PORTLAND, Ore. — On Friday in Arizona, President Joe Biden formally apologized for the Federal Indian Boarding School policy, a system that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families, forcing them to assimilate at institutions.
Biden called this practice — that went on for a century and a half — a "significant mark of shame" and "a blot on American history."
"The Federal Government has never, never formally apologized for what happened, until today. I formally apologize as President of the United States of America," the President said, "Lost generations, culture and language. Lost trust. It's horribly, horribly wrong. It's a sin on our soul."
He admitted it is long overdue.
"There's no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make."
"Well, I think for most people in our native community, it's almost like, it's about time," said Oregon State Representative Tawna Sanchez, who works as the Director of Family Services at the Native American Youth and Family Center in Portland, "For many people, their languages are gone, many people have lost, you know, deep cultural parts of who they are.
"We have been resistant, we've survived and there are so many Native people who still have made it through to this moment in time with things intact, but a lot of things were lost and a lot of things have been really damaged by what happened in the boarding schools."
A years-long federal investigation — commissioned by Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, and first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary — put in print the horrors and abuses at these institutions, over 150 years. It found that hundreds of children who removed from their families and forced to assimilate died.
"Literally the the message was kill the Indians, save the man. That was the message," Sanchez said.
A formal government apology is just the first in a list of specific recommendations, from the investigative report. The second part was released this summer. Others include investing in culturally-based healing efforts, revitalizing first American languages, and building a national memorial.