Truth & Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies needed now

 While active in the Senate, the House must be urged to move forward the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act toward passage.

The ELCA’s Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery includes our church’s commitment “to supporting the healing of survivors of Indian boarding schools, adoption, and foster care and their descendants while advocating for policies that will bring both truth and justice” (from A Declaration of the [ELCA] to American Indian and Alaska Native People, p. 4).

In May 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs released Volume 1 of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report that details the legacy of violence and abuse and death perpetrated by Indian boarding schools. The report found that the United States operated or supported 408 boarding schools across 37 states (or then-territories) between 1819 and 1969 and identified 53 burial sites for children across the system. The boarding schools sought to advance goals of forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples through the forced removal and relocation of their children.

Our advocacy will further the ELCA’s commitment to realizing justice and equity for Indigenous people. We support the reintroduction in the Senate of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act (S.1723) and urge the House to also introduce it so that this important legislation can be passed. Congress must act to pass the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act and initiate long-overdue steps towards healing intergenerational trauma and seeking justice for survivors and their families. 

"Initial investigation results show that approximately 50 percent of Federal Indian boarding schools may have received support or involvement from a religious institution or organization, including funding, infrastructure, and personnel," states the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report (Volume 1, p. 7). 

Many of us in the faith community are compelled to support realization of a Truth and Healing Commission in the United States, and we are grateful for the advocacy and work being done by faith leaders and partners. Invite others in your congregations and faith community connections to use the ELCA Action Alert tool to craft their messages from ELCA.org/advocacy/actioncenter.

In addition to Volume 1, read further about the report's findings in:


Your voice is needed. Urge your representative in the House to act. Please personalize the message below.

 

POSTED 8/1/2023

 

 

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