[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 53 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 53

Expressing the sense of Congress that September 30th be observed as the 
 designation of a national day of remembrance for the Native American 
   children who died while attending a United States Indian boarding 
   school and recognize, honor, and support the survivors of Indian 
           boarding schools, their families, and communities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 2021

 Mr. Young (for himself, Mr. Cole, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. O'Halleran, 
  Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Case, Mr. Kahele, Ms. 
   Davids of Kansas, Ms. Leger Fernandez, and Mrs. Bice of Oklahoma) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that September 30th be observed as the 
 designation of a national day of remembrance for the Native American 
   children who died while attending a United States Indian boarding 
   school and recognize, honor, and support the survivors of Indian 
           boarding schools, their families, and communities.

Whereas over 200 years ago, the Act entitled ``An Act making provision for the 
        civilization of the Indian tribes adjoining the frontier settlements'', 
        approved March 3, 1819 (3 Stat. 516, chapter 85) (commonly known as the 
        ``Civilization Fund Act''), was enacted and ushered in devastating 
        policies and practices designed to assimilate American Indian, Alaska 
        Native, and Native Hawaiian children by removing children from their 
        families and Native communities throughout the United States;
Whereas that Act intended to resolve what was commonly referred to in the United 
        States as the ``Indian problem'' and provided for the unjust belief of 
        many that Native people needed to be ``civilized'' and that education 
        would be the appropriate vehicle to enact assimilationist policies on 
        Native American people;
Whereas numerous church- and government-operated boarding schools were 
        established on and off Indian territories and homelands to house and 
        educate numerous Native American children through policies and practices 
        that sought to eliminate the cultural identity of Native children and 
        assimilate them into mainstream American society;
Whereas according to the Native American Rights Fund in a Summer/Fall 2013 Legal 
        Review, Volume 38, No. 2, Native American families were torn apart by 
        the removal of Native American children, either voluntarily or forcibly, 
        from their homelands and communities to attend Indian boarding schools 
        located across the country;
Whereas many parents of boarding school children were forbidden to contact or 
        visit their children, compounding the problem of isolation that 
        negatively impacted and continues to impact the lives of many Native 
        children, families, and communities;
Whereas the Native American Rights Fund Summer/Fall 2013 Legal Review also 
        reported that an unidentified number of Native children died at Indian 
        boarding schools due to abuse, neglect, malnourishment or disease, and 
        many of those children were buried far from their homes in unmarked 
        graves or under tombstones that misidentified or ascribed to them 
        Anglicized names;
Whereas many of the parents of children who died at Indian boarding schools were 
        never informed of the fate of their children;
Whereas according to the report entitled ``Trigger Points, Current State of 
        Research on History, Impacts, and Healing Related to the United States' 
        Indian Industrial/Boarding School Policy'' and dated November 2019, 
        issued by the Native American Rights Fund, many survivors of boarding 
        schools have testified that Indian boarding schools stripped Native 
        American children of their traditional cultures, languages, and 
        religions by forbidding them to wear traditional clothing, speak their 
        indigenous languages, or practice their cultural, religious or spiritual 
        beliefs, and many boarding schools are known to have severely punished 
        children who violated these policies through verbal, psychological, and 
        physical abuse;
Whereas many survivors of Indian boarding schools and families of children who 
        attended those schools have recounted details of the physical, sexual, 
        and psychological abuse that countless Native American children endured 
        while attending the schools;
Whereas according to the report entitled ``The Problem of Indian 
        Administration'' and dated February 21, 1928, issued by the Institute 
        for Government Research (commonly known as the ``Meriam Report''), many 
        Indian boarding schools sent students to nearby communities for forced 
        manual work as servants or farm laborers, and the operation of many 
        Indian boarding schools was supported by the labor of the students;
Whereas the Federal policy of Indian assimilation and education has proven to be 
        a disastrous failure and a national tragedy;
Whereas, as stated in the report entitled ``Indian Education: A National 
        Tragedy--A National Challenge'' and dated November 3, 1969 (Senate 
        Report 91-501), issued by the Special Subcommittee on Indian Education 
        (chaired by Senator Edward M. Kennedy) of the Committee on Labor and 
        Public Welfare of the Senate (commonly known as the ``Kennedy Report''), 
        ``the dominant policy of the Federal Government toward the American 
        Indian has been one of coercive assimilation'' that had ``disastrous 
        effects'' on the education of many Native American children;
Whereas in 2018, the United States Commission on Civil Rights reported that many 
        American Indian and Alaska Native people suffer from intergenerational 
        trauma as a result of policies and practices of Indian boarding schools 
        that alienated many children from their families, traditional cultures, 
        languages, and religions, and deprived those children of their true 
        identities and heritage;
Whereas while early assimilationist policies were eventually eliminated and 
        Indian boarding school attendance has greatly diminished since its apex, 
        the impact of this shameful period in United States history still 
        affects the lives of many Native American people today;
Whereas many Native American people are still suffering from and trying to 
        comprehend and cope with direct trauma, including impacts on health and 
        well-being, and the intergenerational trauma, that resulted from losing 
        connection to family, culture, language, religion, and heritage;
Whereas significant research shows that adverse childhood experiences, such as 
        the experiences of many Native American children who attended Indian 
        boarding schools and the descendants of such children, can cause 
        numerous negative health outcomes, increase suicide rates, and other 
        harmful outcomes throughout life; and
Whereas recognition that healing and care for the mind, body, and spirit is 
        essential to overcoming the dark shadows of United States history of 
        Federal Indian assimilationist policies and practices that were carried 
        out by the Federal Government through Indian boarding schools, and 
        acknowledging the lived experiences of the Native American children and 
        families who endured and continue to endure the trauma and grief 
        associated with Indian boarding schools: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) supports the designation of a national day of 
        remembrance for the Native American children who died while 
        attending a United States Indian boarding school;
            (2) recognizes, honors, and supports the survivors, 
        families, and communities of children who attended such 
        schools; and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States to--
                    (A) support and recognize the grief, pain, and 
                hardship many Native American people suffered and still 
                endure as a result of the assimilationist policies and 
                practices carried out by the United States through 
                Indian boarding school policies;
                    (B) honor the legacy of and remember those who were 
                lost or harmed by Federal assimilation policies and 
                practices; and
                    (C) appreciate the resilience of the survivors and 
                their families with appropriate ceremonies, programs, 
                events, and other activities to support and commemorate 
                with a national day of remembrance.
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