September 30: National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools

My research career has taken me to the National Archives in Washington, DC and other locations many times over the past 30 years. Much of my time was spent in Bureau of Indian Affairs records for individuals, law firms, and directly for Tribes. The direct reading of hundreds upon hundreds of pages of correspondence, student and family records, social workers commentary, and school superintendent letters was sobering. All these were related to U.S. government run Indian Boarding Schools. I’ve also consulted records related to day schools and boarding schools run by religious groups. As recently as last week, I was reading some of the heartbreaking correspondence.

What did I gain by reading these? Details on names, ages, relationships, and much more. But what has stuck in my mind are the awful details. Imagine an 8-year-old child removed from their parents, forced to travel by train or bus to such a boarding school, often far from home. The child’s traditional clothing was removed, replaced by what was proclaimed to be that of white children. That was followed by a haircut, again to the style of a white child.

Three months into the school year, the child has an appendicitis attack and has surgery. No parental permissions were sought. The school superintendent or other official might later send a letter to the parents and tell that their child had surgery and was doing ok. There may have been some other medical issues involved, but the hospital and school would take care of it. Not the parents, not the tribe, note Grandma.

That child was ill, in pain, placed in a dank hospital room lined with other beds, taken into surgery, sent back to that bed. No mother, father, or sibling to provide a hug, tell them that all would be ok, or provide other support. NOTHING. If the child died, the burial was likely on the school property. Again with no knowledge or permissions from the child’s parents.

In both the United States and Canada, efforts are being made to repatriate the children thus buried and bring them home to parents, other family, and to the land of their Tribe. Some are being brought home but not quickly enough and many still remain far from home.

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