President Biden on Monday officially designated the site of a notorious boarding school for Native American children as a national monument and formally apologized for the practice of forcing children into such schools. .
Introducing Biden at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate, described Biden as “the best president for Indian Nation in my lifetime.” , praised the administration's efforts to provide funding to tribes and address missing persons. Murder of Indigenous Women (MMIW). Haaland presented the president with a tribal blanket as attendees chanted “Thank you, Joe.”
Mr. Biden formally proclaimed a memorial on the Pennsylvania grounds of the Carlisle Indian Technical School, which was established in 1879 as the first such school outside a Native American reservation. Over the next 40 years, more than 7,800 children were forced to attend school, where their hair was cut and they were prohibited from speaking indigenous languages or wearing traditional clothing. The school's founder, Richard Henry Pratt, infamously described its mission as “killing the Indian and saving the man.”
Rough numbers estimate that nearly 1,000 children died under the protection of so-called industrial schools, and the real number is likely much higher.
In his remarks, Biden said the use of these schools was “a dark chapter spanning 150 years… in which generations of Native American children were literally taken from their families and tribes and sent to residential schools.” ” he said.
“Instead of erasing history, we acknowledge it, learn from it, and ensure it never repeats itself,” the president added. “We remember to heal. That's the purpose of memory.”
The president announced that his administration would develop a “10-year plan to revitalize native languages” as part of an effort to redress the cultural knowledge lost due to schools like Carlyle. The 24.5-acre monument in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, will be jointly managed by the Department of the Army and the National Park Service.
