[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 53 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 53
Expressing the sense of Congress that September 30th be observed as the
designation of a national day of remembrance for the Native American
children who died while attending a United States Indian boarding
school and recognize, honor, and support the survivors of Indian
boarding schools, their families, and communities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 30, 2021
Mr. Young (for himself, Mr. Cole, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. O'Halleran,
Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Case, Mr. Kahele, Ms.
Davids of Kansas, Ms. Leger Fernandez, and Mrs. Bice of Oklahoma)
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee
on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that September 30th be observed as the
designation of a national day of remembrance for the Native American
children who died while attending a United States Indian boarding
school and recognize, honor, and support the survivors of Indian
boarding schools, their families, and communities.
Whereas over 200 years ago, the Act entitled ``An Act making provision for the
civilization of the Indian tribes adjoining the frontier settlements'',
approved March 3, 1819 (3 Stat. 516, chapter 85) (commonly known as the
``Civilization Fund Act''), was enacted and ushered in devastating
policies and practices designed to assimilate American Indian, Alaska
Native, and Native Hawaiian children by removing children from their
families and Native communities throughout the United States;
Whereas that Act intended to resolve what was commonly referred to in the United
States as the ``Indian problem'' and provided for the unjust belief of
many that Native people needed to be ``civilized'' and that education
would be the appropriate vehicle to enact assimilationist policies on
Native American people;
Whereas numerous church- and government-operated boarding schools were
established on and off Indian territories and homelands to house and
educate numerous Native American children through policies and practices
that sought to eliminate the cultural identity of Native children and
assimilate them into mainstream American society;
Whereas according to the Native American Rights Fund in a Summer/Fall 2013 Legal
Review, Volume 38, No. 2, Native American families were torn apart by
the removal of Native American children, either voluntarily or forcibly,
from their homelands and communities to attend Indian boarding schools
located across the country;
Whereas many parents of boarding school children were forbidden to contact or
visit their children, compounding the problem of isolation that
negatively impacted and continues to impact the lives of many Native
children, families, and communities;
Whereas the Native American Rights Fund Summer/Fall 2013 Legal Review also
reported that an unidentified number of Native children died at Indian
boarding schools due to abuse, neglect, malnourishment or disease, and
many of those children were buried far from their homes in unmarked
graves or under tombstones that misidentified or ascribed to them
Anglicized names;
Whereas many of the parents of children who died at Indian boarding schools were
never informed of the fate of their children;
Whereas according to the report entitled ``Trigger Points, Current State of
Research on History, Impacts, and Healing Related to the United States'
Indian Industrial/Boarding School Policy'' and dated November 2019,
issued by the Native American Rights Fund, many survivors of boarding
schools have testified that Indian boarding schools stripped Native
American children of their traditional cultures, languages, and
religions by forbidding them to wear traditional clothing, speak their
indigenous languages, or practice their cultural, religious or spiritual
beliefs, and many boarding schools are known to have severely punished
children who violated these policies through verbal, psychological, and
physical abuse;
Whereas many survivors of Indian boarding schools and families of children who
attended those schools have recounted details of the physical, sexual,
and psychological abuse that countless Native American children endured
while attending the schools;
Whereas according to the report entitled ``The Problem of Indian
Administration'' and dated February 21, 1928, issued by the Institute
for Government Research (commonly known as the ``Meriam Report''), many
Indian boarding schools sent students to nearby communities for forced
manual work as servants or farm laborers, and the operation of many
Indian boarding schools was supported by the labor of the students;
Whereas the Federal policy of Indian assimilation and education has proven to be
a disastrous failure and a national tragedy;
Whereas, as stated in the report entitled ``Indian Education: A National
Tragedy--A National Challenge'' and dated November 3, 1969 (Senate
Report 91-501), issued by the Special Subcommittee on Indian Education
(chaired by Senator Edward M. Kennedy) of the Committee on Labor and
Public Welfare of the Senate (commonly known as the ``Kennedy Report''),
``the dominant policy of the Federal Government toward the American
Indian has been one of coercive assimilation'' that had ``disastrous
effects'' on the education of many Native American children;
Whereas in 2018, the United States Commission on Civil Rights reported that many
American Indian and Alaska Native people suffer from intergenerational
trauma as a result of policies and practices of Indian boarding schools
that alienated many children from their families, traditional cultures,
languages, and religions, and deprived those children of their true
identities and heritage;
Whereas while early assimilationist policies were eventually eliminated and
Indian boarding school attendance has greatly diminished since its apex,
the impact of this shameful period in United States history still
affects the lives of many Native American people today;
Whereas many Native American people are still suffering from and trying to
comprehend and cope with direct trauma, including impacts on health and
well-being, and the intergenerational trauma, that resulted from losing
connection to family, culture, language, religion, and heritage;
Whereas significant research shows that adverse childhood experiences, such as
the experiences of many Native American children who attended Indian
boarding schools and the descendants of such children, can cause
numerous negative health outcomes, increase suicide rates, and other
harmful outcomes throughout life; and
Whereas recognition that healing and care for the mind, body, and spirit is
essential to overcoming the dark shadows of United States history of
Federal Indian assimilationist policies and practices that were carried
out by the Federal Government through Indian boarding schools, and
acknowledging the lived experiences of the Native American children and
families who endured and continue to endure the trauma and grief
associated with Indian boarding schools: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) supports the designation of a national day of
remembrance for the Native American children who died while
attending a United States Indian boarding school;
(2) recognizes, honors, and supports the survivors,
families, and communities of children who attended such
schools; and
(3) encourages the people of the United States to--
(A) support and recognize the grief, pain, and
hardship many Native American people suffered and still
endure as a result of the assimilationist policies and
practices carried out by the United States through
Indian boarding school policies;
(B) honor the legacy of and remember those who were
lost or harmed by Federal assimilation policies and
practices; and
(C) appreciate the resilience of the survivors and
their families with appropriate ceremonies, programs,
events, and other activities to support and commemorate
with a national day of remembrance.
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