In response to President Biden’s apology for the U.S. government’s role in forcing Indigenous children into assimilationist boarding schools for more than 150 years, Indigenous Episcopal leaders, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris offer the following statement:
The Episcopal Church welcomes President Biden’s apology today while recognizing that our own journey of truth-telling and reconciliation continues. Through General Convention Resolution A127 and Executive Council Resolution MW062, we have committed $2.5 million to a comprehensive investigation of our church’s role in the boarding school system.
The Episcopal Church must fully understand its role and involvement in boarding schools. That is why we are pursuing a thorough fact-finding process while supporting community-based healing initiatives led by Indigenous communities. We continue to pray for all Indigenous children who were in residential boarding schools—those who died there, those who survived, and their descendants who still carry this legacy. As we say in our Prayer to Remember the Innocents, “We will always remember them.”
So far, we know that The Episcopal Church and the U.S. federal government worked together to assimilate Indigenous children and adults into the dominant American culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to current records in The Episcopal Church Archives, at least 34 schools operated under this arrangement. While most of the Episcopal-operated schools were in the regions west of the Mississippi, there is evidence that Episcopal dioceses and congregations on the East Coast helped to financially support the schools.
Our reckoning centers tribal sovereigns, and our research confirms the findings of the Department of the Interior: Indigenous day and boarding schools were largely created and funded by treaties between tribes and the federal government. The Department of the Interior contracted with The Episcopal Church to create and maintain Indigenous schools. Tribal trust monies and/or treaty agreements funded, in whole or in part, Episcopal-contracted schools. Thus, the current work of the Episcopal commissions is seeking the engagement and guidance of Tribal Nations.
Our Office of Government Relations is in touch with the Department of the Interior regarding its work and research on boarding schools and is pushing for Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that has been introduced in the House and Senate. The Episcopal Church is also partnering with many faith-based organizations and other groups, including the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
The Rev. Bradley Hauff
Missioner for Indigenous Ministries
Pearl Chanar
Co-chair of the A127 Commission
Warren Hawk
Co-chair of the A127 Commission
Miskopwaaganikwe Leora Tadgerson
Chair of the Executive Council Committee on Native Boarding Schools and Advocacy
The Most Rev. Michael Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
Julia Ayala Harris
President of the House of Deputies
