President Biden issues formal apology for Indian boarding schools

(GILA RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION) As Native American communities across the United States continue to feel the effects of Indian boarding schools more than two centuries later, President Joe Biden took a historic step to rectify the damage.

On Friday, President Biden issued the first ever formal apology from a U.S. President for the injustices caused by the federal government’s Indian boarding school policies. 

Biden spoke at the Gila Crossing Community School in Laveen Village, Arizona, saying, “I formally apologize as president of the United States of America, for what we did. I formally apologize. And it’s long overdue.”

Biden’s apology comes on the heels of the Department of Interior’s last investigative report that found 973 Native American children died during their time at Indian boarding schools. 

The report also identified a total of 417 boarding schools across the United States. 87 of them were in Oklahoma. 

“Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make,” President Biden said. “The Federal Indian Boarding School policy and the pain it has caused will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history.” 

Indian Country leaders publicly shared their thoughts on Biden’s apology. 

“We accept and welcome the public apology from President Biden on behalf of the United States, as it is a continuation of the healing process from the atrocities committed against Indigenous people at Indian Boarding Schools,” Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill. “This act of accountability coupled with the actions of the Department of the Interior in analyzing and studying this history, is vital to the path we’re all on towards reconciliation.” 

“Our children were made to live in a world that erased their identities, their culture, and upended their spoken language,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in part. “They often suffered harm, abuse, and neglect, and forced to live in the shadows. The DOI’s recommendations, especially in the preservation of Native languages and the repatriation of ancestors and cultural items, can be a path towards true healing.” 

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) commended President Biden for his historic apology, but also said true healing and justice demand further action.  

“We urge Congress to pass legislation that would further illuminate this history and support the ongoing journey toward healing,” the NCAI statement continued. “We ask the administration to expedite the return of our relatives buried on these former school grounds to their rightful resting places.” 

Biden’s full speech and apology remarks can be found here.