In the March 7, 2024 issue, O’odham Action News reported on the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) legislative briefing held on February 13 regarding Senate Bill 1723/H.R. 7227, otherwise known as a bill to establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. 

If the bill is approved by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the president will sign the act into law. The law will create a six-year federal commission to investigate the traumatic impacts of Indian boarding schools in the United States.

On July 30, the U.S. Department of the Interior published a second volume of their Federal Indian Boarding School Investigative Report. The first volume was published on May 11, 2022. 

In the second volume of the report, the U.S. government disclosed that it has discovered additional participating U.S. boarding schools, in addition to countless more children’s lives lost. 

“The federal government, facilitated by the department I lead, took deliberate and strategic actions through federal Indian boarding school policies to isolate children from their families, deny them their identities, and steal from them the languages, cultures and connections that are foundational to Native people. These policies caused enduring trauma for Indigenous communities,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

Healing has become one of the cornerstone components of NABS. Presently, NABS has been hosting Oral History Project Healing Circle tours throughout Indian Country. Funded by a grant from the Interior Department, the Oral History Project trained staff conduct video interviews with survivors of boarding schools and their descendants. Thus far, NABS has had stops in New York and Minneapolis, with additional stops planned. 

In each of the Oral History Project Healing Circle tours, Indigenous survivors and descendants of U.S. boarding schools are provided a safe space in which to discuss and reveal their personal histories. Trained staff are on hand to help if or when an individual experiences triggers while detailing their story. A blessing and a meal are also provided to participants and their families. 

The NABS website (https://boardingschoolhealing.org) has helpful and supportive toolkits available to download for free, as well as breathing exercise videos which detail correct breathing methods that can help de-escalate a ruminating mind. The breathing exercise videos are created by Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, MSW, PhD, from the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba in Canada. He is also an enrolled member of the MHA Nation (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) in North Dakota.

The traumatic history of Indigenous peoples being ripped away from their families and forced to live in U.S. boarding schools has been established as one of the darkest eras in American history. Thankfully, organizations like NABS have put their main focus on ensuring all of Indian Country receives the proper treatment and healing necessary to overcome the negative impacts of this policy. 

For those interested in participating in an Oral History Project Healing Circle with NABS, contact NABS at https://www.tfaforms.com/5092936 and submit your contact information. The connection is secure.