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Up to 40,000 Native American children may have died at government-run boarding schools across the US, expert says as remains of 10 kids are exhumed from unmarked graves in Pennsylvania
PUBLISHED: 06:01 EDT, 22 June 2021 | UPDATED: 17:10 EDT, 22 June 2021
As many as 40,000 Native American children may have died from poor care at government-run boarding schools around the US, a researcher has claimed.
Preston McBride, a Dartmouth College scholar, has documented at least 1,000 deaths from 1879 to 1934 at just four of the over 500 schools that have existed in the United States, including the non-boarding schools on Indian reservations.
He offered his grim estimate for total deaths at government-run schools - which came about in the early 19th century and still exist today - in a Reuters report published Tuesday.
'It's quite likely that 40,000 children died either in or because of these institutions,' said McBride, who estimates that tens of thousands more children were simply never again in contact with their families or their tribes after being sent off to the schools.
'This is on the order of magnitude of something like the Trail of Tears,' he added, referring to the government's forced displacement of Native Americans between 1830 and 1850. 'Yet it’s not talked about.'
McBride's comments came after a team of archeologists began exhuming the remains of ten Native American children who died more than a century ago at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
Founded by Army veteran General Richard Pratt in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (pictured) in Pennsylvania was among the 367 original government-operated institutions for Native American children
A team of archaeologists began work Saturday at the cemetery on the grounds of the Carlisle Barracks (pictured) to unearth the remains of 10 more Native American children who died more than a century ago at the Carlisle school
Of the ten deceased children, nine were from the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota and one was from the Alaskan Aleut tribe.
This is the Army's fourth disinterment project at the school in as many years.
Founded by Army veteran General Richard Pratt in 1879, Carlisle was among the 367 original government-operated institutions for Native American children. It's cemetery contains 180 graves of former students.
The federal government does not know or is unwilling to say how many children even attended the schools, how many died in or went missing from them, or even how many schools existed.
Preston McBride (pictured) a Dartmouth College scholar, has documented at least 1,000 deaths from 1879 to 1934 at just four of the over 500 schools that have existed in the United States, including the non-boarding schools on Indian reservations
Among those who have called for a commission to fully investigate the legacy of Indian boarding schools is Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary and whose department oversees Indian schools, which churches began running in 1819 through federal funding.
Native Americans have watched with horror and a sorrowful sense of recognition as news unfolded in Canada of the discovery of the bodies of 215 children in unmarked graves at one of what were known as indigenous residential schools.
The Canadian government said its indigenous residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996, carried out 'cultural genocide.' Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has found at least 4,100 students died in the schools.
Among those who have called for a commission to fully investigate the legacy of Indian boarding schools is Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (pictured)
Haaland, in an essay published on June 11 in the Washington Post, said the news from Canada made her 'sick to my stomach.'
'Many Americans may be alarmed to learn that the United States also has a history of taking Native children from their families in an effort to eradicate our culture and erase us as people,' wrote Haaland.
For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children were uprooted from their communities and forced into US government-operated boarding schools that focused on assimilation.
Before shutting down in 1918, the Carlisle school housed some 10,000 indigenous children.
Many students were forced to cut their braids, dress in uniforms, speak English and adopt European names. Infectious diseases and harsh conditions claimed the lives of many children buried there.
The deaths were primarily from diseases made far more lethal in many of the schools because of poor treatment.
Marsha Small, a Montana State University doctoral student, is part of a team that has worked to locate unmarked graves at the Chemawa Indian School cemetery in Salem, Oregon, using ground-penetrating radar.
For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children (pictured) were uprooted from their communities and forced into US government-operated boarding schools that focused on assimilation.
Since 2016, dozens of Native American and Alaskan Native families have requested that their ancestors be returned from Carlisle school (pictured)
As many as 40,000 Native American children (pictured) may have died from poor care at government-run boarding schools around the US, McBride claims
The remains of 215 children were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia (pictured)
So far, Small has located 222 sets of remains, but says additional work is required to have a full accounting.
'Until we can find those kids and let their elders come get them or know where they can pay respects, I don't think the native is going to heal, and as such I don't think America is going to heal,' Small said.
Chemawa, founded in 1880, is still operating.
Native Americans acknowledge that the schools still operating have transformed in important ways.
Many are now under tribal oversight and children are taught their native languages instead of being punished for speaking them. However, the schools have yet to acknowledge their pasts, said the coalition's McCleave and others.
'Before we can move forward, they have to recognize that legacy,' she said.
- Preston McBride, a Dartmouth College scholar, has documented at least 1,000 deaths from 1879 to 1934 at four of the over 500 schools in the United States
- The federal government does not know or is unwilling to say how many children attended the schools, how many died in or went missing from them
- For over 150 years, Indigenous children were uprooted from their communities and forced into US government-operated schools that focused on assimilation
- Many students were forced to cut their braids, dress in uniforms, speak English and adopt European names
- Among those who have called for a commission to fully investigate the legacy of Indian boarding schools is Interior Secretary Deb Haaland
PUBLISHED: 06:01 EDT, 22 June 2021 | UPDATED: 17:10 EDT, 22 June 2021
As many as 40,000 Native American children may have died from poor care at government-run boarding schools around the US, a researcher has claimed.
Preston McBride, a Dartmouth College scholar, has documented at least 1,000 deaths from 1879 to 1934 at just four of the over 500 schools that have existed in the United States, including the non-boarding schools on Indian reservations.
He offered his grim estimate for total deaths at government-run schools - which came about in the early 19th century and still exist today - in a Reuters report published Tuesday.
'It's quite likely that 40,000 children died either in or because of these institutions,' said McBride, who estimates that tens of thousands more children were simply never again in contact with their families or their tribes after being sent off to the schools.
'This is on the order of magnitude of something like the Trail of Tears,' he added, referring to the government's forced displacement of Native Americans between 1830 and 1850. 'Yet it’s not talked about.'
McBride's comments came after a team of archeologists began exhuming the remains of ten Native American children who died more than a century ago at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
Founded by Army veteran General Richard Pratt in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (pictured) in Pennsylvania was among the 367 original government-operated institutions for Native American children
A team of archaeologists began work Saturday at the cemetery on the grounds of the Carlisle Barracks (pictured) to unearth the remains of 10 more Native American children who died more than a century ago at the Carlisle school
Of the ten deceased children, nine were from the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota and one was from the Alaskan Aleut tribe.
This is the Army's fourth disinterment project at the school in as many years.
Founded by Army veteran General Richard Pratt in 1879, Carlisle was among the 367 original government-operated institutions for Native American children. It's cemetery contains 180 graves of former students.
The federal government does not know or is unwilling to say how many children even attended the schools, how many died in or went missing from them, or even how many schools existed.
Preston McBride (pictured) a Dartmouth College scholar, has documented at least 1,000 deaths from 1879 to 1934 at just four of the over 500 schools that have existed in the United States, including the non-boarding schools on Indian reservations
Among those who have called for a commission to fully investigate the legacy of Indian boarding schools is Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary and whose department oversees Indian schools, which churches began running in 1819 through federal funding.
Native Americans have watched with horror and a sorrowful sense of recognition as news unfolded in Canada of the discovery of the bodies of 215 children in unmarked graves at one of what were known as indigenous residential schools.
The Canadian government said its indigenous residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996, carried out 'cultural genocide.' Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has found at least 4,100 students died in the schools.
Among those who have called for a commission to fully investigate the legacy of Indian boarding schools is Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (pictured)
Haaland, in an essay published on June 11 in the Washington Post, said the news from Canada made her 'sick to my stomach.'
'Many Americans may be alarmed to learn that the United States also has a history of taking Native children from their families in an effort to eradicate our culture and erase us as people,' wrote Haaland.
For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children were uprooted from their communities and forced into US government-operated boarding schools that focused on assimilation.
Before shutting down in 1918, the Carlisle school housed some 10,000 indigenous children.
Many students were forced to cut their braids, dress in uniforms, speak English and adopt European names. Infectious diseases and harsh conditions claimed the lives of many children buried there.
The deaths were primarily from diseases made far more lethal in many of the schools because of poor treatment.
Marsha Small, a Montana State University doctoral student, is part of a team that has worked to locate unmarked graves at the Chemawa Indian School cemetery in Salem, Oregon, using ground-penetrating radar.
For over 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children (pictured) were uprooted from their communities and forced into US government-operated boarding schools that focused on assimilation.
Since 2016, dozens of Native American and Alaskan Native families have requested that their ancestors be returned from Carlisle school (pictured)
As many as 40,000 Native American children (pictured) may have died from poor care at government-run boarding schools around the US, McBride claims
The remains of 215 children were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia (pictured)
So far, Small has located 222 sets of remains, but says additional work is required to have a full accounting.
'Until we can find those kids and let their elders come get them or know where they can pay respects, I don't think the native is going to heal, and as such I don't think America is going to heal,' Small said.
Chemawa, founded in 1880, is still operating.
Native Americans acknowledge that the schools still operating have transformed in important ways.
Many are now under tribal oversight and children are taught their native languages instead of being punished for speaking them. However, the schools have yet to acknowledge their pasts, said the coalition's McCleave and others.
'Before we can move forward, they have to recognize that legacy,' she said.
