Mary Annette Pember
ICT
The push for U.S. accountability for the creation and operation of Indian boarding schools rolls on in the final days of the current Congressional session with Senate passage of a bill to establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawai’i who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, announced the bipartisan legislation had passed the Senate on Friday, Dec. 20.
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The bill now heads to the House for further consideration, though it wasn’t clear the likelihood it could win full passage this year.
“We are overwhelmed with tears of joy as S-1723 moves one step closer to becoming law,” said Deborah Parker, chief executive of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition said in a statement shared with ICT.
“This is a moment we’ve waited for so long — one that brings hope and healing to Native American communities, children, and survivors of this dark chapter in our history,” Parker said. “We urge the House to act swiftly and pass this bill before Congress adjourns, so the truth can finally be acknowledged, and the healing can truly begin. This is a long-overdue step toward justice for those who have suffered for generations.”
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The legislation would establish a federal commission to investigate, document and acknowledge injustices supported by the federal government during the boarding school era, which began in the 1800s with a plan for forced assimilation of Native children.
The hope is that the act, if approved, would help begin the healing process for survivors, descendants and communities that continue to experience intergenerational trauma as a result of the destructive policies.
The Biden administration has taken unprecedented action to recognize the fallout of the assimilationist policies, including supporting Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s two-part boarding school initiative investigation. Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, was the first Native American to sit in a presidential cabinet.
President Joe Biden also issued an historic apology in October for the U.S. government’s role in creating and operating boarding schools. He has since announced creation of a national monument on the site of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, whose harsh policies served as the model for Indian boarding schools across the U.S. and Canada.
Murkowski thanked Schatz in the statement and recognized the healing coalition, advocates, survivors and their families for working on the legislation.
“As a committee, we have worked diligently on this bill because for far too long the dark legacy of the Indian Boarding School Era was unrecognized and unacknowledged,” said Murkowski, who co-led the legislation with its author, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
“I have heard numerous stories from those who attended boarding schools – some from the state of Alaska, some outside of the state,” Murkowski continued. “I thank all those who’ve uncovered those scars and shared their painful experiences on the need for this Commission, which will provide a process for communities to share truth and pursue healing with the goal of breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma.”
Supporters of the boarding school healing act are scrambling to secure passage of the companion bill in the House of Representatives before the session ends and a new Congress is sworn in next year.
The office of the National Congress of American Indians issued a call Friday via social media for citizens to call leaders of the House urging them to pass the bill during this session. NCAI leadership noted that this may be the last chance the boarding school healing bill will have ‘for years to come.”
In its waning hours, the Biden administration has supported a flurry of Native-positive legislation and agreements, including Department of the Interior agreements with the U.S. Library of Congress and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to preserve boarding school survivors stories as part of the Indian boarding school initiative.
And earlier this week, the Senate gave final approval to the Native American Child Protection Act. The bill is now headed to the president’s desk for his signature. It would reauthorize, revise and expand parts of the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act enacted in 1990. The original programs were never fully funded.
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