U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, helped lead a group of senators to speak on her legislation, S.1723, Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. The legislation, which she co-authored with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), would establish a formal commission to investigate, document, and acknowledge past injustices of the federal government’s Indian Boarding Schools. This includes attempts to terminate Native cultures, religions, and languages; assimilation practices; and human rights violations. The commission would also develop recommendations for Congress to aid in healing of the historical and intergenerational trauma passed down in Native families and communities and provide a forum for victims to speak about personal experiences tied to these human rights violations.
Senator Murkowski’s full floor speech can viewed here.
Senator Murkowski’s full speech transcript:
“I am here today to follow my colleague Senator Warren to discuss the legislation we have been working on together – this is S. 1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies. As Senator Warren has just noted, this is legislation which will allow the nation to address a chapter of American history that I think has been overlooked for too long. This is a dark legacy of the Indian boarding school era.
“From 1819 to 1969— not too terribly long ago. But throughout that period, the U.S. Government forcibly removed Native children from their families and Tribes and placed them in boarding schools. These Indian Boarding Schools as they came to be called, were not just education institutions, but many were tools to eradicate Native cultures, languages, and traditions to “civilize” Native American children.
“The traumatic effects of these boarding schools are still being felt by survivors. And not only by survivors, but by their children and their communities as well. I have heard from some of the survivors that are still with us, that the act of sharing, being able to tell the truth about their experiences can help contribute to healing.
“But, this takes extraordinary courage. And I’ve heard that.
“Fred John Jr., the son of Katie John and Fred John Sr. attended Wrangell Institute. He was assigned the number 77. He was not referred to as Fred Jon Jr., he was number 77. In 2018, he wrote that following his time at the boarding school, he carried pain and scars from his time at Wrangell. He never talked about it until his children gave him the strength and encouragement to do so.
“General Pratt, who opened the Carlisle Industrial school, established what he called a ‘rapid coercive assimilation’ process in these schools. The goal there was separating Native children from their Tribes, their language, and from their ways so they might never return home. The stated purpose of this policy was to ‘Kill the Indian to Save the Man.’
“Again, a dark, dark legacy.
“Our Committee Report details this history. However, to hear just some memories of how these policies were implemented, really, is devastating. Fred John Jr. described seeing a group of kids arriving from Anaktuvuk Pass. This is a small Native community at the gates of the Arctic. Very far into the interior of the state. Very far – a thousand miles from the Wrangell Institute in Southeastern. But, Fred John Jr. remembered the fur parkas they were wearing. He remembered their caribou pants. These were kids who came from a part of the state where this was a primary food source, and he remembered how beautiful they all were. But when they came in, the school staff stripped them down, taking all their clothes, their food, including dried caribou and salmon – which they had been given to tide them over. The staff showered them, shaved them, and gave them a number. But most painful in his retelling was how all their clothes, all the beautiful parkas and everything, were taken and burned up in a furnace, to completely wipe away their connection — not just to clothing but to the culture. In this time period, students were punished and endured violence. Some survived and are pursuing healing, but unfortunately many others did not.
“This photo – there is two actually on the same chart, which may be difficult to see from a distance – but the photo on top is of the child laying on the floor is part of the Sheldon Jackson Collection at the Presbyterian Historical Society. This shows an Alaska Native child aboard the “Revenue Cutter Bear” to be taken to boarding schools by Sheldon Jackson. According to Alaska Native Heritage Center research, most of the children who were taken aboard never returned back to their homes. It was a long and lengthy journey, but many went to school and never returned to their homes, passing away at the various boarding schools they were sent to, including the Sitka and Carlisle Industrial Indian Schools.
“This photo on the bottom – you can see how young these children at – courtesy of the National Library of Congress, shows a group of children who were sent to Catholic Holy Cross Mission – again in the interior part of the state. Here they are wearing essentially military uniforms, everything from the boots to the uniforms themselves. Benjamin Jacuk Dolchok was one of the experts we have worked with on this topic, and shared his research, including these photos.
“According to testimony from elders who attended Holy Cross School, every child received a haircut upon entrance, but if they disobeyed or angered any of the matrons or priests, their heads would be completely shaved as punishment.
“And these are just a handful of stories from survivors from Alaska, but Alaska was not the exception. Over the 19th and 20th century, stories like these from survivors are the unfortunately not too uncommon across the country.
“One of the most profound reasons for Congress to establish this commission is that it is time the federal government take responsibility for the legacy of its harmful policies. Our Commission will provide a Native-led process for communities to share the stories, share the truth, and pursue healing with the goal of breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
“And like other Congressional Advisory commissions that this body has established, it will be an independent bipartisan formal forum with expertise to examine the federal Indian boarding schools legacy, document it, and provide recommendations for action.
“Our legislation builds on an extensive congressional record developed through strong bipartisan work that started several Congress’ ago. We have had multiple hearings throughout our Committee, listening sessions, and meetings and research by the relevant Senate and House committees. Over one hundred written comments for the record from Indian Tribes, Native communities and organizations, individuals, and religious institutions, helped shape this legislation that we have reported to the floor of the Senate.
“I think it’s work taking a moment to talk about that process in the Indian Affairs Committee. We had a robust markup that began with a strong bipartisan effort by our staffs to pull together a substitute amendment to the bill for the committee to consider. That substitute amendment was further perfected by our down dais members on the committee who offered some really good amendments to address the hot button issues including extending subpoena authority to the Commission. Those amendments were adopted and the bill, as amended, was reported from the Committee on a voice vote.
“Through these additional amendments that we adopted at the business meeting, we now have a Commission that will have to meet higher standards than any other congressionally established federal commission in order to exercise subpoena authority. And that is okay, because subpoena authority should be a tool of last resort, but I do think that it is important for the commission to have this tool to ensure it can meet its investigatory function and deliver complete findings and recommendations to Congress.
“I want to thank the many who have shared their stories – Fred John Jr. – so many who have shared their stories, and for offering ways to pursue healing. Again, I want to acknowledge and thank Senator Warren for her leadership on this issue and for the leadership of Chairman Schatz from the Indian Affairs Committee for being a great partner as we have worked to develop this legislation through the Committee process. I look forward to building bipartisan support for this legislation and I urge my colleagues to support this very important and very timely matter.”
Background: The Indian Boarding School Policies were implemented by the federal government to strip American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children of their Indigenous identities, beliefs, and languages. Nearly 83 percent of AI/AN children, as young as 5 years old, were forcibly removed from their Tribal lands and families to be enrolled in one of 367 Indian boarding schools across 30 states, resulting in human rights violations including spiritual, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and violence. The full effects of the Indian Boarding School Policy have never been appropriately addressed, resulting in long-standing historical and intergenerational trauma, cycles of violence and abuse, disappearance, premature deaths, and additional undocumented psychological trauma. Furthermore, the residual impact of the Indian Boarding School Policy remains evident in a lack of culturally inclusive and affirming curricula and historically inaccurate representation of AI/AN people, history, and contributions.
The bill is endorsed by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), National Indian Education Association (NIEA), National Indian Health Board (NIHB), National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH), National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC), Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FNCL), and United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF).
The bill is led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Lisa Murkowski. The bill is also co-sponsored by Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Marin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).