The work continues
Indian Boarding School investigation revelations, and Repatriation progress.
In my last update, I mentioned how the second volume of the Indian boarding school report is expected to be released soon; the report will “detail the devastation caused by U.S.-backed Indian boarding schools.” Many investigations have also been taking place at state levels. Washington appointed a committee, and we expect a report on the state’s investigation by 2025.
In October, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the appointment of five people from federally recognized tribes around the state to a newly formed Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee. The committee will investigate the state’s history of Native boarding schools — which Ferguson called “a shameful part” of Washington’s past — including at least 17 schools. A report of the committee’s findings is expected to be released in 2025, once the committee members have finished interviewing boarding school survivors and their descendants.
Alaska is “Ground Zero” for Indian Boarding Schools
Native News Online reported that Researchers have found evidence of the military-style boarding schools opening in Alaska two years before Carlisle began operation. Tactics that have long been associated with Carlisle Industrial School were used first in Sitka.
“which means militarization of boarding schools was something that not only started with the church, but the church within Alaska”
Sheldon Jackson, a presbyterian missionary with ties to Carlisle’s eventual superintendent, Richard Pratt, first came to the state on a mission in 1877. By 1878, he had founded the Sitka Mission to assimilate Alaska Native boys, the precursor for the Sheldon Jackson College, a year before Carlisle opened, according to the Alaska Native Knowledge Network.
“We have evidence of [militarization in boarding schools] occurring in Alaska, through Jackson, as early as 1877,” Jacuk-Dolchok said. “Usually, that's something that is attributed to Carlisle. The problem with that is that Carlisle opened up two years later, which means militarization of boarding schools was something that not only started with the church, but the church within Alaska”
Later, Sheldon Jackson became the General Agent of Education in Alaska, where he recruited Alaska Native children and began what would become a legacy of relocating Native children to boarding schools across the country.
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/alaska-is-ground-zero-for-indian-boarding-schools
This particular point has been incredibly difficult for me to process. Some who have followed me for a long time have heard me talk about my past; I am T’lingit from Sitka, Alaska, and my Grandmother attended Wrangell Institute. Learning the abusive practices started in Sitka caused me to spiral for a few days.
My father, Bob Sam, works in repatriation for our tribe. At the end of last year, he called on the Department of Interior to expand the Boarding School investigations to include more DOI-funded institutions like Morningside Hospital in Oregon. The Lost Alaskans Project has been researching for years to compile the records of Alaskan people lost to the mental institution system. My father has been sharing some of this research with me, and I aim to amplify their work. Find all of the resources I have currently here: https://showme-yourmask.info/lostalaskans
Thousands of ancestors came home in 2023
To end this newsletter on a good note, ProPublica reported, “Following decades of Indigenous activism and the 2023 publication of ProPublica’s “Repatriation Project,” federal officials have seen more activity leading to the return of ancestral remains to tribal nations than any other year since 1990.”
If anyone from ProPublica reads this, I want to thank your staff from the bottom of my heart for reporting on this immensely difficult subject. It helped bring the repatriation discussion to the mainstream.
I have also been making regular video updates on this subject, although they have been struggling with the algorithm. It could be suppression, but it also could be my lack of energy to be overly creative given the subject matter. Either way, I invite folks to help interact with any video you see discussing the history.
Thank you again for everything!
Hey all! I am so grateful to the people who helped fund my Oregon trip! My dad asked me to attend one of his visits to the Morningside site.
In other much more frivolous news, I still have not bought my tickets to the Cheer Choice Awards because of all the airline drama around Alaska Airlines, and I’m sort of glad I procrastinated. Anyway, now shopping for anything not Alaska Airlines until they sort things out 🥲
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