Biden issues historic apology for US role in residential schools

President Joe Biden formally apologized on Friday for more than a century of abuse at Native residential schools during a visit to the Gila River Indian community in Arizona, an important step toward healing the wounds inflicted on survivors and their descendants, Native American leaders in Oklahoma said.

According to A., the USA financed more than 417 schools for the assimilation of Native American children federal report for Biden and his Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. More schools—87—are located in Oklahoma than in any other state.

At least 973 Native American children died in the boarding schools they were forced to attend, and there were 74 places where children were buried on school grounds, according to the report, including 16 in Oklahoma.

Biden called his apology the most important thing he’s ever had the chance to do as president. He said he wanted to forge a new path to healing.

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“I am formally apologizing as the president of the United States of America for what we have done. I am formally apologizing. It is long overdue,” Biden said. “There is no excuse for this apology to have taken 50 years.”

Biden’s apology comes after Haland’s three-year investigation into federal residential schools for Native children. In 2022, her department concluded that the schools had worked together for more than a century the express purpose of eradicating indigenous cultures and communities. The federal government did not abandon the model until the mid-1900s.

A subsequent 105-page report, released earlier this year, expands on the department’s earlier findings and calls for a series of actions, including a formal apology from the US government.

President Joe Biden apologized for Native American residential schools

During his speech on Friday, Biden called the injustice caused by the orphanages disgusting and terrible and said they should not be buried.

“The truth must be told. The truth must be told across America,” Biden said. “This formal apology is just one step forward.”

Biden called Native Americans the first Americans and the most patriotic. Generations of Native Americans have served in the military at higher rates than the nation as a whole.

“Share your knowledge for the benefit of future generations,” Biden said.

Oklahoma Native Leaders Say Biden’s Apology Is Not Last Step Needed for Healing

Grand Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chuck Goskin Jr. called Biden’s apology a profound moment for Native Americans across the country. He applauded Biden’s acknowledgment of the pain and suffering inflicted on tribes and residential school survivors.

“Our children have been forced to live in a world that has erased their identity, their culture and turned their spoken language upside down,” Hoskin said in a statement. “They were often harmed, abused, neglected and forced to live in the shadows.”

Margot Gray, executive director of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, told The Oklahoman that Biden’s apology is a step in the right direction.

“Now we drive through our communities and you see a school. You don’t see the cemetery next to it, but that’s how it was for Indian kids who went to boarding school never to come home, and so often, never said they died at boarding school,” said Gray, who is an Osage citizen. “They suffered extreme cruelty that we will never understand.”

According to Gray, generations of Native Americans were cut off from tribal culture, traditions and ceremonies.

“They cut their hair. They did everything to change their culture, their language, who they were as a people,” Gray said. “The way they prayed changed. It’s just unheard of, but that’s how we’ve been treated.”

Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes, who attended Biden’s speech in Arizona, said Thursday he was excited to work with residential school survivors and allies to bring light to this chapter of U.S. history.

“Survivors said it was important to them to get an apology for the atrocities that happened in these facilities,” said Barnes, who also serves on the board of directors. National Coalition for Healing Native American Residential Schools.

Hoskin said citizens of the Cherokee Nation still feel the impact of the Native residential schools today. He said Biden’s apology should be followed by further action, citing Interior Ministry recommendations to preserve native languages and repatriate ancestors and cultural relics as a path to healing.

“We know from experience that true healing goes beyond words — it takes action, resources and commitment,” Hoskin said. “The Cherokee Nation has publicly acknowledged our own role in the painful history of freed Cherokees and worked for positive change, and this country can too.”

‘This is American history’: Advocate says residential school survivors’ stories should be recorded

Gray said the next step the U.S. must take to reverse the damage caused by indigenous residential schools is to transfer Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Residential School Policy.

The bill would establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Residential School Policies and formally investigate, document, and report on the history of residential schools, their policies, and their systematic impact on Native Americans.

It will also develop recommendations for federal action based on the commission’s findings and promote healing for Indigenous residential school survivors, their descendants and communities.

Gray said the bill is important to creating an avenue for survivors to tell and document their stories.

“It’s an American story,” Gray said. “It’s just not my family’s story. This is simply not the story of the Oklahoma Indians. This is American history.”