In a landmark address on Friday, President Joe Biden formally apologized to Native Americans for the federal government’s historic policy of forcibly removing indigenous children from their families to attend government-funded boarding schools. Speaking at the Gila Crossing Community School in Laveen, Arizona, Biden described this chapter of American history as “one of the most horrific” and acknowledged the deep and lasting trauma it caused.
“Quite frankly, there is no excuse that this apology took 150 years to make,” Biden stated, after leading a moment of silence to honor those who suffered and the generations still affected by the legacy of these schools.
Between 1819 and 1969, at least 18,000 children were taken from their families and sent to over 400 boarding schools across 37 states and territories.
Biden’s remarks follow the release of a final report from the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, commissioned by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, which revealed that at least 973 Native American children died while attending these institutions. The initiative aimed to examine the schools’ impacts on Native communities and document their painful history.
“As president,” Biden said, “I believe it is important that we do know there were generations of native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know, with people they never met, who spoke a language they had never heard.” He elaborated on the devastating consequences of the boarding school system: “Native communities silenced – their children’s laughter and play were gone… Children abused emotionally, physically, and sexually; forced into hard labor; some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents; some left for dead in unmarked graves.” He poignantly added that children who returned home were often “wounded in body and spirit.”
This visit marks Biden’s first as president to Indian Country and the first by a sitting president to tribal lands in a decade since then-President Barack Obama visited the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in 2014. Acknowledging the significance of the apology, Biden emphasized that “no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the federal boarding school policy.” However, he expressed hope, stating, “we’re finally moving forward into the light.”
During his speech, Biden was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestine protesters but took a moment to address their concerns, saying that the killing of people in Gaza “has to stop.”
President Biden “Sin on our Soul.”
In his heartfelt address, Biden declared, “I formally apologize as president of the United States for what we did. It’s long overdue.” He highlighted the historical gravity of the apology, calling it “one of the most consequential things I have done as president,” and referred to the boarding school policy as a “sin on our soul.”
The federal government established Indian boarding schools from the 19th century into the 1970s with the intention of assimilating Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian children into white American culture. Tens of thousands of children were taken from their homes, often facing severe emotional and physical abuse. Many were beaten or starved for speaking their native languages, and tragically, some did not survive.
The Biden administration has committed billions of dollars to support Indigenous communities, but some leaders assert that more action is needed. The Department of the Interior has launched a federal investigation into the boarding school system and is undertaking an oral history project to document survivors’ experiences.
In contrast, Canada has taken similar steps, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologizing in 2008 for the country’s own residential school system, which forcibly removed approximately 150,000 Indigenous children.
As the U.S. confronts this dark chapter in its history, President Biden’s apology represents a significant step toward reconciliation and acknowledgment of the profound harm inflicted upon Native American communities.
