accounts of their administration of these schools. Only through complete honesty and transparency can we begin moving towards a more just future,” she continued.
Friends Committee on National Legislation Native American Legislative Update
MAY 2022
The Interior Department also announced the launch of “The Road to Healing,” a year-long tour across the country to allow survivors to share their stories, connect tribal communities with trauma-informed support, and facilitate the collection of a permanent oral history.
Bill Tracker
Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (H.R. 5444): On May 12, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. held a hearing to receive testimony from boarding school survivors, tribal leaders, and the head of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
FY2023 Budget Hearings: On May 11, the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee received testimony from the Indian Health Service (IHS) on its proposal to move IHS funding from discretionary to mandatory funding in fiscal year 2023. If approved, this change would stabilize the tribal healthcare system.
Portia K. Skenandore-Wheelock Congressional Advocate Native American Advocacy Program
The following is a searchable list of Indian boarding schools identified by the Department of the Interior as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. The information is drawn from Appendix A of Volume 1 of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report. It shows the 408 schools were identified in 37 states, including 21 in Alaska and seven in Hawaii. Over time, the schools were located at 431 sites.“The research conducted has resulted in the identification of hundreds of boarding schools that have been considered against four criteria,” the 27-page document reads. “All four criteria must be met for an institution to be considered a FIBS.”
The four criteria follow:
Housing – Institution ever described as providing housing or overnight lodging to attendees on site.
Education – Institution ever described as providing formal academic or vocational training or instruction.
Federal Support – Institution ever described as having federal government funds or other support provided to the institution.
Timeframe – Institution operational at any time prior to 1969.
The schools in Iowa are listed here:
Toledo Industrial Boarding School
Toledo Sanatorium; Sac & Fox Indian Boarding and Mission School; Sac & Fox Sanatorium; Tama School; Tama Sanatorium
Toledo
Iowa
White’s Manual Labor Institute – Iowa
Iowa Boys Training School; Iowa Girls Training School; Indian Boarding School; Home and School for Boys and Girls
I’m grasping for anything I can do to reduce the chances of yet another atrocity of violence, another massacre of children. I feel anger and sorrow at the pitifully inadequate legislation being discussed in Washington, DC. Even those measures are unlikely to pass.
I’ve been part of a local Mutual Aid community for almost two years now. And I have experienced how powerful and effective Mutual Aid is in building community and addressing community needs immediately. It is by working in our local communities that we can address community safety, providing alternatives to guns and violence. It is the only way.
Des Moines Mutual Aid
My experiences with this type of community justice work strongly supports what José Santos Woss, Director for Justice Reform at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, says in this video, “Quaker Faith in Justice Reform” (below).
In particular, he says “there’s a need for Quakers to step out of their meeting.”
When I was in Indianapolis, North Meadow Circle of Friends were part of the pilot program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) called Quaker Social Change Ministry (QSCM). The idea was to get Quakers out of the meetinghouse by finding a community near them that was experiencing injustice, and spend time being physically present with that group. Spending a lot of time there by consistently showing up.
QSCM brings a spiritual focus to Quaker justice work by having the Quakers involved reflect on the spirituality of the experiences they were having. QSCM also taught us how important it is to listen deeply to those in the community we were working with. To wait to be asked by the community to do something. To be students, not teachers.
Quakers are pretty white, and that comes with quite a bit of power and privilege. A Quaker in Omaha, Nebraska is going to have probably more weight in what they say to a legislator than a Black Lives Matter activist in Brooklyn, New York. I think there’s a need for Quakers to step out of their meeting and away from a lot of these phenomenal institutions that they’ve created and speak to individuals in an interfaith setting (from Black churches or Black Lives Matter) and have a cross-cultural understanding of what that experience is like because you’ll find that it’s very different, and I think the more we can do of that the more effective we’ll be in addressing these problems. These exchanges and fusion coalitions are what I think it’s going to take, not only for Friends to be effective in dismantling these systems of racism, classism, and white supremacy in American society, but also for all of us to better address these problems in our country.
White Quakers need to “speak to individuals in an interfaith setting (from Black churches or Black Lives Matter) and have a cross-cultural understanding of what that experience is like because you’ll find that it’s very different.”
That is what we did when North Meadow Friends engaged with the Kheprw Institute, a Black youth mentoring community in Indianapolis. We spent at least one Sunday afternoon a month there, participating in discussing books about justice issues.
When I said a sad goodbye, I told them I felt I had received a graduate degree from them. Alvin said “your diploma is in the mail.”
I began to receive a similar education when I walked and camped for eight days, for ninety four miles with a small group of native and nonnative people along the path of the Dakota Access pipeline.
And it is the education I’m receiving from my work with Des Moines Mutual Aid (as described above).
White Friends cannot receive this education without leaving the meetinghouse. Neither committee meetings, lectures or workshops can do this.
And those in oppressed communities will not listen to what you have to say until you have demonstrated you have experienced and learned these things.
These exchanges and fusion coalitions are what I think it’s going to take, not only for Friends to be effective in dismantling these systems of racism, classism, and white supremacy in American society, but also for all of us to better address these problems in our country.
One thing we can do is work to promote community violence interruption. Mutual Aid communities are a framework for doing this.
“Trust, credibility, and relationships are core pillars of the Safe Streets Baltimore program and other programs around the country like it,” said Moix. “Local violence interrupters are able to respond quickly to potential incidents and de-escalate the situation, while building relationships and strengthening community resilience over time. These locally-led programs are impactful and cost-effective, and they deserve more federal support and funding from Congress.”
Build Safer Communities: Invest in Violence Interrupters
Traditionally, cities have responded to community-level violence by increasing the presence of a militarized police force. This solution has repeatedly failed with sometimes fatal consequences. A new solution, one that comes from within the community itself, offers a new way forward: violence interrupters.
Violence interrupters work within their communities to deescalate violence before it happens, without police intervention. These evidence-based programs are tailored to the unique needs of the neighborhoods they serve and lay the groundwork for lasting communal change.
Urge Congress to make our communities safer by dedicating federal funding to violence interrupters programs.
Use this button to send this message to your Congressional representatives.
I sense universal despair from the unbelievable tragedy of the deaths of elementary school children, yet again. Part of the hopelessness is that these things have happened in the past and we fear they will continue to happen. That there will be no changes for better community safety. We feel personally responsible for these failures. And we are, aren’t we, if we do nothing?
Many disparage the idea of “thoughts and prayers” which admittedly is usually an empty sentiment. But as people of faith, we do believe in prayer, don’t we?
Amanda Gorman recently wrote “It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity – it’s inhumanity.”
Schools scared to death. The truth is, one education under desks, Stooped low from bullets; That plunge when we ask Where our children Shall live & how & if
Many Quakers look for hope in statements and suggestions for action from our national political lobbying organization, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).
The gun violence epidemic is both a public health crisis and a troubling reflection on our country’s spiritual state. As we seek policy solutions, we must also look critically at the culture that enables so many people to kill each other with guns.
Information on the FCNL website today follows, including a link to send a message to your Congressional representatives to enact universal background checks.
When will it be enough?
The mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, TX is horrific and heartbreaking. We grieve for the children, the teachers, and the families. We grieve for America. And we will continue to demand that our lawmakers act to disrupt this cycle of violence and terror.
Universal background checks legislation would save lives by implementing background checks for every firearm purchase or transfer. The House recently pass two such bills – the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 8) and Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 1446).
Gun violence in the United States is so common that it rarely makes the news. As a nation, we have seemingly accepted that ordinary activities – going to a house of worship, a nightclub, a school – carry the risk of violent death.
But our current levels of gun violence are not inevitable. Policymakers’ failure to pass common sense, responsible legislation contributes to appalling rates of gun violence in the United States.
Lawmakers must take every available step to reduce harm and loss of life. Easy access to guns will continue to make it horrifyingly easy to escalate fear, hatred, and rage into slaughter.
We support efforts to reduce gun violence by limiting gun ownership, possession, and use. In particular, a comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy will:
Address the many forms of gun violence, including mass shootings, accidental shootings, police shootings, domestic and intimate partner violence, and suicide, through context-sensitive approaches
Advance evidence-based gun violence prevention
Preserve civil liberties and anti-discrimination protections
Prioritize systemic changes over individual punishment
Limit access to equipment that makes mass shootings deadlier
Implement safety checks for all gun buyers
Promote and strengthen community engagement by implementing community-based violence intervention and prevention programs
The gun violence epidemic is both a public health crisis and a troubling reflection on our country’s spiritual state. As we seek policy solutions, we must also look critically at the culture that enables so many people to kill each other with guns. As Quakers, we believe that there is that of God in every person and that all creation has worth and dignity. We call on Congress to act immediately to protect each sacred life.
“The Light That Never Fails” (from “Meru” soundtrack)
When the cold bites your bones And gets in your heart It can make you feel hopeless And fear will come to steal your sun and make it dark But don’t believe you’re lonely
We’ve all had that moment when our shoulders sink And we sit back and think We could just run
But we’re not born to chase the fading light We’re not born to fall and lose the fight Never letting go Oh no oh I’m askin’ you to lift me, lift me higher than I ever been Hold your breath and say you’re gonna come with me We were born to follow The light that never fails
You’re scared to fight You’re scared to climb Afraid to die But I can be your courage And help you see you’ve already won this
We all have that moment when our head hangs low We question if we should go Or turn back and run
But we’re not born to chase the fading light We’re not born to fall and lose the fight Never letting go Oh no oh I’m askin’ you to lift me, lift me higher than I ever been Hold your breath and say you’re gonna come with me We were born to follow The light that never fails
Come along We’re settin’ sail Never looking back again
We’re not born to chase the fading light We’re not born to fall and lose the fight Never letting go Oh no oh I’m askin’ you to lift me, lift me higher than I ever been Hold your breath and say you’re gonna come with me We were born to follow The light that never fails The light that never fails We were born to follow The light that never fails Light that never fails The light that never fails
Washington, DC. The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) welcomed the release of the first volume of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative’s long-awaited investigative report. Assembled by the Department of the Interior, this report serves as historic documentation of the trauma inflicted by Indian boarding schools. It also underscores the need for further reckoning on this vital issue, both in Congress and in the Quaker and faith communities.
“This new report shines a much-needed light on the atrocities committed at Indian boarding schools, some of which were run by Quakers,” said FCNL General Secretary Bridget Moix. “We commend the Department of the Interior for doing this difficult work and we remain committed to doing our part to advance the reckoning and healing process for this dark chapter in American history.”
“Further, we call on the faith community at large to share records and accounts of their administration of these schools. Only through complete honesty and transparency can we begin moving towards a more just future,” she continued.
Portia Kay^nthos Skenandore-Wheelock, is the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) Congressional Advocate, Native American Advocacy Program. She makes an important point when she writes about connecting boarding schools to broader practices of White supremacy. This is important for White Quakers to understand as we search for ways to support Indigenous peoples today.
The consequences of separating young children from their families and tribal homes, a curriculum of child labor, and punishments akin to those inflicted on prisoners of war are deeply felt within Indigenous communities to this day.
Further, beneath the cruel assimilation policy lies the true purpose of this government strategy: an effort to seize Native land. Federal records confirm that the creation of the federal Indian boarding school system coincided with land dispossession. An assimilation policy targeted at Native children was thought to be easier and less costly than war in separating tribes from their land. The schools would discourage tribal land and food practices and encourage western agricultural practices that require less land.
Another tactic was to encourage tribes to purchase goods on credit to support the western agricultural lifestyle. Thus, tribes would fall into debt and have no option but to cede lands to the U.S. for payment—those funds were then mostly used to fund the boarding school system.
Survivors left these institutions abused, in poor health, and without the language and cultural knowledge to connect with the homes they returned to.
Separating Native children from their families continues today as social service agencies create excuses to remove them from their homes.
And there was the practice of separating children from their families at the southern border.
It is the ultimate manifestation of White Supremacy to violently and cruelly force anyone who is not white to abandon their culture, practices and beliefs, to assimilate into White culture.
Global White supremacy was codified in the Doctrine of Discovery
What is the Doctrine of Discovery? Why Should It Be Repudiated?
For thousands of years, Indigenous Peoples lived free in their territories in the Western Hemisphere. When European monarchies invasively arrived in the Western Hemisphere in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and later centuries, during the so-called Age of Discovery, they claimed the lands, territories, and resources of the Indigenous Peoples, asserting that the monarchies had a right to appropriate on behalf of Christendom. The monarchies’ claims of a Christian dominion (dominance) over Indigenous Peoples and their lands served them pragmatically to fend off competing monarchies and to de-legitimate the long-established autonomous indigenous peoples’ governments.
The Doctrine of Discovery is a key premise for non-Indigenous government claims to legitimacy on and sovereignty over Indigenous lands and territories. It is used in particular by former British colonies, specifically, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.
It’s difficult to write this morning. Writing is a spiritual practice for me. But my heart and Spirit are heavy from the news of yet another horrendous school shooting.
There are so many questions, and so few answers.
Just because something like the second amendment is interpreted to enshrine guns doesn’t mean that is the right thing to do. Why do those in power choose guns over the lives of children?
We should beat guns into plowshares.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:4
Today’s juxtaposition is related to an online event about the trauma, and deaths that occurred in the Indian Boarding Schools in this country and Canada. The genocide. Trauma that has been passed from generation to generation. Trauma those living today experience.
That is in juxtaposition to the elementary school massacre in Texas yesterday.
Seeking Truth, Healing, and Right Relationship: Quakers and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools, MAY 25, 2022, 6:30 – 7:30 PM EDT
FCNL and Friends advocate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Yet, historically, Quakers played a role in colonization and the cultural genocide of Native people through the operation of more than 30 Indian boarding schools. With legislation now before Congress to investigate the legacy of Indian boarding schools, how are Friends communities engaging to address Quaker complicity in these atrocities?
Join us on Weds. May 25 at 6:30 p.m. EDT to learn how FCNL and F/friends are reckoning with this history and advocating in solidarity with Native communities.
In conversation with Paula Palmer and Jerilyn DeCoteau, FCNL’s Congressional Advocate for Native American Advocacy Portia Kay^nthos Skenandore-Wheelock will discuss FCNL’s work to build support for the bipartisan Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act (S. 2907/H.R. 5444). Paula and Jerilyn will share from their expertise and experience co-directing Towards Right Relationship with Native Peoples with Friends Peace Teams. Director of Quaker Leadership Alicia McBride will moderate the conversation.
There is a Facebook group, Every Child Matters related to the atrocities of the Indian Boarding Schools. The number on the graphic tracks the number of remains of children found so far.
A community to provide educational resources, generate awareness, share events and actions, and build community. Recognizing the legacy of colonization in all of Turtle Island, and working together as a community to create a world our 7 generations yet to come can feel proud to be a part of.
“Every person will do their work in their own way as we move forward.
Some will take direct action and take action. That is important. Some will write policy. That is important. Some will do ceremony. That is important. Some will share stories. That is important. Some will build relationships and understanding. That is important. Some will teach. That is important. If we all do what we know how to do, with what we know, it will be good.
Every one and every thing has purpose. Keep your ears and minds and hearts open. Try to listen to each other without forming an opinion. Listen to things as information. You don’t have to agree with it. But you can validate it as someone’s experiences, feelings and ways of healing.”
Following is a link to the poem every child, found on the Intrepid Muse Poetry blog.
It is a juxtaposition to see the rapidly accelerating, multiple effects of environmental devastation and chaos versus the struggles of Indigenous peoples trying to protect their pristine lands and waters. https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/2022/05/23/juxtaposition/
The House Natural Resource Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples is accepting written testimony in support of H.R. 5444, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act.
There are two ways you can send your written testimony for the bill. One is by using The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition’s resources. Secondly, information from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is found at the end of this post. The FCNL site will help you write your letter and send it to the appropriate members of Congress.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
REQUESTING SUPPORTIVE WRITTEN TESTIMONY FOR H.R.5444
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is currently pursuing the passage of H.R. 5444 / S. 2907, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the US Act. The House Natural Resource Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples held a hearing on Thursday, May 12, 2022, on H.R. 5444. We are reaching out to invite you to submit written testimony in support of this legislation. The House allows for written testimony until May 26, 2022. Therefore, we are humbly asking you to share your story by emailing the House Natural Resource Committee at:
To familiarize yourself with the legislation, NABS’s one pager can be found here, H.R. 5444/S.2907 the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. To submit testimony, please see NABS suggested draft template on how to write your story for Congress. It can be a minimum of two paragraphs up to 15 pages. If you have any questions, please reach out to NABS at info@nabshc.org t’igwicid – Thank you,
Natural Resources Committee to Hold First Congressional Hearing on the Indian Boarding School Era
Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, May 12, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States will hold the first congressional hearing in history to examine the “Indian Boarding School Era,” the time period from 1819 to 1969 in which the U.S. government forcibly removed Indigenous children from their communities and placed them into government-run boarding schools to assimilate them into Euro-American society. At these schools, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students were forbidden to practice their culture, use their given names, or speak their traditional languages. If they disobeyed, they were harshly punished. Many students experienced physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, and some never returned home to their families. To this day, the United States government has never formally acknowledged or apologized for these actions.
The legislative hearing will consider H.R. 5444, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, introduced by Rep. Sharice L. Davids (D-Kan.), which will establish a formal commission to investigate and document the policies of the Indian Boarding School Era. The commission will develop recommendations on how the U.S. government can best acknowledge and heal the intergenerational trauma associated with the era.
Support the Establishment of a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools
It is long overdue for the United States to acknowledge the historic trauma of the Indian boarding school era. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Christian churches collaborated with the government to create hundreds of boarding schools for Native American children. The conditions at these schools, some of them Quaker-run, were unspeakable.
Remind your members of Congress of their responsibility to tribal nations and urge them to support the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act (S. 2907/H.R. 5444).
As I was praying about what to write this morning, I was thinking about the title from an email from Grist magazine: It’s time to elevate Indigenous voices
It’s time to elevate Indigenous voices
It’s clear that Indigenous leaders and communities play a critical role in climate action and have already faced significant climate threats. Elevating Indigenous voices is key to staving off the climate crisis, and the news industry must do better.
Our reporting brings light to the challenges Indigenous communities face and grounds these stories through the lens of solution and justice by elevating the Indigenous leaders and ideas that are critical to protecting the planet’s biodiversity and the health of our ecosystems
Although there is colonialism in the idea that it is White people’s privilege to frame these narratives, it is important to make White people aware of the importance of elevating Indigenous voices.
White people cannot begin to have authentic relationships with Indigenous peoples until we have learned and acknowledged the truth about the history of White settler colonists stealing the land and committing genocide against native peoples. And the continued oppression today. To understand the trauma that has been passed from generation to generation. The grief of those living today.
I was blessed to participate in the Climate Justice Summit of the new coalition, the Buffalo Rebellion. A coalition that has leadership from Indigenous people and that is elevating Indigenous voices.
Buffalo Rebellion is a coalition of Iowa grassroots organizations that are growing a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice!
Formed in 2021, Buffalo Rebellion is comprised of seven Iowa organizations: Great Plains Action Society, DSM Black Liberation Movement, Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, Sierra Club Beyond Coal, Cedar Rapids Sunrise Movement, SEIU Local 199, and Iowa CCI
This is a fraught issue in Quaker communities today. More than 30 Indian boarding schools were run by Quakers.
The first step toward healing for all those involved, White and Indigenous peoples, is truth telling.
Raw emotions are re-awakened as the process of locating the remains of native children on the grounds of Indian boarding schools occurs at more schools.
On Wednesday, the Department of the Interior released an investigative report documenting the brutal conditions endured by Native children who were forced to attend federal boarding schools. The next day, a House subcommittee held the first-ever hearing on this critical issue.
The impacts of this tragic era persist today. These schools—more than 30 of them run by Quakers—are inextricably linked to the loss of tribal languages, cultural resources, and dispossession of land. Many of the problems facing tribal nations today, including poverty, violence, suicide, and alcohol and drug abuse, are rooted in the traumatic separation of children from their families and the abuses at these federally sponsored institutions.
It is long overdue for the United States to acknowledge the historic trauma of the Indian boarding school era. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Christian churches collaborated with the government to create hundreds of boarding schools for Native American children. The conditions at these schools, some of them Quaker-run, were unspeakable.
Now we must work with tribal nations to advance congressional efforts to establish a federal commission to formally investigate boarding school policy and develop recommendations for the government to take further action. Although the wrongs committed at these institutions can never be made right, we can start the truth, healing, and reconciliation process for the families and communities affected as we work to right relationship with tribal nations.
Letter Writing May: Acknowledging the Trauma of Indian Boarding Schools
From the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
“Native organizations are not asking us to judge our Quaker ancestors. They are asking, ‘Who are Friends today? Knowing what we know now, will Quakers join us in honest dialogue? Will they acknowledge the harm that was done? Will they seek ways to contribute toward healing processes that are desperately needed in Native communities?’” – Paula Palmer, Friends Journal
It is long overdue for our country to acknowledge the trauma inflicted by Indian Boarding Schools in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Christian churches often collaborated with the government to create hundreds of these schools around the country with the goal of assimilating Native children into white society. Quakers were among the religious bodies that ran these boarding schools, causing unspeakable harm to Native children and communities.
Today, Congress can pass legislation that would begin to seek truth and healing for the Native communities that are still affected by this trauma. Friends today are working with tribal nations to advance this congressional effort to formally investigate boarding school policy and develop recommendations for future action.
Increasingly, more members of Congress are signing on to co-sponsor this legislation. Your voices are vital in continuing the momentum to push this effort forward. While the wrongs committed at these boarding schools can never be made right, this truth and healing commission can begin a process of working to right the relationship with tribal nations.
Please act using the accompanying letter template, call script, and this email template. Add 2‐4 sentences letting your legislator know why you are personally concerned.
Then, call Congress at 202‐224‐3121 and ask to be connected to your representative’s and senators’ offices. Leave a message if they do not pick up or if you are calling after office hours.
I also hope you will join FCNL’s Quaker Changemaker event on May 25 at 6:30 p.m. EDT, “Seeking Truth, Healing, and Right Relationship: Quakers and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools.”
Your letters, emails, and phone calls to Congress matter now more than ever.
We ask Friends to continue contacting their elected officials using our materials. Please share this call to action with your community email lists and organize virtual gatherings for collective advocacy.
Learn more and get training from FCNL staff at fcnl.org/lobbyfromhome. In peace, Emma HulbertProgram Assistant Quaker Outreach
Quakers and Mutual Aid 