On October 5, 2024, President Joe Biden made a historic apology to the Indigenous Communities across the United States in Laveen Village, Arizona, regarding many issues that were caused by the Federal Government, such as the loss of lands, boarding schools, and loss of cultural practices. The United States has been built on the stealing of lands from Indigenous peoples, and the American Government has built many institutions and policies to oppress them further and separate them from the rest of the United States. Historically, we have viewed Indigenous people as savages and different from the rest of the United States. As a result of those feelings against Indigenous peoples, the United States would enact boarding schools that would forever impact Indigenous communities. Boarding schools were a systematic way to enforce Eurocentric beliefs while causing abundant harm to the communities impacted.
Although many Indigenous communities do not like being portrayed as broken people, they have dealt with many adversities and are still a thriving community. As the United States expanded, many Indigenous people were pushed off their land and were forced to abandon their land, cultural traditions, and, in some cases, familial ties. Joe Biden recognizes this and states, “Eventually, the United States was established and began expanding, entering treaties with sovereign Tribal Nations. However, as time moved on, respect for — Tribal sovereignty evaporated and was shattered, pushing Native people off their homelands, denying — denying their humanity and their rights, targeting children to cut their connection to their ancestors and their inheritance and their heritage” (Biden 2024). In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, there was a concern regarding many Indigenous communities and their religious practices. Many people believed putting Indigenous children in a strict and religious institution would save the souls of the children and get rid of any ties towards their cultural heritage. “There were more than 523 government-funded, and often church-run, Indian Boarding schools across the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries. Indian children were forcibly abducted by government agents, sent to schools hundreds of miles away, and beaten, starved, or otherwise abused when they spoke their Native languages” (National et al. School Healing Coalition).
As an effect of these boarding schools, many parts of the child’s identity were stripped away. Biden recalls the many policies within the boarding schools, stating, “Children would arrive at schools. Their clothes were taken off. Their hair, which they were told was sacred, was chopped off. Their names were literally erased and replaced by a number or an English name ” (Biden 2024). Although his recollection of boarding schools gave a very official and formal image of the boarding schools, it is essential to hear the survivors’ perspective toward these horrific actions against the many Indigenous People impacted. Dr. Denise K. Lajimodiere, who belongs to both the Cherokee Nation and the Navajo Nation, interviewed both of her parents to talk about the heartbreaking legacy of trauma induced by the boarding schools. Throughout the interview, her mother, Yanita Lajimodiere, constantly apologizes to her daughter due to the shame related to boarding schools. She states, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t teach you our language. I didn’t want to have happened to you what happened to me” (Lajimodiere 1995). Although Yanita’s trauma isn’t as direct about the harm of boarding schools, it shows the harmful impact of the boarding schools. Due to the abuses that she had suffered at boarding school, she feels extremely uncomfortable speaking Navajo and feels guilty about it. Unfortunately, this was a shared experience of many Indigenous children. They would experience extreme physical and emotional abuse when speaking their language. John Brown Jr. was another survivor from the boarding schools who recalled his experience, stating, “They tell us not to speak in the Navajo language because you’re going to school. You’re supposed to only speak English. And that was true. They did practice that, and we got punished if you were caught speaking Navajo” (Brown 2001). This further confirms that these boarding schools were abusive; multiple people had suffered due to these racist institutions trying to erase their cultural identities.
As previously mentioned, these boarding schools were known for abusing Indigenous children and have caused intergenerational trauma for many generations afterward. During Joe Biden’s apology, he stated, “Children abused — emotionally, physically, and sexually abused. Forced into hard labor. Some are put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents. Some were left for dead in unmarked graves. And for those who did return home, they were wounded in body and in spirit — trauma and shame passed down through generations. ” (Biden 2024). Although it is difficult to find truthful letters about these children’s experiences, many letters to family members would tell their parents how much they enjoyed being at the boarding school. Despite the words saying how happy they were to be there, they would ask for basic supplies that the boarding school should have been providing. Eunice Vanderbilt was attending a boarding school and wrote to her mother, “Please send us coats and please send us some cream too. Donna Mae [her sister] is very bad, and she cries all the time. How is the little baby? I want to see you very bad. We are fine, and I am happy” (Vanderbilt 2). Eunice might write that she is very happy, but she writes with a sad tone. She wishes for her mothers and wonders about her family. Unfortunately for Eunice, she would never come back home the same, and her family was devastated by Eunice’s and Donna Mae’s absences.
In conclusion, boarding schools were a way to cause harm to Indigenous communities by allowing them to be under a system that sought to destroy their culture and identity. Although Joe Biden recognizes the harm of Boarding Schools as important, an apology without action has very little significance in the grand scheme of things. If the United States truly wants to make things right between many Indigenous communities, it needs to respect treaties and cultural traditions and recognize the two communities that it had once tried to destroy.
I would like to thank Joe Biden for recognizing and apologizing to the Indigenous Communities that had suffered from the United States’ government. He made an active effort to talk to the community, and he even interviewed Indigenous people to get real life experiences from Indigenous people to understand the issues that face their communities. Although the apology was well received and thought out, it lacked action to protect and serve Indigenous Communities. There was very little thought on action to help the communities and try to reverse the damage of boarding schools. For an apology to be taken seriously, there needs to be action to back it up. I understand that his term is coming to an end, so there is little that he can do, but the United States as a whole needs to make America a better place for all Indigenous people.
Work Cited
(Biden; House; “Interior Department Launches Effort to Preserve Federal Indian Boarding School Oral History”; Lajimodiere; National Museum of the American Indian; The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition; Vanderbilt)
House, The White. “Remarks by President Biden on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Record of Delivering for Tribal Communities, Including Keeping His Promise to Make This Historic Visit to Indian Country | Laveen Village, AZ | the White House.” The White House, 26 Oct. 2024, www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/10/25/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-biden-harris-administrations-record-of-delivering-for-tribal-communities-including-keeping-his-promise-to-make-this-historic-visit-to-indian-country-lavee/.
“Interior Department Launches Effort to Preserve Federal Indian Boarding School Oral History.” Www.doi.gov, 26 Sept. 2023, www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-launches-effort-preserve-federal-indian-boarding-school-oral.
Lajimodiere, Yanita. “The Legacy of Trauma .” Public Broadcasting Service, 1995, www.pbs.org/native-america/blog/legacy-of-trauma-the-impact-of-american-indian-boarding-schools-across-generations. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
National Museum of the American Indian. “Chapter 3: Boarding Schools.” Native Words, Native Warriors, Smithsonian, 2020, americanindian.si.edu/nk360/code-talkers/boarding-schools/.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. “US Indian Boarding School History.” The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, 2019, boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history/.
Vanderbilt, Eunice. “Letter to Mother (Pt. II).” The Power of American Indian Boarding School Records, 14 Nov. 1930, pp. 1–14. The National Archives, prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2018/11/14/the-power-of-american-indian-boarding-school-records/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
I really found it interesting how the loss of lands, boarding schools, and cultural practices caused by Eurocentric beliefs and how President Biden’s action didn’t do much to protect and serve Indigenous communities.