U.S. Interior Department to probe impact of historic boarding schools for Native Americans

Washington, June 23 (RHC)-- U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has announced that her agency will investigate the impact of government-run schools that sought to force the assimilation of Indigenous children. 

The Interior Department, which oversaw the schools, will also seek to identify burial sites at the schools.  Last month, the remains of 215 Indigenous children were discovered at one such school in Canada. 

In Washington, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told reporters: “I come from ancestors who endured the horrors of Indian boarding school assimilation policies carried out by the same department that I now lead, the same agency that tried to eradicate our culture, our language, our spiritual practices and our people.  To address the intergenerational impact of Indian boarding schools and to promote spiritual and emotional healing in our communities, we must shed light on the unspoken traumas of the past.”