Biden to Apologize for U.S. Role in Indian Boarding Schools

The president will formally acknowledge the government’s involvement in the controversial boarding school system that impacted Native American children for over a century.

President Joe Biden is set to deliver a formal apology on Friday for the United States’ involvement in running Indian boarding schools, institutions that took Native American children away from their families in an attempt to assimilate them into mainstream society.

“I’m going to do something that should have been done a long time ago — to make a formal apology to the Indian nations for the way we treated their children for so many years,” Biden told reporters on Thursday.

This marks the first time a U.S. president has publicly apologized for the conditions in these schools, which operated from 1819 to 1969. During that period, more than 400 government-managed or religiously-affiliated schools sought to educate Native children in Western ways, often forcibly removing them from their homes. These schools operated across 37 states, sometimes hundreds of miles from the children’s families.

“It’s extraordinary that President Biden is doing this,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve in a U.S. cabinet, emphasizing the importance of the gesture to Native communities.

Biden’s remarks will be delivered at Gila Crossing Community School, a Native school near Phoenix. This visit marks Biden’s first trip to Indian Country as president.

The apology follows a report from the Department of the Interior that highlighted the troubling conditions Native children endured at the boarding schools. At least 973 children are known to have died from disease and other causes while at the schools.

Haaland initiated the department’s investigation in 2021. The project has revealed the extent of the trauma experienced by Native American families, with survivors recounting stories of mistreatment and abuse during a year-long “Road to Healing” tour led by Haaland.

Biden’s visit to Arizona also serves as an opportunity for him to highlight his administration’s work for tribal nations. The president is expected to outline how his policies have supported Native communities, including $32 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan and efforts to conserve lands that hold cultural significance for Native tribes. His administration has also appointed several Native American officials to prominent positions, including Haaland.

Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community expressed gratitude for the president’s decision to issue a formal apology. “Some of our elders who are boarding school survivors have been waiting all of their lives for this moment,” Lewis said.

“It’s going to be incredibly powerful and redemptive when the president issues this apology on Indian land,” Lewis added, noting the significance of the location.