President Biden will formally apologize for the country’s involvement in Native American boarding schools

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – President Joe Biden is expected to deliver a speech on Friday on the Gila River Indian Reservation and formally apologize for the United States’ role in forcing tribal children to attend abusive boarding schools.

The Biden administration has called this time a stain on our nation’s history. To continue progress on federal-tribal relations, Biden plans to fully acknowledge the harm of the past.

“We cannot allow this scourge in our nation’s history to become merely a footnote in our history,” said Tom Perez, a senior adviser to Biden.

In May 2022, the United States released a 100-page report detailing a dark chapter in the country’s history. In the early 19th century, thousands of Native American children were removed from their homes and placed in boarding schools.

The report found that the largest number of boarding schools were in Oklahoma (81). Arizona was second with 47, some in Pima County, including Tucson Indian School. Everything Native Americans had was taken away to force the children to adopt Western culture.

This program lasted 150 years.

Now, to usher in a new era in federal-tribal relations, President Biden is expected to issue a formal apology for the U.S. government’s role.

“That is, a formal apology for this stain on our nation’s heritage, a formal apology to the tribal leaders, to the people who are still alive but have lost loved ones, who still bear the scars, to formally apologize and note that an apology, although belated, is an important step, but not the only one,” Perez said.

Biden said his apology would build on his administration’s work with tribal communities, including investing in Indian health care and infrastructure, as well as dealing with missing and murdered indigenous people.

“These are examples of the measures the president has taken to send a very clear message that the apology, while overdue and critically important, is one aspect of a broader effort to ensure that our tribal nations in Arizona and across the country are treated with dignity.” – Perez said.

13 The News’ JD Wallace will be at Biden’s event on Friday and will have more coverage from 3-6 p.m. You can watch the report for free by visiting the website www.kold.com/live

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