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U.S. govt finds burial sites at 53 Native American boarding schools
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A stone outside the Genoa Indian School Interpretive Center commemorates the unknown number of children that died at the Genoa U.S. Indian School, is seen on November 21, 2021, in Genoa, Nebraska, U.S. /CFP

A stone outside the Genoa Indian School Interpretive Center commemorates the unknown number of children that died at the Genoa U.S. Indian School, is seen on November 21, 2021, in Genoa, Nebraska, U.S. /CFP

A U.S. government investigation into the dark history of Native American boarding schools has found "marked or unmarked burial sites" at 53 of them, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said on Wednesday.

Haaland, the first Native American cabinet member, announced the investigation last year. In releasing preliminary findings during a press conference in Washington, she spoke through tears and in a choked-up voice.

"The federal policies that attempted to wipe out Native identity, language and culture continue to manifest in the pain tribal communities face today," Haaland said. "We must shed light on the unspoken traumas of the past."

Until Wednesday, the U.S. government had yet to provide any true accounting of the legacy of the schools, which used education to change culture so tribal land could be taken. Families were forced to send their children to the schools.

To compile Haaland's report, researchers located records on 408 schools that received federal funding from 1819 to 1969, and another 89 schools that did not receive money from the government. About half the schools were run for the government by or supported by churches of various denominations. Many children were abused at the schools, and tens of thousands were never heard from again, activists and researchers say.

The report noted that "rampant physical, sexual, and emotional abuse" took place at the schools and is well documented, and that so far, the investigation had found over 500 children who died while in school custody. Investigators said they expect to uncover many more deaths.

Haaland said she's beginning a year-long "road to healing" tour to listen to survivors of the boarding school system. The next goals of the investigation are to estimate the number of kids who attended the schools, find more burial sites and identify how much federal money went to churches that took part in the school system, among other issues.

She said Congress had provided $7 million to keep the research going this year, which she said was fundamental to helping Native Americans heal.

Deborah Parker, head of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition that's assisting the Interior Department in its investigation, said the report just scratched the surface of the trauma.

"Our children had names. Our children had families. Our children have their own languages," she said at the press conference. "Our children had their own regalia, prayers and religion before Indian boarding schools violently took them away."

The U.S. government has never acknowledged how many children attended such schools, how many children died or went missing from them or even how many schools existed.

Source(s): Reuters

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