A Monument is Well Deserved, But the Truth Must Come Out

On December 9th, at the 2024 Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, DC, President Joe Biden announced the designation of a new national monument on the site of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

The Carlisle school was the first and largest off-reservation Indian Boarding School in the United States. Richard Henry Pratt, the school's founder, developed it as a model for assimilating Native children. He is most well-known for coining the phrase, "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." At least 8,000 Native children attended the school, including 187 children who died there and were buried on school grounds.

The preservation of the school and remaining buildings is crucial for the families/communities of Carlisle students, especially for those hoping to bring home children who died there.

President Biden's actions emphasize that the abuse, neglect, and kidnapping of Native children from their families is a matter of national concern, even for those outside of Native communities. While Native people are keenly aware of the history of boarding schools as a tool of cultural and spiritual genocide that targeted children, too many Americans are unaware of this dark chapter of our nation's history. Through the work of Native advocates across the country, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, more attention has been placed on the impact of the boarding school era on Native communities.

While we welcome President Biden's announcement, the national monument alone will not bring truth, justice, or peace to the Native communities and families that deserve it. Congress must pass the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (H.R. 7227, S. 1723) in 2024 to meaningfully investigate the horrors perpetrated against Native children under the auspices of the federal government. In truth, there are thousands of children across the country who attended boarding schools who have never been named. There are children buried at Carlisle who are still unnamed. They and their families will never have truth or justice under the status quo.

The Truth and Healing Commission bill would create a federal commission with the authority to investigate, document, and hear testimony on the treatment of Native children at so-called "boarding schools." The commission would be empowered to work with other branches of the federal government, tribal nations, faith communities, and the public to collect records related to the boarding school era. Crucially, the commission would have the resources and legal authority of Congress to back its investigation. As the survivors of boarding schools continue to age, Congress must act quickly to pass the bill while they can still give testimony.

Congress, which for 150 years funded and authorized the creation of boarding schools, has a responsibility to answer the question that Native communities have been asking for decades: "What have you done with our children?"