A federal investigation has confirmed that over 900 children from American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities died in U.S. government boarding schools between 1819 and 1969. The real number is likely higher, and an official apology is recommended.
“Based on available records, the Department concludes that at least 973 documented Indian child deaths occurred in the Federal Indian boarding school system,” stated a report commissioned by U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
More than 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were sent to federal boarding schools throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. These schools caused generations of trauma, abuse, neglect, poor nutrition, and despair.
Chase Iron Eyes, executive director of the Sacred Defense Fund, praised the U.S. for attempting to correct its harmful actions that aimed to erase native nationhood.
“We must tell the truth before we can reconcile,” said Iron Eyes. “Those who suffered must be made whole.”
The boarding schools were part of forced assimilation policies aimed at American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people for nearly two centuries, the report noted.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition has created a map showing the locations of these schools as part of a new digital archive.
The schools aimed to erase Indigenous identities and prepare children for low-paying jobs in American society. The most famous was the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, started in 1879 with the motto “Kill the Indian in him, save the man.”
The federal report urges the U.S. government to acknowledge its role, apologize to those affected, and support cultural revitalization efforts like language and traditional food systems.
Personal stories highlighted in the report show the deep impact of the schools. One former student recalled the silence in the village after the children were taken away. Another remembered the nightly cries of children missing their parents and wanting to go home.
Haaland began the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative in 2021 to investigate the harmful legacy of these schools. The report recognizes that the number of children who died is likely higher, as it doesn’t account for those who attended religious and privately run schools without federal support.
The report suggests that, besides an apology, the government should address the ongoing impacts of the boarding school system, create a national memorial, repatriate remains of children who never returned home, and return former boarding school sites to tribes.
“Truth and reconciliation are not beyond our reach,” said Iron Eyes. “The United States must help provide paths to recovery.”