President Biden Delivers Apology for Federal Indian Boarding Schools

On October 25, President Biden formally apologized for a U.S. policy that, for 150 years, forcibly separated Indian children from their families and placed them in boarding schools, where they endured abuse, neglect and the loss of their cultures, traditions and languages. A report released by the Department of the Interior determined that at least 973 children died while under the supervision of these boarding schools.

“All told, hundreds and hundreds of Federal Indian Boarding Schools across the country. Tens of thousands of Native children entered the system. Nearly 1,000 documented Native child deaths, though the real number is likely to be much, much higher; lost generations, culture and language; lost trust. It’s horribly, horribly wrong,” Biden said. “It’s a sin on our soul.”

“I formally apologize,” he continued, “as president of the United States of America, for what we did . . . It’s long, long overdue.”

This chapter of American history is both past and present; the Indian children and families child welfare professionals work with today are survivors of these boarding schools, descendants of survivors or both. 

Read President Biden’s full remarks at the Gila River Indian Reservation here.

Read the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative reports here.