At least 973 native children died in US boarding schools — probe
Investigation ordered by government uncovers graves at schools established to force Indigenous children to assimilate, revealing that cause of death included sickness and abuse over a 150-year period that ended in 1969.
The ruins of a building from a Native American boarding school on the Rosebud Sioux reservation in Mission, South Dakota / Photo: AP
A investigation released by the US Department of the Interior has revealed that at least "973 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children died while attending federally operated or supported schools."
The investigation outcome unveiled on Tuesday and launched by Secretary Deb Haaland in June 2021 updated the list of institutions to 417 across 37 states and identified "at least 74 marked and unmarked burial sites at 65 different school sites."
It said the US government allocated over $23.3 billion (in 2023 inflation-adjusted dollars) to support these schools and related assimilationist policies from 1871 to 1969.
"The federal government — facilitated by the Department I lead — took deliberate and strategic actions through federal Indian boarding school policies to isolate children from their families, deny them their identities, and steal from them the languages, cultures, and connections that are foundational to Native people," Secretary Haaland said in a statement.
Haaland pledged that US administration is "working tirelessly to repair" the trauma left for Indigenous communities.
She emphasised that "the road to healing does not end with this report – it is just beginning."
The investigation also included eight key recommendations, such as issuing a formal apology, investing in remedies for current impacts, and establishing a national memorial.
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