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Biden To Apologize For Government's Role In Indian Boarding Schools

President Joe Biden is set to formally apologize for the U.S. government's role in the Indian boarding school system during a speech today at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. This marks the first time a U.S. president has formally apologized for the forced removal of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children from their homes and families, a practice that the United Nations defines as an element of genocide.

Over a span of 150 years, the U.S. government managed or paid religious groups and churches to operate schools across nearly 40 states, including the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. The policy aimed to assimilate Native American children into white society by removing them from their homes and sending them sometimes thousands of miles away. Many of these children were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, and more than 950 died.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and the first Native American to lead the agency, launched an investigation into the boarding school system shortly after taking office. The investigation found that at least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were taken from their parents and forced to attend these schools. The investigation also documented 973 deaths and 74 gravesites associated with the more than 500 schools.

According to ABC7NY, the Interior Department conducted listening sessions and gathered the testimony of survivors. One of the recommendations of the final report was an acknowledgement of, and apology for, the boarding school era. Haaland said she took that to Biden, who agreed that it was necessary.

In his apology, Biden is expected to acknowledge that the U.S. must remember and teach its full history, even when it is painful, and learn from that history so that it is never repeated. The White House said in a statement, "In making this apology, the President acknowledges that we as a people who love our country must remember and teach our full history, even when it is painful. And we must learn from that history so that it is never repeated."


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