This blog post was written by Marlo Klein, United Way of King County senior impact manager for homelessness prevention and the Indigenous Communities Fund. Marlo is also an enrolled member of the Rappahannock Tribe, which gained federal recognition in 2018.

On October 25, President Biden issued a formal apology for the “federal Indian boarding school policy and the pain it caused.” President Biden added in his apology, “This will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history.”   

This historic apology, while long overdue, won’t take away the heartbreak and trauma experienced by generations of Indigenous people at the hands of government and religious institutions, but it can pave the way toward healing and reconciliation.

Like Deb Haaland, Secretary of the U.S.  Department of Interior (DOI), says, “Only by acknowledging the past can we work toward a future that we’re all proud to embrace.”     

Under Deb Haaland’s (Laguna Pueblo tribe) tenure and leadership, the DOI conducted and concluded its first-ever investigation into federal Indian boarding school policies – whose goals were territorial dispossession of Indigenous peoples from their land and cultural assimilation.

 The forced removal and relocation of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children over these 150 years caused physical and emotional abuse, death, family destabilization and so much loss: loss of identity, loss of self-esteem, loss of culture, loss of family, language, traditions, weakening of tribal nations and tribal enrollment; the consequences of which are still being felt today.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs website highlights Deb Haaland’s investigative report, along with maps, profiles, and other tragic information relating to federal Indian boarding schools.    

DOI’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative also includes an ongoing oral history project and a 12-stop “Road to Healing” tour that gives voice to Indigenous survivors of federal Indian boarding schools.  I hope you take some time to listen to the testimonies and review the findings from the DOI investigation.  Why?  Because this road to recovery, healing, and transformation requires it.  Indigenous stories of survival need to be told and must be remembered.   

While these are all important first steps, much more needs to be done to redress the damage caused by these policies, including more federal resources for tribal education and language revitalization, as highlighted in this article by local tribal leaders’ reaction to Biden’s apology.   

We at United Way of King County are stepping up to do what we can. For the past four years, we’ve partnered with native-led agencies through our Indigenous Communities Fund to provide hope and healing by and for Indigenous people. 

If you’d like to join us in lifting the Indigenous community, give here.