Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) welcomes the reintroduction of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States (S.761) in the Senate. This bill will investigate the atrocities committed against Native children at so-called Indian Boarding Schools from the late 1800s through the late 1900s.
Contact Tim McHugh: media@fcnl.org, 202-903-2515
“As a Quaker organization, FCNL feels a deep responsibility to this effort. Quakers ran at least 30 boarding schools across the country, contributing to the atrocities and trauma inflicted on Native children and families,” said Bridget Moix, FCNL’s general secretary. “Today, it is our shared responsibility with the government and other faith groups who were involved to tell the full history of the boarding schools and to do all we can to name, locate, and return every child who was taken from their family. The Truth and Healing Commission bill brings faith communities alongside Native communities and the federal government in our shared search for truth and justice.”
The bipartisan bill was introduced by Lisa Murkowski (AK), chair, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA). If passed, a congressional commission will collect documents and hear testimonies from survivors and Native communities.
“It is long overdue for Congress to cease abdicating its oversight responsibility and authorize the Indian Boarding School Commission,” said Rachel Overstreet, FCNL legislative representative for Native American advocacy. “The Indian Boarding School System was specifically designed to undermine Native families and prevent Native parents from exercising their right to educate and raise children how they see fit,”
She added that since the survivors of these schools are elderly, “Congress must act now to ensure that they can share their stories before it is too late.”
Between 1871 and 1969, Congress spent more than $23 billion (in 2024 dollars) for cultural genocide and assimilation through these schools. Congress wrote laws allowing Indian agents, sheriffs, and church groups to forcibly take Native children from their homes, often with the threat of jail or the withholding of rations. With government transparency and accountability now front and center, now is the time to investigate how federal dollars were used to destroy Native families.
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
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