Department of the Interior Releases Investigative Report, Outlines Next Steps in Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative

Editor's Note: In its report, the DoI (endorsed by Rep Kai Kahele) is apparently trying to gloss over the fact that Hawaii was not part of the US until 1898.  DoI is also trying to equate private schools like Kamehameha with mainland schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  For anyone even vaguely familiar with Hawaii history, this is a mind-boggling display of ignorance.  It is also another example of what happens when the DoI attempts to force Hawaiian history to conform with an 'American Indian' model. 

The purpose of the DoI report is to lead the US through the same kind of ritualized self-flagllation that Canada endured last year and trick the public into equating so-called 'cultural genocide' with actual genocide without actually understanding the difference. 

Most of the report's Hawaii-related content is a recitation of education policy as it evolved under the Hawaiian Kingdom.  In essence the report authors seek to strip away the identities created by the Hawaiian Kingdom and create an illusory pre-Hawaiian identity.  In other words, they are uh ... overthrowing the Hawaiian Kingdom.  I wonder where they got that idea?

Here is an example of what is in store for the USA: "At least 500 Indigenous children died at U.S. residential schools, report says".   

Do you think any bodies are buried at Kamehameha? 

Totally Related: Ben Cayetano: I never knew any Hawaiians who were ‘Beaten for Speaking Hawaiian’

News Release from US DoI, May 11, 2022 

WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland today released Volume 1 of the investigative report called for as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, a comprehensive effort to address the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding school policies. This report lays the groundwork for the continued work of the Interior Department to address the intergenerational trauma created by historical federal Indian boarding school policies.

This investigative report is a significant step by the federal government to comprehensively address the facts and consequences of its federal Indian boarding school policies—implemented for more than a century and a half—resulting in the twin goals of cultural assimilation and territorial dispossession of Indigenous peoples through the forced removal and relocation of their children. It reflects an extensive and first-ever inventory of federally operated schools, including profiles and maps.

The investigation found that from 1819 to 1969, the federal Indian boarding school system consisted of 408 federal schools across 37 states or then territories, including 21 schools in Alaska and 7 schools in Hawaii. The investigation identified marked or unmarked burial sites at approximately 53 different schools across the school system. As the investigation continues, the Department expects the number of identified burial sites to increase.

“The consequences of federal Indian boarding school policies—including the intergenerational trauma caused by the family separation and cultural eradication inflicted upon generations of children as young as 4 years old—are heartbreaking and undeniable,” said Secretary Haaland. “We continue to see the evidence of this attempt to forcibly assimilate Indigenous people in the disparities that communities face. It is my priority to not only give voice to the survivors and descendants of federal Indian boarding school policies, but also to address the lasting legacies of these policies so Indigenous peoples can continue to grow and heal.”

“This report presents the opportunity for us to reorient federal policies to support the revitalization of Tribal languages and cultural practices to counteract nearly two centuries of federal policies aimed at their destruction,” said Assistant Secretary Newland. “Together, we can help begin a healing process for Indian Country, the Native Hawaiian Community and across the United States, from the Alaskan tundra to the Florida everglades, and everywhere in between.”

As part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and in response to recommendations from the report, Secretary Haaland today announced the launch of “The Road to Healing.” This year-long tour will include travel across the country to allow American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian survivors of the federal Indian boarding school system the opportunity to share their stories, help connect communities with trauma-informed support, and facilitate collection of a permanent oral history.

“The Department’s work thus far shows that an all-of-government approach is necessary to strengthen and rebuild the bonds within Native communities that federal Indian boarding school policies set out to break,” added Secretary Haaland. “With the President’s direction, we have begun working through the White House Council of Native American Affairs on the path ahead to preserve Tribal languages, invest in survivor-focused services, and honor our obligations to Indigenous communities. We also appreciate the ongoing engagement and support for this effort from Members of Congress and look forward to continued collaboration.”

Volume 1 of the report highlights some of the conditions children endured at these schools and raises important questions about the short- and long-term consequences of the federal Indian boarding school system on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

The investigation found that the federal Indian boarding school system deployed systematic militarized and identity-alteration methodologies in an attempt to assimilate American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children through education, including but not limited to renaming Indian children from Indian to English names; cutting the hair of Indian children; discouraging or preventing the use of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian languages, religions and cultural practices; and organizing Indian and Native Hawaiian children into units to perform military drills.

Despite assertions to the contrary, the investigation found that the school system largely focused on manual labor and vocational skills that left American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian graduates with employment options often irrelevant to the industrial U.S. economy, further disrupting Tribal economies.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting closures of federal facilities reflect the need for further investigation. The report identifies next steps that will be taken in a second volume, aided by a new $7 million investment from Congress through fiscal year 2022. Recommendations by Assistant Secretary Newland include producing a list of marked and unmarked burial sites at federal Indian boarding schools and an approximation of the total amount of federal funding used to support the federal Indian boarding school system, and further investigation to determine the legacy impacts of the school system on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities today.

PDF: Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report  (Hawaii pgs 69-79)  

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KAHELE: DEPT. OF INTERIOR TAKES STEPS TO CONFRONT INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA BY HISTORICAL FEDERAL INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS

News Release from Office of Rep Kai Kahele, May 11, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele (HI-02) issued the following statement following the release of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Report, Volume 1. The report investigates the educational policies of cultural assimilation which led to intergenerational trauma for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives.

“The Department of Interior is taking important first steps toward healing the generational trauma in our indigenous communities across the United States by investigating the historical federal policies of cultural assimilation,” said Congressman Kahele. “These policies extended to Hawaiʻi through the heavy influence of the federal government at the time, primarily by the deliberate elimination of the Hawaiian language and the promotion of English as the common language.  As we know, ‘I ka ‘ōlelo ke ola, I ka ‘ōlelo ka make,’ in the language rests life; in the language rests death. Native Hawaiians today suffer a direct impact because of these policies and this report ensures these federal policies are not relegated to the past. Confronting this dark part of our history begins a healing process which will promote the continued revitalization of our language and culture for generations to come.”

The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report states, “Over nearly a century, Congress has determined repeatedly through a body of legislation that the Native Hawaiian Community is within the scope of Federal powers over Indian Affairs and with which the United States has already recognized an inherent special political and trust relationship.”

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KSBE: President Midkiff, 1923-33 'added Hawaiian language instruction'.

CNS: Interior Department releases damning report on federal Indian boarding schools   

SA: Interior Department report details legacy of Hawaii boarding schools

CB: Report Cites Mistreatment Of Students At Native Hawaiian Boarding Schools  

TO: Native Hawaiians Are Confronting the Legacies of “Indian Boarding Schools”