In a historic speech, US President Joe Biden apologized on behalf of the nation for the forced assimilation policies inflicted on Native American children through the government-run boarding school system. This policy, spanning from the early 1800s to the 1970s, aimed to erase Native culture by abducting children from their families and immersing them in European settler practices.
“I formally apologize, as president of the United States of America, for what we did,” Biden declared during his speech at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, streamed live by the White House. He referred to this as one of the most horrific episodes in American history.
The federal government operated over 400 boarding schools across 37 states or then-territories. Thousands of children suffered cultural and physical abuse, with many experiencing forced conversions to Christianity, banned languages, and painful separation from their families. A recent report disclosed widespread instances of physical, mental, and sexual abuse, along with nearly a thousand recorded deaths.
The brutal policy, summarized by the phrase “Kill the Indian, Save the Man,” left scars across generations, as shared by Navajo elder Emerson Gorman, who was taken from his family at age five and forbidden to practice his culture or speak his language.
US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, joined Biden, highlighting the resilience of Native communities despite these traumatic policies. “They failed to annihilate our languages, our traditions, our life ways. Despite everything, we are still here,” Haaland said.
Under Biden’s administration, significant steps have been taken to expand Tribal autonomy and protect sacred Native lands, showing a renewed commitment to support Native American communities.
Official apologies from American presidents are rare but significant. Biden’s statement joins a small list of past apologies, such as Ronald Reagan’s 1988 legislation compensating Japanese Americans for World War II internment and Bill Clinton’s apology in 1997 for the infamous syphilis experiments on Black men. In 2008, Congress formally apologized for slavery and Jim Crow laws, though no reparations were offered.
This apology also echoes recent Canadian efforts to confront its own legacy of abuse in Indigenous boarding schools. By addressing these injustices, the Biden administration aims to foster healing and recognition for Native communities.
