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Apology sought for Indian boarding school abuses
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Filed Under: Education | National

A national wellness group is asking President Barack Obama to apologize for the "widespread abuse" that occurred at Indian boarding schools.

White Bison Inc. plans to present a petition to the White House following a 40-day walk across the country that seeks to raise awareness of the issue. Supporters hope the new president will follow in the footsteps of Canada and Australia, whose governments recently apologized for the forced schooling of indigenous youth.

"We seek this apology not to go after monetary reparations from the government, but to promote collective healing of all Americans for this tragic chapter in our nation's history," the petition states.

Billed as the Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness, the cross-country trip starts on May 16 at the Chemawa Indian School in Oregon. Top Bureau of Indian Affairs officials were faulted for failing to correct problems that led to the death of Cindy Gilbert Sohappy, a 16-year-old student, in December 2003.

But the horrors stretch back generations, organizers say. Attempts to stamp out tribal culture and languages at boarding schools have contributed to high rates of suicide, substance abuse, domestic violence and child sexual abuse among American Indians and Alaska Natives, according to the petition.

To start the healing process for the abuses, walkers on the 6,800-mile trip will visit 24 current and former boarding schools in more than a dozen states. The final site is the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which organizers plan to reach on June 21.

From Pennsylvania, the walk moves to the nation's capitol, where the apology petition will be presented at the National Museum of the American Indian on June 24. Nearly 1,700 people have signed the petition so far.

Congress has considered a resolution to apologize for boarding schools and other negative Indian policies since 2004. Despite bipartisan support in the House and the Senate, opposition from the Bush administration prevented its passage.

With Obama in office, tribal leaders have expressed hope that the resolution will pick up steam again. The issue came up during the winter session of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington earlier this month, when Juana Majel-Dixon, the organization's secretary, talked about her forced sterilization at age 16.

"There is no apology you can give for someone who has been sterilized," said Majel-Dixon, a council member for the Pauma Band of Mission Indians of California. "There's no words on paper that will ever resolve that."

In the last Congress, the apology was included in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. Rep. Dan Boren (D-Oklahoma) is expected to introduce a new version in the 111th Congress.

The resolution makes clear that it doesn't come with money. That differs from the apology offered in Canada, which created a $1.9 billion settlement for former boarding school students and a government-funded Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Australia's apology didn't come with money for the "Stolen Generation" of Aborigines who were forcibly taken from their homes and sent to boarding schools. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Florida) introduced H.RES.242 last week to commend Australia for its action.

The BIA, through the Bureau of Indian Education, oversees 184 schools and dormitories. An estimated 48,000 students attend the institutions.