Native Boarding Schools

As a Quaker, I find it painful to face our history of participation in these schools. But we cannot live our faith with integrity if we do not.

From the mid-1800s through the 1960s, Christian churches collaborated with the federal government to force Native American children to attend Indian boarding schools. The boarding school system was pervasive— more than 60,000 Native children attended over 500 different schools. The conditions at these institutions were horrific. Yet, the federal government has never conducted a full exploration of the harms and impacts of this federal policy.

Quakers and friends in the FCNL community have been closely following the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act. With a deep concern for the need to advance justice, accountability, and healing for the atrocities of the Indian boarding school era, our network has faithfully uplifted this legislation through intergenerational advocacy.

FCNL welcomed the re-reintroduction of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools Policies in the U.S. Act.

In recent months, the FCNL community has mobilized around the country for indigenous justice in solidarity with tribes advocating for the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act (S. 2907/H.R. 5444).  

Significant progress has been made in Congress in recent weeks on legislation aimed at addressing the horrific legacy of Native boarding schools.

On May 11, the Department of the Interior released the first volume of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Report. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland first announced the creation of the Initiative last June, with a primary goal of investigating the loss of human life and the lasting consequences of these schools. The report was assembled with the input of tribal governments, Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiian communities.