“7 Weeks of Action for 7 Generations”
Campaign Launches to Every Corner of Indian Country
Calling for the Passage of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) formally launched a national media advocacy campaign, “7 Weeks of Action for 7 Seven Generations.” NABS, along with Tribal leaders, Congressional leaders, advocates, and boarding school survivors across the country, to call on Congress to pass the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (S.2907 / HR 5444).
“The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act is long overdue. We urge Congressional leaders to act now. Native people have endured nearly two centuries of boarding school policies; the truth cannot wait any longer,” states Deborah Parker (Tulalip), NABS CEO. “The irreparable harm cannot be undone, but the US can begin to acknowledge the truth about what happened to hundreds of thousands of Native children. This truth is the foundation for a future of healing and accountability that boarding school survivors and descendants deserve.”
The “7 Weeks of Action for 7 Seven Generations” campaign hosted a virtual kickoff event on Tuesday, September 13th. The event featured the following key Congressional leaders, Tribal leaders, and national advocates:
- National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, Deborah Parker (Tulalip Tribes), CEO
- National Congress of American Indians, President Fawn Sharp (Quinault Nation)
- Dr. Ramona Klein (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), Elder/Boarding School Survivor
- U.S. Congresswoman Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk), K-03
- U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, AK - Invited
- Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, Chairman Reno Franklin (Kashia)
- Shawnee Tribe, Chief Benjamin Barnes (Shawnee)
- Kutoven “Ku” Stevens (Yerington Paiute Tribe), Youth Ambassador
- Dallas Goldtooth (Mdewakanton Dakota & Diné), Actor/Writer/Environmentalist, Reservation Dogs, Rutherford Falls, & 1491s.
- National Education Association, Sedelta Oosahwee (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara), Sr. Program Specialist
- National Indian Health Board Representative
- National UNITY Council, Co-President Chenoa Scippio (Navajo Nation)
“We firmly believe every person in this country has the right to truth, healing, and a complete understanding of the historical and current impacts of the Federal Indian Board Schools,” states Sandy White Hawk (Oglala), NABS President. “The Department of Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative is foundational to the federal government acknowledging this history. We know that establishing a Congressional Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies is the most comprehensive way to investigate and document those impacts.”
For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children were taken or coerced away from their families and Tribal Nations. Generation after generation Native children were forced to attend government and church-run Indian boarding school institutions. These institutions were tools of assimilation and cultural genocide, resulting in the devastating loss of language, culture, and the permanent separation of children from their families. Survivors of Indian boarding schools have described physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse and neglect. At the same time, many other children died while in the custody of Indian boarding school institutions. We need your help to bring truth, justice, and healing for these crimes committed against Native children.
CONTACT:
Press Email: press@nabshc.org
Phone: (612) 354-7700
Website: www.boardingschoolhealing.org
Posted by S. Jean Schafer SDS