Saginaw Chippewa Tribe leaders react to Federal Indian Boarding Schools Initiative findings
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative revealed that 974 Indigenous children died while forcibly attending federal boarding schools from the 1820s through the 1960s.
Details from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs report quantify much of the trauma experienced.
Out of the five boarding schools the U.S. government supported in Michigan, one of them was in Mt. Pleasant, and it isn't a distant memory to members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. While the report is a start to acknowledging the attempt to systematically erase Native American culture, many are still waiting for an apology.
"It's unfortunate, but my great uncle Wilson Johnson perished while he was a student at the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial boarding school and he perished when he was only 17 years old," said William Johnson, director and curator of Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways.
Johnson says his uncle would become one of more than 200 children to die at the school.
"These are devastating ill effects from the American Indian Boarding School era that we are still recovering from," he said.
Johnson says tearing children away from their families, forced assimilation, and physical abuse all contribute to the generational trauma stemming from these so-called boarding schools.
"You'll see survivors did not want to talk about the experiences there because it was too painful, and it is still too painful, but the work is being done, and it's being done in a safe space," said Eric Rodriguez, interim public relations director for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative is part of that work, spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve in the U.S. cabinet. The report included several suggestions on how to compensate for the damage these schools caused, starting with an apology.
"The acknowledgment and an apology on behalf of the U.S. government for the role they played is important for the trust and understanding of Native communities to know that there is some hope out there," Rodriguez said. "I think one of the most important things when you look at these recommendations is the opportunity for further education, funding, and the ability to help tell this story and share this history of the boarding school era. It's very important to help the tribes lead that initiative."