By U.S. REP. CHUCK EDWARDS (R-N.C.)
Americans tend to take for granted today that schools are places of learning and cultural enrichment for students from all walks of life regardless of race, religion or national origin.
But there is a black mark on our nation’s history that resulted in untold suffering and trauma that resonated across the decades in tribal communities throughout the nation: the Indian boarding schools that operated in this country during the 19th and 20th centuries.
More than 500 Indian boarding schools were established across America, in which young children were forced to leave their families, cut their hair and speak English only, and were subject to extremely strict disciplinary standards.
Traditional religions were replaced with Christianity, and many of the lessons taught to students held a common theme – that Indian culture was inferior to that of the rest of America, and that Indians should be ashamed of their heritage.
While studying resources published by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, I learned that many of the American Indian Code Talkers – famed for their heroic service in WWII – reminisced that the militaristic nature of the schools they were forced to attend made adapting to life in the U.S. military easier.
This is a perfect example of the simple irony that served as the foundation for these schools: Students were severely punished for speaking their native languages while at school, but ultimately, it was the use of their native languages that helped the Allies defeat the Japanese in the Pacific.
There were four Indian boarding schools established in North Carolina, two of which were in WNC – the Cherokee Boarding School in Cherokee, and Judson College in Henderson County. In a 2005 report on this issue to the State Board of Education, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) tribal member Jerry Wolfe, who attended the Cherokee Boarding School in the late 1920s, recalled his experience below:
“You really got punished for speaking the Cherokee language… even being suspected of speaking Cherokee. You really got a whipping … I felt tight in my shoulders for so many years (because of the experience). It was like walking on eggshells. I was a grown man before I let the tenseness go away, before I could open up.”
These traumatic experiences can have ripple effects across generations.
As the congressional representative of those living in the Qualla Boundary, I want to make sure I am doing whatever is possible to right these wrongs and help to bring closure to families whom Indian boarding schools affected in a consequential way.
That is why I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 7227, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. This important legislation, introduced by House Native American Caucus co-chairs Reps. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.), would establish a commission to investigate, document and report to Congress on the history of Indian boarding schools and the long-term impacts on tribal communities.
It is painful to even put these words onto paper, but under the full inquiry into Indian Boarding School policies provided under the bill, identifying locations of unmarked burial sites for children is prioritized. This is the level of barbarity that was committed at these schools.
This legislation represents how Washington should work – two members of Congress with a shared heritage (both Reps. Davids and Cole are enrolled tribal members, of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, respectively) put partisanship aside and produced serious, well-crafted legislation.
My support for this legislation came about in the best way possible – the week the bill was introduced, members of the EBCI Tribal Council were in Washington and let me know of its introduction. I am grateful that my staff and I maintain such a productive working relationship with the tribal council members and the EBCI community at large, and this instance of collaboration is just one of many since I took office last January.
We’ve come quite a long way from the horrific abuses of Native children of decades past, but we must fully understand that the history of these schools and the policies that led to their establishment ultimately point back to Congress. It’s now up to Congress to try and right these wrongs.
Congressman Chuck Edwards represents North Carolina’s 11th District in Washington.
