Uncovering the Hidden Truth: Native American Boarding Schools' Impact on Generations
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition has released a new list of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States, revealing that Native American children have attended at least 523 such schools since the 19th century. This surpasses the previously reported number of institutions. The majority of these schools were run by the federal government to assimilate children into White society. The list includes both closed and currently operating schools, with 125 still open. Efforts to raise awareness about the legacy of boarding schools have gained momentum, with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland launching an initiative to investigate the schools. The Interior Department's initial investigation found that 19 boarding schools accounted for the deaths of over 500 Native American children, with the expected number of recorded deaths to be in the thousands or tens of thousands.