Violence in boarding schools

Biden apologizes to indigenous peoples

The US President commented on the abuse cases during a visit to an indigenous reservation in the US state of Arizona.

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

US President Joe Biden has asked indigenous peoples in the USA to apologize for the mistreatment of thousands of their children in state boarding schools. "I formally apologize as President of the United States of America for what we have done," said Biden on Friday during a visit to an indigenous reservation in the US state of Arizona.

Tens of thousands of Native American children were taken from their parents between the early 19th century and the 1970s and sent to state boarding schools for re-education. Many of the children suffered physical, psychological and sexual violence there.

The aim of the state institutions was to eradicate the children's culture, language and identity and to assimilate them. According to a government report, at least 973 children died in the institutions.

Many schools were Catholic
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Indigenous minister in the US, commissioned the study in 2021 to examine the impact of the boarding school policy. From 1819 to 1969, at least 18,000 Indigenous children were sent to state boarding schools where they were tortured and stripped of their cultural identity. Many of the schools were run by Catholics, Kathpress reported.

Since the end of the 19th century, sexual abuse is also said to have occurred in the institutions. According to the Washington Post, most of the crimes were committed in the 1950s and 1960s. At least 122 priests and religious are accused.