Between 1819 and 1969, the United States operated more than 400 boarding schools in 37 states designed to culturally assimilate Indigenous children in the United States—a practice of forced labor and mistreatment of children as young as four years old, that often included physical and emotional abuse. Complete erasure of their cultural identity was the goal.
Today, thanks to the work of numerous tribal nations, advocacy groups, and more recently the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI)’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, efforts are being made to draw attention to this dark period in American history. The Shawnee Tribe is leading one such effort at the Shawnee Indian Manual Labor Boarding School in Fairway, Kansas. Read Article