Resources for "Indigenous Communities, Child-Family Separation, and the Catholic Church: What Do Truth and Healing Require?"
These resources are meant to help participants learn and explore the depth and complexity of the history of Indigenous boarding schools, any progress that has been made and the challenges faced by survivors to this day.
Articles and reports
‘War against the children’: The Native American boarding school system – a decades-long effort to assimilate Indigenous people before they ever reached adulthood — robbed children of their culture, family bonds and sometimes their lives. Zach Levitt, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Simon Romero, and Tim Wallace. The New York Times. August 30, 2023.
‘12 years of hell’: Indian boarding school survivors share their stories: Forced by the federal government to attend the schools, Native American children were sexually assaulted, beaten and emotionally abused. Dana Hedgpeth. The Washington Post. August 7, 2023.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s charged mission of healing: The first Native person to serve as a Cabinet secretary, she leads a department that once oversaw the removal of Indigenous people from their land. Karen Heller. The Washington Post. July 17, 2023.
Native adoptions can give priority to tribal families, Supreme Court rules. Ann E. Marimow and Robert Barnes. The Washington Post. June 15, 2023.
‘...and yet there’s still no peace’ Catholic Indigenous Residential Schools in Canada. Stephen J. McKinney. Journal of Religious Education. October 29, 2022.
Full text: Pope Francis’ apology to Indigenous Peoples in Canada. America: The Jesuit Review. July 25, 2022.
Troubling past: The Church’s role in America’s Indian boarding school era. The Catholic Spirit. Maria Wiering. April 26, 2022.
‘I Feel Shame’: Pope Apologizes to Indigenous People of Canada. Elisabetta Povoledo and Ian Austen. The New York Times. April 1, 2022.
Atoning for sins against Indigenous people begins with confronting the past. Red Cloud Indian School is showing the way. Maka Black Elk and William Critchley-Menor, S.J. America Magazine. October 8, 2021.
US Catholic Bishops Approve Development of Native American Pastoral Plan. Peter Jesserer Smith. National Catholic Register. June 23, 2021.
Children's graves in Canada reflect Catholic logic of Indigenous vanishment. Kathleen Holscher. National Catholic Reporter. June 22, 2021.
My grandparents were stolen from their families as children. We must learn about this history. Deb Haaland. The Washington Post. Jule 11, 2021.
Indigenous Peoples and Boarding Schools: A comparative study. Andrea Smith. Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Struggling with Cultural Repression. Chapter 3: Boarding Schools. National Museum of the American Indian.
Books
Our Shared Future: Windows into Canada’s Reconciliation Journey. Laura E. Reimer, Robert Chrismas, eds. Lexington Books. 2020.
Podcasts
Buried Secrets: America’s Indian Boarding Schools Part 1. Reveal. October 15, 2022.
Buried Secrets: America’s Indian Boarding Schools Part 2. Reveal. October 22, 2022.
The Church and Indian Country. Tekakwitha Conference.
Press statements
International Conference Seeks to Enrich Ministry to Catholic Indigenous Populations. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. September 22, 2023.
Homily of the Holy Father: Lac Ste. Anne. July 26, 2022.
Jesuit Conference Issues Statement on Boarding Schools for Indigenous Students. Jesuits. August 11, 2021.
U.S. Government response
S. 1723 Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. Introduced May 18, 2023.
Federal Indian Boarding Schools Initiative. U.S. Department of the Interior.
Federal Indian Boarding Schools Initiative Investigative Report. U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland. May 2022.
Websites
Catholic Operated Native Boarding Schools in the United States, pre-1978. Catholic Truth and Healing.
List of Indian Boarding Schools in the United States. National Native American Boarding Schools Healing Coalition. August 2023.