Graves in American schools
The Canadian Press – May 11, 2022 / 2:07 pm | History: 368686
Photo: The Canadian Press
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland spoke to reporters in Jackson, Mrs. Tuesday, February 15, 2022. Investigators found marked and unmarked burial sites at 53 former residential schools for Indigenous people in the United States. CANADIAN PRESS / AP / Rogelio W. Solis
Investigators have found marked and unmarked burial sites at 53 former residential schools for Indigenous people in the United States.
The long-awaited report from the US Department of the Interior also warns that the number of identified sites is likely to increase as the investigation continues.
The report, commissioned by Home Secretary Deb Haaland, concluded that between 1819 and 1969 there were 408 schools in 37 states and territories.
It is also said that 19 of these schools have killed more than 500 indigenous people, including some from Alaska and Hawaii.
This number is also expected to increase with the completion of the investigation.
Haaland, the first indigenous man in US history, commissioned the probe last spring after the first nations in Canada began announcing the discovery of unmarked burial sites in former residential schools.
In a statement, she described the consequences of the policies of the federal boarding schools, which divided families and aimed to destroy the culture of the indigenous population as “heartbreaking and indisputable.”
“We continue to see evidence of this attempt to forcibly assimilate indigenous peoples in the inequalities facing communities,” Haaland said.
“My priority is not only to give a voice to the survivors and descendants of Indian Indian boarding school policies, but also to address the enduring legacy of these policies so that indigenous peoples can continue to grow and heal.
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