Transcripts For CSPAN Interior Secretary Native Leaders Tes

Schools cause a loss of culture and language. They talked about ways congress could better assist tribal nations in sharing this history and repairing the damage by removing children from their parents. This hearing is over two hours. Sen. Schatz good afternoon, welcome to the committees oversight hearing on volume one of the department of the interiors federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative report and a legislative hearing on s2907. A bill to establish a truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School policies in the United States. The Indian Boarding School era was a dark period in our nations history and a painful example of how past federal policy failed. American indians, alaskan natives and native hawaiians. As the Department Report lays out, the federal government supported boarding schools with a primary goal in mind, the forcible assimilation of native children into western ways of life. These schools were key tools for suppressing native cultures and languages, separating native children from their families and their homelands, and indoctrinating them to, as the founder of the Carlyle School ominously said, kill the indian and save the man. And that was not an empty promise. The brutality with which the federal government attempted to assimilate children, some as young as fouryearsold at these boarding schools, is gut wrenching, forced labor whippings, solitary confinement, withholding food, making older children punish younger children with Corporal Punishment, unsanitary and overcrowded living conditions. The shameful list goes on. We cant undo history, but we must acknowledge it. We have to look at the full scope of these failures unflinchingly and with clear minds and fresh eyes, and most importantly, we must work directly with native communities on forging a path towards healing, recognizing the significance of this work to native communities. Lance fisher of the northern Cheyenne Tribe is here to provide us with an opening to help us to set the tone for this important discussion. Please rise if you are able. [inaudible] [indiscernible] [indiscernible] [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing ends] sen. Schatz thank you very much. Mr. Fisher. As Indigenous Peoples of the United States American Indians, alaskan natives and native hawaiians were subject to the same cruel intent of federal assimilation policies and practices. And they continue to share in the impact and lasting inequities of the federal governments centuries long drive to try to erase native cultures. We must do all we can to right this wrong. The department of the interiors report, s2907, and Congress Long Term Investment in the native american language revitalization efforts are important steps to moving the reconciliation process forward. But we must work hand in hand with the impacted communities and the families. And that is why todays hearing will focus on native perspectives as a guide for the federal governments path toward achieving truth and reconciliation. Not in the abstract, but in a meaningful and real way. Our approach must also be respectful of survivors, their families, and their communities. The Committee Welcomes survivor testimony, should they choose to share their stories. Written comments for the record may be submitted to testimony at indian. Senate. Gov. I want to thank all of the witnesses for being here today and id like to recognize vice chair murkowski for an Opening Statement. Sen. Murkowski chairman schatz, thank you for convening this hearing. As you have mentioned, it is long, long past time for the United States to come to terms with the dark and the very terrible legacy of Indian Boarding Schools. From 1819 to about 1969, thousands of native children across the country, including in my home state of alaska and your home state of hawaii, were taken from their families and communities, often without consent, and relocated to boarding schools thousands of miles from their homes. These boarding schools attempted to, quote, break native children in order to quickly assimilate them into the dominant white culture. And as part of this breaking process, native children were stripped of their identity, their language, their culture, and often forcibly. Many of these students never returned home. Federal government policy during this time was to use education as, quote, a weapon against native people, to accomplish the goals of replacing native cultures and dispossessing native peoples of their land. Mr. Chairman, you mentioned the words that came from Richard Henry pratt. He was the one that was credited with founding the boarding School Movement and he claimed the need to, quote, kill the indian save the man, and unfortunately, American History is full of such individuals who somehow believed that they were helping at the time when they were actually committing extreme acts that devastated native people. We so appreciate that we have in front of us now the first volume on the federal ending boarding School Initiative investigative report. It covers the 408 federal government supported Indian Boarding Schools that operated across 37 states and territories. 21 of those schools were located in alaska. The sexual abuse, violence, malnutrition, solitary confinement, forced manual labor, untreated diseases, unreported deaths and disappearances documented in this report make it very, very difficult to read, and we know it just scratches the surface , unfortunately, of what actually happened. Secretary haaland, i want to acknowledge your work on that of the committee and you as well, assistant secretary newland, for your work on this painful issue for your commitment to ensuring the department provides Indigenous People with access to what you have called trauma informed support. So, there is deep appreciation for that. I have had an opportunity just last year, on the national day of remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools, to speak to some of the children who have been impacted by these policies. I spoke of sophia titov, a young girl who was taken from alaska as an orphan and brought to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in pennsylvania. I spoke also of anastasia from kodiak who was taken to an orphanage after her mother passed away and her story and the effort for her family in alaska to finally return the remains of Young Anastasia to kodiak for reburial. These are hard stories and of course theyre not isolated to alaska. Theyre so similar, unfortunately, to so many native childrens stories that are just beginning to be recounted. I think we recognize the repatriation of native remains to their homelands is part of the healing process associated with these atrocities. So im interested to hear more about how the department will comply with and enforce nagpra, the native american graves protection and repatriation act. We know that our neighbor to the east in canada is dealing with its own history and legacy of Indian Boarding Schools and have established the truth and Reconciliation Commission, a lot to be learned from that. Senator warren and i have been working on this and were working on the truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School policy as 2907. These are, again, efforts for the United States to step up to address and acknowledge the dark history that we face, but also to go further than that, to help bring healing to native people. Weve got a great panel here this afternoon and im looking forward to that at the appropriate time and the second panel, mr. Chairman, i would like to be the one to introduce and welcome miss liz lock medicine crow. Liz is the president ceo of First Alaskans Institute and has been instrumental in so many of these issues. But i will speak to that at the appropriate time. But i know that i appreciate the interest of the full committee in this very, very, very important issue. Sen. Schatz thank you, vice chair murkowski, and now senator cortez masto for an Opening Statement. Sen. Cortez masto thank you. Thank you, chairman schatz and vice chair makowski, for holding this important hearing. Im gonna welcome secretary haaland and assistant secretary newland for joining us here. This hearing cannot be more relevant for our tribal communities in nevada. I want to take a moment to highlight the recent work done in our state. The opening of the stuart Indian School Cultural Center and museum, not far from the Nevada State Capitol of carson city sits the stuart Indian School. It was opened by the federal government from 1890 to 1980, one of three such schools in nevada, the stuart Indian School opened with the stated purpose of addressing indigenous education. In reality, the school is meant to erase native culture and identity. Today, we have learned that thousands of students who are enrolled at the Stewart School were forced to forget their languages and were often prevented from seeing family members. Alumni that i have talked to have recalled being kidnapped by government officials and taken to the school where their hair was cut off by school staff. Letters from the schools archives make it clear that families were not informed when their children were sick or had even passed away. In fact, nearly 100 unmarked graves have been identified in the school cemetery. These stories show only a sliver of the cruelty and abuse that native children had at the stuart Indian School and what they endured. But they highlight how important it is for us to continue to learn more about this painful chapter in our history and to give space for acknowledgement and for healing. I commend the alumni and their descendants, as well as the native Indian Cultural commission, for their hard work in opening this Cultural Center and dedication to working in partnership with interior on the secretarys federal Indian Boarding School initiative. I look forward to hearing the testimony today on this important issue. I think each and every one of you for being here and again. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Sen. Schatz thank you. Senator lujan. Sen. Lujan mr. Chairman, thank you very much. Vice chair murkowski, thank you both for holding this important hearing today to examine the legacy of federal Indian Boarding School policies and support legislation that moves us in the right direction. I also want to say thank you and welcome to our friend secretary deb haaland. Its an honor to call her a friend and a mentor and to see the tremendous work that you are doing. I will be forever moved by you. I also want to welcome some students from new mexico that i had the honor of meeting with earlier and i believe the secretary did as well from the santa fe Indian School and princeton universitys summer policy academy. Theyre led by a dear friend of mine, the former governor of coach d pueblo, regis pecos preston sanchez, who is the co counsel and also the justice director and has also been involved with with many issues and titles. But karen aguilar, amber garcia, and lee mountain, i want to thank each and every one of you for being with us today and i understand that michaela serena might also be part of the Leadership Group that is here. But mr. Chairman, i would like to enter a letter of the students into the record that recommends Congress Introduced legislation to formally apologize for generational harms resulting from the federal Indian Boarding Schools and policies. And i urge my colleagues to support this call for a formal apology and thank these Young Leaders for their advocacy, for their voices for the past, for the future, for current generations. And with your permission, id like just to read a paragraph from here before consideration for adoption. I quote, a general principle we are taught early on is to apologize for our wrongdoings and to take responsibility for our actions. Since the recent release of the boarding school report, one might think the u. S. Would seek to undo the long term trauma and harm inflicted upon native children by boarding schools. As of today, however, this is not the case for that reason, my colleagues and i seek a formal apology in the form of legislation to restore balance among our communities and enable positive opportunities for Indigenous People to heal. By doing so, congressional leaders would signify that our education, language, culture, and traditions are important. It would also signify the Indigenous People will never again be subjected to a School System that seeks to erase our cultural identity. And i would ask for unanimous consent that be entered into the record. Sen. Schatz without objection. Sen. Lujan thank you. I yield back. Sen. Schatz we are pleased to have the author of the legislation in question as a guest of our committee. It gives us pleasure to introduce senator Elizabeth Warren from massachusetts. Sen. Warren thank you very much, chairman schatz. It is a privilege to be here with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and i want to say a very special thank you to you and to vice chair murkowski for your leadership and your support on this issue. I am here today to discuss my bill, thats the focus of todays hearing, the truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School policies act. I thank the many co sponsors of this bill, including vice chair murkowski. Thank you for your work on this , and chairman schatz. Thank you for your work on this , and a majority of this committee. This bill would establish a truth and Healing Commission to formally investigate what are known as the Indian Boarding School policies. These were horrifying practices carried out by the federal government to strip native children of their indigenous identities, beliefs, and languages. Between 1819 and 1969, these policies formally remove children from their tribal lands and their families and placed them in over 400 boarding schools. It has been estimated that by 1926, nearly 83 of American Indian and alaska native children were in one of the currently known Indian Boarding Schools. Native children were subjected to harrowing human rights violations, including spiritual, physical, industrial, psychological, and sexual abuse. They were neglected and they were traumatized. Many never returned to their families. The department of interior has already identified more than 50 burial sites at these schools, many of them unmarked and that number is expected to rise. These policies also effective native hawaiian children. For over a century, the United States supported several boarding schools across the Hawaiian Islands and repressed hawaiian culture. The full effects of these policies have never before been appropriately addressed by the federal government. In 2020, i worked with the committees first witness, my friend, secretary deb haaland. While she was serving in congress, we introduced this legislation to formally investigate these policies and to respond to ongoing historical and intergenerational trauma afflicting tribal communities today. I reintroduced this bill last year with representative Sherice Davids and tom cole, the co chairs of the congressional native american caucus. I also wish to acknowledge the Invaluable Partnership of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and many other extraordinary stakeholders who are here with us today. When secretary haaland assumed her current role, she continued her outstanding work by launching the federal Indian Boarding School initiative and working with assistant secretary newland to make this happen. I am glad that this hearing will address the fi