Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2024 11:10:44 GMT
"As president of the United States, I formally apologize for what we did," Biden said at a ceremony on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona.
"This is an apology long overdue. Let me be clear: there is no excuse for it taking 50 years for this apology to come. The federal government's Native American boarding school policy will always remain a stain on American history."
Between 1819 and 1969, the US Department of the Interior ran hundreds of boarding schools with the goal of assimilating and eradicating Native Americans.
Native American children were forcibly removed from their families and communities and sent to remote boarding schools. Tens of thousands of children suffered psychological, physical and sexual abuse at these schools, and some died or went missing.
In 1879, Lt. Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, founder of one of the most prominent schools, described the schools' purpose as "kill the Indian and save the man."
"This is an apology long overdue. Let me be clear: there is no excuse for it taking 50 years for this apology to come. The federal government's Native American boarding school policy will always remain a stain on American history."
Between 1819 and 1969, the US Department of the Interior ran hundreds of boarding schools with the goal of assimilating and eradicating Native Americans.
Native American children were forcibly removed from their families and communities and sent to remote boarding schools. Tens of thousands of children suffered psychological, physical and sexual abuse at these schools, and some died or went missing.
In 1879, Lt. Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, founder of one of the most prominent schools, described the schools' purpose as "kill the Indian and save the man."