Posted on Feb 11, 2023
On the road to healing, tribal citizens are speaking out about boarding schools
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https://www.npr.org/2023/02/10/ [login to see] /on-the-road-to-healing-tribal-citizens-are-speaking-out-about-boarding-schools
In a high school gymnasium about 20 miles south of Phoenix, a room full of people shift in their seats. The space is silent, with every small creak echoing in the high rafters of the building. No one wants to be the first one to speak.
Finally, a tall woman with dark hair stands up and walks to the microphone. She begins in English, but introduces herself in Tohono O'odham.
"They call me April Ignacio and I am providing testimony on behalf of my family," she says. In her hands she holds a stack of papers that she reads from.
Ignacio is one of hundreds of people in attendance, from small children to elderly tribal citizens, who have come here to speak to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The public forum at the Gila Crossing Community School is Haaland's fourth stop on the Road to Healing tour. For months, she and her staff have been traveling the country, listening to survivors and their families tell of the abuse they experienced in federal Indian boarding schools.
In a high school gymnasium about 20 miles south of Phoenix, a room full of people shift in their seats. The space is silent, with every small creak echoing in the high rafters of the building. No one wants to be the first one to speak.
Finally, a tall woman with dark hair stands up and walks to the microphone. She begins in English, but introduces herself in Tohono O'odham.
"They call me April Ignacio and I am providing testimony on behalf of my family," she says. In her hands she holds a stack of papers that she reads from.
Ignacio is one of hundreds of people in attendance, from small children to elderly tribal citizens, who have come here to speak to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The public forum at the Gila Crossing Community School is Haaland's fourth stop on the Road to Healing tour. For months, she and her staff have been traveling the country, listening to survivors and their families tell of the abuse they experienced in federal Indian boarding schools.
On the road to healing, tribal citizens are speaking out about boarding schools
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Native Americans
American History
Native Americans American History
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Last spring, the U.S. government took a major step toward owning up to a shameful chapter in our nation's history. The Interior Department released the results of its investigation into the federal Indian boarding school system. The scathing report detailed abuse and misconduct that took place at hundreds of schools across 37 states, or then-territories, for more than a century. As part of the process of healing and accountability, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is on a listening tour to hear these stories firsthand to allow Native people to tell their own stories in their own way, many for the first time. NPR's Sequoia Carrillo attended two of these sessions in Arizona.
SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: It's 9 in the morning, about 20 miles south of Phoenix, in a high school gymnasium. The gym is silent as the room full of people shift in their seats. No one wants to be the first one to speak. Finally, a tall woman with dark hair stands up and walks to the microphone. She starts in English, but introduces herself in O’odham."...
..."MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Last spring, the U.S. government took a major step toward owning up to a shameful chapter in our nation's history. The Interior Department released the results of its investigation into the federal Indian boarding school system. The scathing report detailed abuse and misconduct that took place at hundreds of schools across 37 states, or then-territories, for more than a century. As part of the process of healing and accountability, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is on a listening tour to hear these stories firsthand to allow Native people to tell their own stories in their own way, many for the first time. NPR's Sequoia Carrillo attended two of these sessions in Arizona.
SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: It's 9 in the morning, about 20 miles south of Phoenix, in a high school gymnasium. The gym is silent as the room full of people shift in their seats. No one wants to be the first one to speak. Finally, a tall woman with dark hair stands up and walks to the microphone. She starts in English, but introduces herself in O’odham."...
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