Telling the truth about boarding schools

USD students believe, at least to some extent, that knowledge is power. You can’t make good legal decisions or good policy without good information. One blind spot where our state lacks information concerns Native American boarding schools in the state and also in the wider U.S. The U.S. government set up boarding schools, often run by churches, to assimilate Native peoples and stamp out their language and culture. To call this policy misguided would be an understatement. 

The Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition estimates that by 1926, over 80% of Native children went through this boarding school system. There have been roughly four generations of boarding school students, from the post-Civil War up to now. What we don’t know is exactly how many children did this happen to? How many children died or went missing?

Twenty-five of these schools were in South Dakota. Eight are still open. Four are still boarding. These schools were often places where abuse would take place. Take St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain for example, in 2010 an abuse case involving St. Joseph’s reached the South Dakota Supreme Court. That same year House Bill 1104 was passed, a bill written by a St. Joseph’s attorney that limited the damages that an abuse victim could seek. The Native Times called this “the most discriminatory bill ever passed in South Dakota.” The state legislature decisively sided with abusers over victims. This is a very ugly history, but telling the truth is a part of healing.

Canada, I’m sad to say, is somewhat ahead of us here. The Canadian government assembled a Truth and Reconciliation commission to investigate the legacy of their boarding school system. They also produced a comprehensive report with calls to action.

My hope is that we could “catch up” and do something similar here. To that end, Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced S.2907, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. My hope is Senator Rounds, who sits on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will show support for the Commission. 

The Commission will formally investigate and document the assimilation practices and human rights violations that occurred against Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. It will hold culturally respectful and meaningful public hearings for victims, survivors and their families to testify on the impacts of these policies. As well as receive guidance from a Truth and Healing Advisory Committee with representatives from tribal organizations, tribal nations, experts and survivors.