WASHINGTON (December 9, 2024) — The Department of the Interior today announced new agreements with the U.S. Library of Congress and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as part of the Department’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. The new agreements will preserve the survivor stories disclosed initiative’s oral history project, and inform the public on histories relating to the federal Indian boarding school system and its impacts on Indigenous children and their communities.
The announcement follows President Biden’s visit to the Gila River Indian Community with Secretary Deb Haaland, where he formally apologized to Native communities on behalf of the U.S. government for the atrocities committed against them through the Federal Indian Boarding School system.
“We are here because our ancestors persevered. Their stories – our stories – are everywhere – in the air we breathe and the land we walk on. We tell those stories because Native American history is American history,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “For decades, this terrible chapter was hidden from our history books, but now, our Administration’s work and these partnerships will ensure that no one will ever forget.”
“As we have learned over the past three years, these institutions are not just part of our past. Their legacy reaches us today and is reflected in the wounds people continue to experience in communities across the United States,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland. “Ensuring this history is told is just the beginning of a long effort to heal our nation.”
As part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, the Department launched an oral history project to document and make accessible to the public the experiences of generations of Indigenous then-children who attended the federal Indian boarding school system. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is currently interviewing survivors for this collection of first-person narratives.
The agreement with the Library of Congress will establish and preserve a collection of theses oral histories relating to federal Indian boarding schools, with the goal of ensuring stories and experiences that survivors share can be heard and learned from by current and future generations.
“The Library of Congress is honored to be entrusted with the stewardship of these important, albeit painful, oral histories,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.“Placing them in the care of our American Folklife Center will ensure that this collection of stories remains available as a resource, lesson and reminder for posterity.”
The agreement with the National Museum of American History will seek to showcase aspects of the federal Indian boarding school system by working with tribal communities to develop far-reaching educational resources, online, traveling and long-term exhibitions that will share the history and legacy of the federal Indian boarding school system with the world. The museum envisions that audiences will be able to learn, share and debate about this long-hidden chapter in the nation’s history to help make sense of the contemporary world, including the impacts of the boarding school system on Indian Country and the Native Hawaiian Community and its role in the country’s development.
“Through this collaboration with the Department of the Interior, the National Museum of American History is committed to sharing the stories of children who endured this boarding school system, illuminating both the profound loss of families and culture and resilience experienced by Indigenous communities,” said the museum’s Elizabeth MacMillan Director Anthea M. Hartig. “By engaging audiences with this difficult period that is part of our shared history, we aim to foster understanding, dialogue and reflection on its lasting impact on Indian Country and the nation.”
This first-time national preservation and exhibition work is made possible through investments of $13.6 million by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mellon Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Bush Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation and Rasmuson Foundation.
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was launched in June 2021 by Secretary Haaland as the first-ever comprehensive effort by the federal government to recognize the troubled legacy of past federal Indian boarding school policies with the goal of addressing their intergenerational impact and shedding light on past and present trauma in Indigenous communities. Earlier this year, the Department released the second and final volume of the investigative report called for as part of the initiative, led by Assistant Secretary Newland. One of the report’s key recommendations was to “telling the story of federal Indian boarding schools to the American people and global community.”