Bill Summary
The "Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy Act" aims to address the cultural genocide, assimilation practices, and human rights violations committed by Indian Boarding Schools in the United States. It establishes a commission to investigate and document these experiences, as well as the ongoing effects of historical and intergenerational trauma in Tribal communities. The commission will make recommendations for the federal government to acknowledge and address the trauma caused by the boarding school policy and prevent further harm. It is composed of appointed members and has the power to hold hearings, take testimony, and receive evidence. A report with findings and recommendations must be submitted within 24 months of the enactment of the Act.
Possible Impacts
1. Indigenous individuals and communities will have a platform to share their experiences and have their voices heard through testimony and hearings held by the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy.
2. The Commission's report with findings and recommendations will provide a framework for the federal government to acknowledge and address the long-lasting impacts of the Indian Boarding School Policy on Native American and Alaska Native communities.
3. The legislation will help prevent further removal of AI/AN children from their families and communities through modern-day assimilation practices, protecting the cultural identity and well-being of indigenous peoples.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4752 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4752
To establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School
Policy in the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 29, 2020
Ms. Warren introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School
Policy in the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Truth and Healing Commission on
Indian Boarding School Policy Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Indian Boarding School Policy was adopted by the
United States Government to strip American Indian and Alaska
Native (AI/AN) children of their indigenous identities,
beliefs, and traditional languages to assimilate them into
White American culture through federally funded Christian-run
schools, which had the effect of cultural genocide.
(2) For nearly a century, between 1869 and the 1960s, the
Federal Government implemented the Indian Boarding School
Policy. This policy authorized the forced removal of hundreds
of thousands of AI/AN children, as young as 5 years old,
relocating them from their homes in Tribal communities to one
of the 367 Indian Boarding Schools across 30 States.
(3) By 1926, nearly 83 percent of AI/AN school-age children
were enrolled in Indian boarding schools in the United States.
However, because nearly 62 percent of the school records have
been lost or destroyed, the full extent of the Federal Indian
boarding school policy has not been identified.
(4) Gen. Richard Henry Pratt, the founder and
superintendent of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, stated the ethos of this policy to
``kill the Indian in him, and save the man''. Founded in 1879,
the Carlisle Indian School set the precedent as the first
Government-funded off-reservation Indian boarding school in the
United States where over 10,000 AI/AN children were enrolled
from over 140 Tribes.
(5) The Indian Boarding School policy was designed to
assimilate AI/AN children into White American culture by
stripping them of their cultural identities, often through
physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse and
neglect. Many of the children who were taken to boarding
schools never returned to their communities. At the Carlisle
Indian School alone, approximately 180 AI/AN children were
buried.
(6) While attending Indian boarding schools, AI/AN children
suffered additional psychological abuses as they were sent to
White-owned homes and businesses for involuntary and unpaid
manual labor work during the summers. Many children ran away
and remained missing, or died of illnesses due to harsh living
conditions, abuse, and/or substandard health care provided by
the schools.
(7) Many of the children were buried in unmarked graves or
off-campus cemeteries. Inaccurate, scattered, and missing
school records make it nearly impossible for families to locate
the final resting place of their loved ones, especially since
only 38 percent of the school's records have been located from
142 of the known 367 boarding schools.
(8) Parents of the children who were forcibly removed to
the boarding schools were prohibited from visiting or engaging
in correspondence with their children. Parental resistance to
compliance with this harsh no-contact policy resulted in their
incarceration or loss of access to basic provisions including
food rations, clothing, or both.
(9) The 2018 Broken Promises Report published by the United
States Commission on Civil Rights reported that AI/AN
communities continue to experience intergenerational trauma
resulting from experiences in Indian Boarding Schools that
divided cultural family structures, damaged indigenous
identities, and inflicted chronic psychological ramifications
on AI/AN children and families.
(10) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Kaiser
Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study shows that
adverse or traumatic childhood experiences disrupts brain
development leading to a higher likelihood of negative health
outcomes as adults including, but not limited to, heart
disease, obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases. AI/ANs
suffer from disproportional rates of each of these diseases
compared to the national average today.
(11) The longstanding ramifications of the inhumane
treatment of AI/AN children and families at these boarding
schools continues to impact Tribal communities through
intergenerational trauma, cycles of violence and abuse,
disappearance, health disparities, substance abuse, premature
deaths, and additional undocumented psychological trauma.
(12) The continuing lasting implications of the Federal
Indian Boarding School Policy and inhumane treatment of AI/AN
children and families influenced modern U.S. Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-operated schools.
These schools have often failed to meet the many needs of
nearly 50,000 AI/AN students across 23 States.
(13) The replication of assimilation policies of the
boarding school era also presented itself through other Federal
programs like the Indian Adoption Project (1958 to 1967) that
placed AI/AN children in non-Indian households and institutions
for foster care or adoption across 25 States.
(14) The Association on American Indian Affairs reported
that the continuation of cultural genocide and assimilation
policies through Federal AI/AN adoption and foster care
programs between 1941 to 1967 separated as many as one-third of
Native American children from their families in Tribal
communities, subsequently prompting the creation of the Indian
Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to stop the removal of children.
(15) In some States, over 50 percent of foster care
children in State adoption systems are Native American. The
general lack of public awareness, information, and
acknowledgment of the residual impacts of the Indian Boarding
School Policy and intergenerational trauma remain, signaling
the overdue need for an investigative Federal committee to
further document and expose the assimilation and cultural
genocide implemented under this policy.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To establish a new Truth and Healing Commission on
Indian Boarding School Policy in the United States to formally
investigate and document, for the first time in history,
cultural genocide, assimilation practices, and human rights
violations of Indian Boarding Schools in the United States, to
study the impact and ongoing effects of historical and
intergenerational trauma in Tribal communities, and to provide
a forum for indigenous victims and families to discuss the
personal impacts of physical, psychological, and spiritual
violence.
(2) To further develop recommendations for the Federal
Government to acknowledge and heal the historical and
intergenerational trauma caused by the Federal Indian Boarding
School Policy and other cultural genocide practices, including
recommendations to stop the continued removal of AI/AN children
from their families and Tribal communities under modern-day
assimilation practices carried out by State social service
departments, foster care agencies, and adoption services.
SEC. 4. TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICY
IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Truth
and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy in the
United States established by subsection (b)(1).
(2) Indian boarding school policy.--The term ``Indian
Boarding School Policy'' means the policy of the Federal
Government under which more than 100,000 American Indian and
Alaska Native children were forcibly removed from their family
homes and placed in any of 460 Bureau of Indian Affairs-
operated schools, including 367 Indian boarding schools, at
which assimilation and ``civilization'' practices were
inflicted on those children as part of the assimilation efforts
of the Federal Government, advancing eradication of indigenous
peoples' cultures in the United States.
(b) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--There is established the Truth and Healing
Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy in the United
States.
(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the Commission is to
investigate the experience, impacts, and ongoing effects of the
Indian Boarding School Policy, including the impacts and
ongoing effects of the intergenerational trauma inflicted on
American Indian and Alaska Native families, including physical,
psychological, sexual, and spiritual violence inflicted on
Native American children as young as 5 years old for speaking
indigenous languages or engaging in traditional practices. In
addition to, obtaining accurate records and oral accounts of
the events that took place at the boarding schools.
(3) Membership.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall be composed
of members appointed as follows:
(i) Not fewer than 1 member appointed by
the President.
(ii) Not fewer than 1 member appointed by
the President pro tempore of the Senate, on the
recommendation of the majority leader of the
Senate.
(iii) Not fewer than 1 member appointed by
the President pro tempore of the Senate, on the
recommendation of the minority leader of the
Senate.
(iv) Not fewer than 2 members appointed by
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of
whom not fewer than 1 shall be appointed on the
recommendation of the minority leader of the
House of Representatives.
(B) Requirements for membership.--To the maximum
extent practicable, the President and the Members of
Congress shall appoint members of the Commission under
subparagraph (A) to represent diverse experiences and
backgrounds so as to include Tribal representatives and
experts who will provide balanced points of view with
regard to the duties of the Commission, including
Tribal representatives and experts--
(i) from diverse geographic areas; and
(ii) who possess personal experience with,
diverse policy experience with, or specific
expertise in, Indian boarding school history or
the Indian Boarding School Policy.
(C) Presidential appointment.--The President shall
make appointments to the Commission under this
paragraph in coordination with the Secretary of the
Interior and the Director of the Bureau of Indian
Education.
(D) Members to be included.--To the maximum extent
practicable, the membership of the Commission shall
include--
(i) 1 representative from each of--
(I) the National Native American
Boarding School Healing Coalition;
(II) the National Indian Education
Association;
(III) the American Indian Higher
Education Consortium; and
(IV) National Indian Child Welfare
Association;
(ii) the Director or Administrator of--
(I) the Bureau of Indian Education;
(II) the Office of Indian Education
of the Department of Education;
(III) the Administration for Native
Americans of the Administration for
Children and Families of the Department
of Health and Human Services; and
(IV) the National Museum of the
American Indian of the Smithsonian
Institution;
(iii) not fewer than--
(I) 5 members of different Indian
Tribes from diverse geographic areas,
to be selected from among nominations
submitted by Indian Tribes;
(II) 2 health care or mental health
practitioners, counselors, or providers
with experience in working with former
students of Indian boarding schools, to
be selected from among nominations of
Tribal chairs or elected Tribal
leadership local to the region in which
the practitioner, counselor, or
provider works;
(III) 3 members of different
national Indian organizations, regional
Indian organizations, or urban Indian
organizations that are focused on, or
have relevant expertise with, the
history and systemic trauma associated
with the Indian Boarding School Policy;
(IV) 4 former students or Indian
survivors who attended Indian boarding
schools;
(V) 2 family members of students
who attended Indian boarding schools,
to represent diverse regions of the
United States;
(VI) 2 students who currently
attend an Indian boarding school,
including not fewer than 1 student who
currently attends the Chemawa Indian
School (OR), Haskell Indian Nations
University (KS), Mount Edgecumbe (AK),
Santa Fe Indian School (NM), or Sherman
Institute (CA);
(VII) 2 students who currently
attend a BIE-operated boarding school,
tribally controlled boarding school,
State public boarding school, private
nonprofit boarding school formerly
operated by the Federal Government,
parochial boarding school, and BIE-
operated college or university;
(VIII) 2 former teachers who taught
at an Indian boarding school for not
fewer than 5 years; and
(IX) 1 representative of the
International Indian Treaty Council
(IITC) or Association on American
Indian Affairs (AAIA).
(E) Date.--The appointments of the members of the
Commission shall be made not later than 120 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(4) Period of appointment; vacancies; removal.--
(A) Period of appointment.--A member of the
Commission shall be appointed for a term of 2 years.
(B) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Commission--
(i) shall not affect the powers of the
Commission; and
(ii) shall be filled in the same manner as
the original appointment.
(C) Removal.--The President or a Member of Congress
making an appointment under paragraph (3)(A) may remove
a member appointed by that President or Member of
Congress, respectively, only for neglect of duty or
malfeasance in office.
(5) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the
Chairperson.
(6) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Commission
shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may
hold hearings.
(7) Chairperson and vice chairperson.--The Commission shall
select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the
members of the Commission.
(c) Duties of the Commission.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall develop
recommendations on actions the Federal Government can take to
adequately address the historical and intergenerational trauma
inflicted by the Indian Boarding School Policy, including
recommendations on ways to stop the continued removal of Indian
children from their families and reservations under modern-day
assimilation practices carried out by State social service
departments, foster care agencies, and adoption agencies.
(2) Matters studied.--The matters studied by the Commission
under paragraph (1) shall include--
(A) the implementation of the Indian Boarding
School Policy at the 460 schools operated by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs;
(B) how the assimilation practices of the Federal
Government advanced the cultural genocide of Native
Americans; and
(C) the impacts and ongoing effects of the Indian
Boarding School Policy.
(3) Additional duties.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Commission shall locate, document, analyze, and preserve
records from boarding schools described in paragraph (2)(A),
including any records held at State and local levels.
(4) Testimony.--The Commission shall take testimony from
survivors of boarding schools described in paragraph (2)(A),
identifying how the experience impacts the lives of the
survivors, so that their stories will be remembered as part of
the history of the United States.
(5) Report.--Not later than 24 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make publicly
available and submit to the President, the White House Council
on Native American Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, the
Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the
Members of Congress making appointments under paragraph (3)(A),
a report containing--
(A) a detailed statement of the findings and
conclusions of the Commission;
(B) the recommendations of the Commission for such
legislation and administrative actions as the
Commission considers appropriate;
(C) the recommendations of the Commission to
increase Federal funding to adequately fund American
Indian and Alaska Native programs for mental health,
traditional healing programs, and mandatory inclusion
of Native American history, including the history of
the Indian Boarding School Policy, in required K-12
curriculum; and
(D) other related recommendations of the
Commission--
(i) to address historical and
intergenerational trauma inflicted on American
Indian and Alaska Native communities by the
Indian Boarding School Policy; and
(ii) to discontinue the harmful practices
and policies that continue in boarding schools
operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian
Education or other educational facilities
operated on Indian reservations.
(d) Powers of Commission.--The Commission may hold such hearings,
sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive
such evidence as the Commission considers advisable to carry out this
section.
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