[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S385-S386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 28--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
 SEPTEMBER 30 SHOULD BE OBSERVED AS A NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR 
 THE NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN WHO DIED WHILE ATTENDING A UNITED STATES 
 INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL AND RECOGNIZING, HONORING, AND SUPPORTING THE 
    SURVIVORS OF INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS, THEIR FAMILIES, AND THEIR 
                              COMMUNITIES

  Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Warren, Mr. Rounds, and 
Mr. Sullivan) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
considered and agreed to:

                            S. Con. Res. 28

       Whereas, more than 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 the 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 was based on 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, pursuant to that Act, 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 United 
     States society;
       Whereas, according to the Native American Rights Fund, 
     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 children sent to Indian boarding 
     schools 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, 
     their families, and their communities;
       Whereas the Native American Rights Fund 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 the children or ascribed Anglicized names to 
     the children;
       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 a report issued by the Native 
     American Rights Fund, many survivors of Indian boarding 
     schools have testified that Indian boarding schools stripped 
     Native American children of their traditional cultures, 
     languages, and religions by forbidding the children to wear 
     traditional clothing, speak their Indigenous languages, or 
     practice their cultural, religious, or spiritual beliefs, and 
     many of the 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 (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) (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

[[Page S386]]

     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 those children, can cause numerous negative 
     health outcomes, increased suicide rates, and other harmful 
     outcomes throughout life; and
       Whereas recognition that healing and promotion of care for 
     the mind, body, and spirit is essential to overcoming the 
     dark shadows on United States history cast by Federal Indian 
     assimilationist policies and practices 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 Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) it is the sense of Congress that there should be a 
     national day of remembrance for the Native American children 
     who died while attending a United States Indian boarding 
     school;
       (2) Congress recognizes, honors, and supports the survivors 
     and the families and communities of children who attended 
     such schools; and
       (3) Congress encourages the people of the United States--
       (A) to 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) to honor the legacy of and remember those who were lost 
     or harmed by those policies and practices; and
       (C) to appreciate the resilience of the survivors and their 
     families with appropriate ceremonies, programs, events, and 
     other activities to support and commemorate a national day of 
     remembrance.

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