09/30/2025
Today on the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools, we remember the children who were taken from their families, cultures, and homelands through the Indian boarding school system. We also remember those who never came home.
For more than a century, federal policy sought to assimilate Native children by removing them from their Tribal Nations. At these institutions, children were punished for speaking their languages, practicing their traditions, and expressing who they were. Many experienced physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse. Some died. Their stories were buried alongside unmarked graves.
The legacy of these schools is not only part of the past. It continues to affect Native families and communities across generations. Many still carry the weight of silence, grief, and displacement.
Honoring the children means more than remembrance. It means listening to survivors, supporting healing efforts, returning records to Tribal Nations, and protecting Native children through systems of care grounded in culture and sovereignty.
Every child matters.
