Tribal council expresses appreciation, reservations about Biden apology

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

President Joe Biden’s apology in late October, for the nation’s enforcement of a genocidal policy that forced Native American children into horrifically abusive boarding schools for more than 150 years, was important, members of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council said, but must be backed by actions.

Speaking at the Gila Indian River Community in Arizona on Friday, Oct. 25, Biden told attendees and the nation that the boarding school era was “one of the most horrific chapters in American history. We should be ashamed.”

He added that it was “a chapter that most Americans don’t know about. The vast majority don’t even know about it.”

Treatment of the children at the schools was traumatizing and sometimes deadly, Biden acknowledged. “Their clothes taken off. Their hair that they were told was sacred was chopped off. Their names literally erased and replaced by a number or an English name. … Children abused — emotionally, physically and sexually abused. Forced into hard labor. Some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents. Some left for dead in unmarked graves. 

“And for those who did return home, they were wounded in body and in spirit — trauma and shame passed down through generations.”

Biden noted that “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. It’s a sin on our soul.”

Yet, until this year, the federal government had never apologized for its actions.

“I formally apologize as president of the United States of America, for what we did. I formally apologize. And it’s long overdue,” Biden said. “It’s long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make. The Federal Indian Boarding School policy and the pain it has caused will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history.”

Some Tribal council members praised Biden’s words during a Legislative Action Committee meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

“It really doesn’t matter which side of the fence you’re on politically; that was a beautiful moment,” Tribal Council member Matthew Haller said.

Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy was more reserved.

“Before it even started, someone asked me, ‘What do you think about that?’” Kennedy said. “I said, ‘Well, I think it’s about time. It was something that happened that’s been swept under the rug … I equated it in similarity to the Holocaust; now people are questioning, did that even happen, and it’s along those same lines. But for me, really, the proof is in the pudding.”

Kennedy said she recalls working with other Indigenous leaders in the Pacific Northwest to help draft language for the Indian Child Welfare Act, passed in 1978.

“It was passed, but with zero dollars,” Kennedy said. “So, in essence, it just became writing words on a paper. And I said, ‘So hopefully, that there will be funds that come with this acknowledgement, with this apology, and that we have the appropriations. … Increase funding for the Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Education, because they kept silent; they didn’t publish this, they didn’t teach those things.’”

Kennedy said she believes Biden was sincere and added “I believe all Tribes are probably watching this to see what happens with it. I think it’s high time we all weigh in as Tribes and request those additional funds in those areas.”

Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George said that during a meeting of the governor’s task force on Tribal consultation, some Oregon Tribal members questioned the timing of the apology.

“Some of them were about, ‘Well, why now?’ George said. “Even though it’s been going on for 150 years, why the apology now, and why hadn’t other presidential administrations ever apologized before then. I think we really have to thank (U.S. Interior Secretary) Deb Haaland for bringing the boarding school issue forward.”

Tribal Council member Kathleen George said the apology was important, while the pain of those who were not and cannot be made whole by it must also be recognized.

“It’s absolutely true that nothing, nothing can make up for the horrors that were forced on the Tribal people,” she said. “And I also think it’s important to recognize that this man, while in this seat of tremendous power, is the one and said out loud that day, ‘It is wrong and a shame on this nation that no one in my role has stood up, acknowledged the shame and the horrors of that era, that belong to the United States.’ He said those words out loud. And then also was the one who said out loud, ‘And we apologize. We acknowledge nothing can repair the damage that has been done and that your people continue to suffer from it, and I unequivocally apologize.’”

George said she is sympathetic to people who were unmoved by the apology.

“I completely understand and feel for those folks too, who rightly acknowledge that nothing can make up for that and that this is difficult because it comes so late; that is absolutely true,” she said. “And I also think we need to acknowledge when people in power do the right thing while they’re there. They take responsibility for their time in their seat and they say the words out loud that need to be said, and so for me, that was just important. To own the truth of the atrocities that occurred and spend time reflecting on them openly, with a nation, with the world watching, and openly say what words could be said, to apologize. So that’s important … while (remembering) all the people and families that still are harmed and suffering to this day in our heart.”

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkely issued a statement following the apology, saying he is fighting for funding for Tribal communities and programs.

“We need to learn from the mistakes of the past and continually consult Tribal communities to fully repair this lasting, generational damage,” Merkley said. “As chair of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I have secured $21 million to date for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Indian Boarding School Initiative to examine and help repair these devastating, historic wrongs. I’ll keep fighting to secure funding for this important initiative and to uphold our commitment to honoring the solemn promise that the United States has made to Tribal communities to fulfill our trust and treaty obligations.”