For more than 100 years, it was US federal government policy to seize Native American children from their families and place them in residential schools, many of which were run by Catholic religious orders. Though the ostensible goal of these "Indian boarding schools" was to provide education and training, the not-so-hidden agenda was forcible assimilation. In the words of U.S. Army officer Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the first off-reservation Indian residential program, the schools were meant to "kill the Indian" in each child.
To that end, the children were forbidden to speak their tribal languages. They were denied their family, tribal, and spiritual traditions. This cultural violence was often enforced -- as was common in 19th-century public schools -- with physical violence. In recent years, there have also been substantiated reports of emotional and sexual abuse, neglect of children's health, and disproportionate death rates among the students.
The initial spotlight fell upon Canadian residential schools, where the same policies prevailed. Descendants and survivors shared stories of how they and their children and grandchildren suffered from the generational trauma of family separation and abuse, the effects of which linger in substance abuse, unemployment, and inability to form strong relationships. Many were too ashamed or angry to tell their stories at all.
In Canada, pressure from Indigenous groups and the public outcry over revelations of abuse led the government to form a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to examine and address the harms done by the residential schools. In 2022, during his visit to the nation, Pope Francis made a public apology to the Indigenous peoples of Canada:
"I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools," he said.
"Although Christian charity was not absent, and there were many outstanding instances of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic," Francis said. " What our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Time for truth and reconciliation in the U.S.
The response of the U.S. government has been far slower, though the same problems existed and are still causing lingering damage. Many U.S. religious communities who once ran residential schools have become advocates for accountability and change. Legislation to establish a federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Schools was first proposed in 2021, and endorsed by the Jesuits and Franciscans, who had run many of the schools. In an open letter, they said:
We acknowledge that from the 1860s through the 1960s U.S. federal boarding school policy sought to assimilate Native children into white American culture. In recognition that this policy was morally wrong and contrary to the teachings of our own faith, we are now beginning the journey of finding and facing our history with respect to the boarding schools.
No action was taken on this initial proposal, but legislation has been proposed again in both the U.S. House (HR 7325) and the Senate (SB 761).
On March 16, four U.S. Bishops sent a letter to Congress urging action. The bishops -- Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of Louisville, Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, Chairman, Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church; Bishop John T. Folda of Fargo, Chairman, Subcommittee on Native American Affairs; and Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Chairman, Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People -- echoed a July 2024 bishops' letter to Congress on the earlier proposal, and reiterated:
The forced removal of children from their tribal lands and communities as part of federal boarding school policies was a moral failure that disregarded the unique culture and dignity of Indigenous peoples. Accounts from this era illustrate lasting trauma among those who were involuntarily brought to these schools. The pain from the Native American boarding
school era continues to echo today. As stated in the USCCB’s Pastoral Framework, Keeping Christ’s Sacred Promise: A Pastoral Framework for Indigenous Ministry, “The Church recognizes that it has played a part in traumas experienced by Native children.”
Hearings on the latest proposed legislation -- which would not only establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but also explore reparations and prohibit the children of Indigenous peoples in the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska) from being forcibly removed from their families -- have not yet been scheduled.
