American Indian Boarding Schools: A Small US Town Digs for the Truth | Foreign Correspondent
A community in Nebraska is trying to uncover the truth about one of the country’s largest and longest running boarding schools for Native American children who were forcibly removed from their families to attend. Set up in the 19th and 20th centuries across the U.S.A., their purpose was to assimilate indigenous children into the white man’s world. Over their 150+ years of the schools’ operation, many children were ill- treated and abused and some never returned home with little to no explanation provided. Now, using ground penetrating radar, state officials are trying to locate where some of those missing children were buried, somewhere on the grounds of the former Genoa U.S Indian Industrial School. While some may refer to it as a cemetery, it is considered by those most affected by the story as a crime scene.
What do you know about the American Indian boarding schools in the United States? Do you know any families who had members who attended them? What are your thoughts about it being mandatory for indigenous children to attend until the passing of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978?