More information about the atrocities committed at boarding schools run by the federal government that were designed to eradicate Indigenous people is expected in the new year.

In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Interior released a based on the federal government鈥檚 first-ever investigation of the boarding school system in the country. It identified 408 federal Indian boarding schools which dispossessed Indigenous people of their lands and forcibly assimilated their children, including 43 schools in New Mexico.

The report鈥檚 second volume is expected to be published in early January 2024, said Heidi Todacheene, a senior advisor to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna). Todacheene could not give a specific date of publication.

The upcoming report will contain new information on the total number of Indigenous children who attended federally run boarding schools, including their names and tribal affiliations, Todacheene (Din茅) said.

It will also identify their marked and unmarked burial sites, the schools鈥� affiliations with religious organizations, and federal money spent on the boarding school system, Todacheene said.

Todacheene was speaking via Zoom from Washington D.C. on Tuesday to the New Mexico Legislature鈥檚 Indian Affairs Committee in Santa Fe.

Since the first volume on the U.S. boarding school initiative came out, Todacheene said, officials from Interior and other federal agencies have continued researching and collecting data, including through Road to Healing listening sessions across the country. The second-to-last session was in Albuquerque on Oct. 29, according to Native News Online.

During the sessions, Todacheene said, Interior 鈥渉as come to realize that the United States forcibly removed Indian children and relocated them hundreds or even thousands of miles away from their original tribal communities to prevent runaways or those from returning at home.鈥�

鈥淔ederal laws have also forced parents to give up their children through punishment, imprisonment, or withholding food rations to families and communities,鈥� Todacheene said. 鈥淭he deliberate federal disruption of tribal communities through the removal of Indian children to off-reservation boarding schools will never be completely healed, nor that the loss of community or language or culture can adequately be replaced.鈥�

The listening sessions are over but Todacheene said Haaland and Interior assistant secretary Bryan Newland (Ojibwe) still welcome anyone to their story or experience.

About half of the federally run boarding schools 鈥渞eceived support or other involvement鈥� from religious organizations, the report found, and the federal government paid those schools using money from Indian Trust Funds to take children away without their parents鈥� consent and force them into environments designed to destroy generational bonds by eliminating language and culture.

Sen. Benny Shendo (D-Jemez) asked if the Interior Department plans to pay reparations to survivors, but Todacheene鈥檚 presentation ended before she could answer.

鈥淚 believe that鈥檚 illegal, because those are accounts that are held in trust for people,鈥� Shendo said. 鈥淔or the federal government to dip into that fund to pay for the annihilation and dispossession of tribes of their land, I think it鈥檚 pretty egregious.鈥�

Rep. Harry Garcia (D-Grants) asked what the federal government is doing to make up for the damage it did to survivors.

鈥淭here鈥檚 gotta be long-term effects on these children who are adults now,鈥� Garcia said.

Todacheene said the second volume will contain Newland鈥檚 recommendations 鈥渙n how to move forward and help elevate those issues.鈥�

鈥淎ll of our leadership at the Department and other federal agencies, and of course in Indian Country, we know that we could have some improvements to our health care and mental health services,鈥� Todacheene said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Shaun Griswold for questions: info@sourcenm.com. Follow Source New Mexico on and .

Lucian Painter carefully applied black paint to an eagle stencil on a bright orange shirt in the crowded gymnasium of Alaska Native Cultural Charter School in Anchorage on Wednesday night. He is 6 years old, and said has already learned a little about Orange Shirt Day, commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance of Indian Boarding Schools. Then he added a scientist with a potion to his t-shirt.

鈥淲e鈥檙e working on it,鈥� said his mother, Heather Painter, as she helped his two younger siblings. They planned to go to the school鈥檚 showing of 鈥淕randpa鈥檚 Drum,鈥� an episode of the children鈥檚 television show Molly of Denali, that takes on the history of boarding schools in a way children can understand.

This event, and others like it across the state, are part of a broader, more open reckoning with the traumatic history of boarding schools for Alaska Native people. Orange Shirt Day began in Canada in 2013 and is now observed by many people and organizations in the United States. It recognizes the legacy of trauma and abuse at boarding schools. Local organizers say these events are intended to heal people whose loved ones experienced boarding schools and to prevent generational trauma for their children and grandchildren.

鈥淚t鈥檚 part of our history,鈥� said principal Sheila Sweetsir as she welcomed families at the door. 鈥淭he more that the community learns about it, you know, the better awareness that everybody has on Orange Shirt Day.鈥�

More than 200 people signed up for the event.

The gymnasium was full of families, laughter, and freshly painted t-shirts with messages like 鈥淗ealing Starts with Truth,鈥� 鈥淪eptember 30鈥� and 鈥淣ational Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools.鈥�

There were boarding schools at . The U.S. government and some church groups began boarding school programs for Alaska Native children in the late 1800s. Most of them separated young children from their families and forcibly immersed them in Euro-American traditions and the English language. Alaska Quakers have ; former Gov. Bill Walker did as well.

Tara Stiller handed out juice packets and cookies at one end of the room. Last year, she started this event while she was the program director of Alaska Children鈥檚 Trust. She said it is an opportunity for the community to raise awareness, share stories and release grief.

鈥淭hese kids are the next generation of future generations recognizing this trauma,鈥� she said. 鈥淢any of our families are suffering, trying to cope with the trauma of being silenced by the government and religion, assimilation of boarding schools, the loss of culture, the loss of language.鈥�

Stiller said she didn鈥檛 learn the history of boarding schools until she was an adult. It wasn鈥檛 part of her curriculum in school or college. She said she learned it from American Indian and Alaska Native leaders who shared their stories. She called the event 鈥減rimary prevention,鈥� a healing effort that takes place before negative health effects.

鈥淭hey know the truth,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow they know and they can start to heal themselves and build that compassion, understanding and respect for their parents and grandparents who may be suffering.鈥�

In the hall, fourth grade teacher Georgianna Starr greets students and parents and guides them towards the bustling gym or the theater where Molly of Denali is showing.

The history of boarding schools wasn鈥檛 part of the school鈥檚 curriculum while she was growing up in Scammon Bay, so she feels good to bring the awareness of generational trauma to her students.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always an explanation of why things are the way they are, but it鈥檚 also an enduring strength of our people. I tell them, 鈥榊our parents or grandparents are survivors,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淥ur elders, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles 鈥� we all know somebody who鈥檚 been affected by boarding schools, one way or another. And so one of the important things is to not forget what their stories are.鈥�

She said it is important for youth to understand how the past affects the future, and that she sees awareness gaining momentum. She said when the state recognized Indigenous Peoples Day in 2015 it was a good step. It鈥檚 marked on the second Monday in October.

The recent history of forced assimilation and cultural genocide at boarding schools in the state is heavy subject matter for the school鈥檚 youngest students, but preschool teacher Melissa Kahler-Afelin said she teaches the subject in a way they can understand.

鈥淚 think that we need to give them credit for the empathy piece. And so we start at the emotions associated with historical trauma,鈥� she said. She uses a developed by the Alaska Native Heritage Center and the Alaska Children鈥檚 Trust that goes with the Molly of Denali episode. 鈥淲e relate it to their grandparents,鈥� she said.

Kahler-Afelin said it is important to talk about hard things, so that students are resilient in the future. She said it is bittersweet when students share what they learn with their families.

鈥淪ome families are very emotional towards the healing coming from their youngest, and being able to talk about their family鈥檚 history,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut then we also do a lot of joy and celebration around traditional foods and using traditional names.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com. Follow Alaska Beacon on and .

The history of Indigenous peoples in Wisconsin is deep and abundant, yet it鈥檚 a history that has long been glossed over without proper attention or, in many cases, unacknowledged completely.

on Madison鈥檚 west side is pushing against that narrative of erasure through a voluntary land tax that goes beyond simply acknowledging that the land under the church once belonged to the Ho-Chunk Nation 鈥� whose members were forced from the land.

鈥淲e started researching to understand how the land that the church stands on came to be the church鈥檚 land,鈥� said the Rev. Miranda Hassett, rector of St. Dunstan鈥檚. 鈥淲e felt like that needed to be accompanied by some restorative actions. Taking some actions to kind of make amends, and move toward restoring wholeness and being better allies, even in small ways.鈥�

She added, 鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty close to a historic Ho-Chunk village, in a part of the southwestern corner of Lake Mendota. That was part of the territory that was ceded in the 1832 Treaty that dislocated and removed the Ho-Chunk, so our initial thought was to make a gift to the Ho-Chunk tribe.鈥�

Hassett contacted the Rev. Kerri Parker, executive director of the (WCC). St. Dunstan鈥檚 is a member of the WCC, and Hassett thought the effort could benefit from collaboration. As an organization with 75 years of history that connects 21 different Christian traditions across the state, the WCC is no stranger to facilitating solutions to modern social issues. 

鈥淲e find that we can do a lot of things more effectively together than we could do alone,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淥ur core values 鈥� that animate our work are courage, justice and holy imagination.鈥�

Beyond working with social issues such as COVID safety, racial justice and refugee aid, the WCC is also committed to acknowledgement, restorative justice and current issues facing Indigenous communities.

鈥淲e have taken the time to start building relationships with leaders and educators,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淵ou can say you want to give money, but you鈥檙e not really doing the work unless you have that meaning level between people 鈥�  It鈥檚 about understanding why this money is changing hands, and how it all came to be.鈥�

Parker connected Hassett to Bill Quackenbush, the Ho-Chunk鈥檚 tribal historic preservation officer. On Quackenbush鈥檚 advice, the church decided to pay the voluntary tax to the Wisconsin Inter-Tribal Repatriation Committee. 

鈥淭hat seemed like the appropriate entity,鈥� Hassett said. 鈥淚 think Bill was thinking, if this church does it, maybe other entities will follow suit. Rather than parse it out tribe by tribe and try to figure out exactly whose territory everybody鈥檚 sitting on, it makes sense for this organization that represents all the Wisconsin tribes to have that role here.鈥�

Hassett said the church鈥檚 $4,000 payment is a first for the repatriation committee. Parker hopes it won鈥檛 be the last.

鈥淚 think about this event, this moment of possibility, as an example of instigating holy imagination in people,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ook at this thing that this church did. I wonder what we could do?鈥�

鈥榃e all have a creator鈥�

Hassett presented the check to Quackenbush at the repatriation committee鈥檚 Aug. 16 meeting at the Radisson Hotel on the Oneida Reservation. The committee includes historic preservation officers from tribes in Wisconsin whose work includes repatriation of artifacts to Indigenous nations from individuals and state museums and preserving historic sites, such as effigy mounds.

鈥淲e all have a creator,鈥� Quackenbush said. 鈥淎ll of this (land acknowledgements and donations) is symbolic of a healing process, but also a step forward. 鈥� The tribes can鈥檛 do it alone. We need state agencies and other organizations.鈥�

The check was presented in a purple envelope, which Parker said is the color of repentance.

鈥淲e acknowledge that our ability to worship on Ho-Chunk land came at a great cost to those people,鈥� Hassett said at the meeting.

Much discussion at the meeting revolved around the Doctrine of Discovery, which was Catholic doctrine that essentially permitted Christian European nations to subjugate and spread forced Christianity on Indigenous peoples in the Americas and Africa.

鈥淭he Doctrine has become the foundation of people鈥檚 understanding relative to North America and its original inhabitants,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he settlers had a sense of understanding that their mission was for God and king. That understanding has become part of our psyche. It鈥檚 ingrained in our laws and was part of the idea of Manifest Destiny. It鈥檚 not just history, but still happening today.鈥�

鈥楾his is something we owe鈥�

Hassett said the payment is not charity 鈥� it鈥檚 part of the church鈥檚 budget of expenses related to owning the property.

鈥淲e have money we give away to organizations that are doing good in the community,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is different from that. This isn鈥檛 from our charity, or generosity. This is something we owe. That was important to me.鈥�

The voluntary land tax is just one piece of what Hassett sees as a multitude of ways in which work can be done to help mend a history that has seen Indigenous people subjugated and erased from social recognition. 

鈥淲e want to be allies in the sense that, we鈥檙e going to observe in some way, we鈥檙e going to try to mark , and when there鈥檚 an issue to protest or a legislative issue that鈥檚 important to the tribes, we鈥檙e going to pay attention, show up for that, and lend our voices.鈥�

Teach The Truth Wisconsin is part of the Wisconsin Council of Churches鈥� effort to educate about U.S. history that includes how structural issues such racism, sexism and marginalization of Indigenous peoples have shaped the country and the effect they still have on society today.

鈥淲e鈥檙e encouraging people to make videos, have community events, or anything that helps people understand how vital it is that we tell these stories and rehearse these histories,鈥� said Parker of the WCC. 鈥淚n a time when there are movements that say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 hurtful, or that makes people feel bad,鈥� it鈥檚 really important that we understand the truth and the difficult histories that are part of our legacy here in the United States.鈥�

Hassett noted that St. Dunstan鈥檚 stands near an effigy mound, a reminder of the Ho-Chunk who once lived there 鈥� and their resilience. 

鈥淭hey were removed, but they kept coming back to their ancestral homelands to care for their ancestors鈥� graves and engage in the historical ecological practices of their people,鈥� Hassett said. 鈥淓ventually, they were able to buy land and really reestablish a stake in Wisconsin, which is amazing.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Morris Jenis Jr.鈥檚 father knew only his son, a Native American student at the Genoa Indian School in Nebraska 100 years ago, had not been seen in a year. 

Morris ran away from the school in 1921 鈥� 鈥渄eserted,鈥� according to the militaristic language school officials used 鈥� like hundreds of other young Indigenous children who resisted the boarding school policies that forcibly stripped them of language and identity, often hundreds of miles from home. 

鈥淭he father鈥s very anxious to see where his son has gone,鈥� a school clerk wrote the superintendent on the father鈥檚 behalf. 鈥淗e recently heard that a student from Genoa was killed in Montana by a horse and he fears that this may be his son.”

Public archives do not provide any answers about Morris, nor his age and tribal affiliation. The school told his father that they could not find 鈥�,鈥� and reportedly returned the $26 鈥� worth about $450 today 鈥� his family previously paid to send him home. 

The plea is among thousands of stories made public by the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project, one to digitize elusive school, state and federal records, to bring the stories of Indigenous survivors and those who never made it home back to their families and tribes. 

Last summer, the discovery of more than 900 child graves at former Canadian residential schools tore through international media and reignited investigations of U.S. boarding schools; reports focused on brutal abuse and quantifying death. 

Archivists and community members have continued to retrieve haunting letters, student and local newspapers, photographs and other school documents that paint a poignant picture of resistance and survival in day-to-day student life in the boarding schools. 

Still, many records remain out of reach to descendants, and those that are accessible can be traumatizing. Some collections sit dormant, held by churches or universities with no plans to return them to tribal communities; others require extensive time and . 

鈥淣ative people have never had easy access to their records. And that in itself has continued to contribute to the genocide,” said Tawa Ducheneaux. a citizen of the Cherokee nation working as an archivist at Oglala Lakota College鈥檚 Woksape Tipi library on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where she raised her family for 19 years. 鈥淵ou’re not having access to relatives and descendants that can educate you more about who you are and where you come from.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Among the archived collections are receipts for music lessons, requests to use funds to buy shoes, picture contests 鈥� a glimpse into students鈥� interests and how they spent very limited leisure time. Others include letters from parents pleading that their child be allowed to travel home for the summer 鈥� a trip families were required to pay for.

Student discipline records and letters show many of such requests denied for lack of funds or because children had to continue building 鈥渟trength of character,鈥� as a punishment for bad behavior or running away. 

Parents encouraged runaways, hid their children, and, when students were able to return home for summers, would teach children their language, culture, and ways of life as a way to undermine the schools鈥� assimilationist aim. Families would not legally be able to deny placement in off-reservation schools until 1978, after over a century of resistance, with the passage of the . 

For those working to find and make material more accessible, the retrieval and research is exhausting, but a necessary step toward healing and reckoning with historical trauma.

鈥淚t’s painful especially when you recognize relatives鈥� names or people that you know … I kind of learned to reconcile with that and just understand that, OK, well, maybe my involvement is that these children, they need help to have their stories come to light,鈥� said Genoa Project co-director and historian Susana Geliga, a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe and of Taino descent.

鈥淭hey insisted on their humanity:鈥� Student life as seen in archives

The material that has been made available in digital archives is largely from an official government or school perspective. Yet there are phrases, quotes and clippings from students pointing to how they lived and survived. 

Running away became a common occurrence among students fleeing the conditions of the boarding schools, eager to find a way home, like Susie Romero. Before leaving for Genoa one night in 1933, Romero composed a theme song 鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to go to school here.鈥� In just one year at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, at least 45 boys did the same. 

鈥�…That tells you a lot about the children’s point of view 鈥� that they were running away from this,鈥� said Margaret Jacobs, co-director of the Genoa Project and historian at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. 

The documents suggest Romero was discovered and returned to Genoa, but some did find their way back home. In 1920, one student left Genoa for good after a teacher struck him in the face, breaking his nose.

鈥淗e can prove it was done for personal reasons,鈥� an acting superintendent wrote in a letter seeking guidance. 

Student newspapers, common at the boarding schools, though likely heavily scrutinized by school officials, also reveal how students kept themselves informed of local and national news and found ways to make .

When compared to how student deaths were reported briefly in the local Genoa paper, student publications shared more detail on their peer鈥檚 life and personality. One student, whose name has been redacted out of respect for descendants who may not yet know the information, was described as an 鈥渦nusually bright child and the little ones among whom his lot was cast will miss his fair example.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Jacobs said the student newspapers, 鈥渋nsisted on their humanity. They insisted that we matter, and you might not care about us, but we care about each other.鈥�

Some 90 students, in one account published in the Genoa student newspaper, were reportedly in attendance for a funeral at the school 鈥� a detail not lost on Geliga.

鈥淭hey were so policed and monitored with everything that they did 鈥� from the time they woke up until the time they went to bed every day 鈥︹�� she said. 鈥淭hose instances where you can catch their own perspective coming through, they’re really heartwarming because there’s so few and far between 鈥� when you find them they kind of pull you into the moment.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Archives also reveal another facet of student life: the 鈥溾�� system, where children were assigned to white families and expected to work in fields, on ranches and in local homes as part of their 鈥渃ivilizing鈥� process. Piloted at Carlisle, the practice was later adopted by other off-reservation schools including Genoa and the Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California. 

Lorenzia Nicholas, a student at , once refused to return to the family she was placed for outing because of 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Though they were paid minimally, students were often forced to go on outings during summer vacations instead of returning home to their respective lands and families. The practice grew popular in communities surrounding the schools: children were a source of cheap labor 鈥� girls often cleaned homes and looked after white children, while boys were often placed in undesirable harvest jobs that were , exploitative and dangerous.

On campus, labor did not stop. Children as young as 9 were forced to , likely, Carlisle archivist Jim Gerencser told 蜜桃影视, to save on infrastructure costs. Half of their school days were devoted to learning vocational trades; photographs show students fixing roofs, washing clothes in 鈥渓aundry class鈥� and fashioning utensils. 

Expanding access to archival records, family history

In and the United States, churches are holding onto an untold number of records. Many religious institutions received schools until 1928, yet according to the Department of the Interior鈥檚 investigation, must independently decide to share documents. 

Ducheneaux added tribal governments only recently have had the infrastructure or resources required to retrieve and disseminate records held in various public and government archives 鈥� tribal colleges and universities have been working at returning access since at least the ’60s. 

Some records have been passed on to private universities like Augustana and Marquette instead of tribal communities and descendants, presenting another barrier to access: fees. Marquette has held a including at least 10,000 images from the Red Cloud Indian School for nearly 14 years, only having digitized about 10%.

鈥淸It] is maybe the only collection that might have images of certain individuals’ relatives 鈥� There’s no known images of that person except possibly within that collection,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I couldn’t ever get anywhere with them. We have to do justice to all these people that are contacting us asking if we have anything about their relatives.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

An intergenerational legacy: 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the blood that鈥檚 in us鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Justin Shedee, a member of the Apache nation also known as Corn Cobb Smoker, entered the Carlisle Industrial School in Pennsylvania at 16. Though a letter in his own handwriting expresses his desire to leave, school documents say he 鈥渃onsented鈥� to stay enrolled.

鈥淭he reason is I have been so long enough here, about six years now. So I am very anxious to [go] home. That is all I want to ask you,鈥� he wrote in the spring of 1890, requesting to leave the school. 

He would not leave for three more years, 鈥渄ischarged鈥� on July 5, 1893 for 鈥渋ll health.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Shedee鈥檚 desire to return home lives on in descendants. Community members, scholars and activists describe the weight of their ancestors’ experiences as intergenerational trauma that impacts their current health and ways of life. 

Native American communities and over 80 U.S. representatives are advocating for l on Indian Boarding School Policies to create a commission to investigate nearly two centuries of boarding school policies. 

Among the policy recommendations that have been floated are reparations, a hotline for those experiencing intergenerational trauma, and reformed child welfare adoption practices to prevent 鈥�.鈥�

鈥淲e’ve been subjected and our ancestors have been subjected to such atrocities and such attempts to wipe us out that we’ve sort of normalized suffering, in a way,鈥� said Stacy Bohlen, CEO of the National Indian Health board and member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, during a webinar hosted by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. 

鈥淚t’s part of the blood that’s in us and the blood of our ancestors that we know was shed for our survival.鈥�

This story was made possible by the archives and archivists at the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project, Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center, and National Archives. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e not extinct,鈥� the young student ventured, nervous about contradicting the lesson, but feeling she had to speak up. 鈥淚鈥檓 a Narragansett.鈥�

No response came from her teacher or classmates, recalls the Chariho Regional School District alum, who graduated in 1986.

鈥淚t just didn’t matter,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淵ou were insignificant.鈥�

Now, decades later, Baker has two children in the same school system who have navigated similar experiences of hurt and invisibility. Sometimes, the racism has been overt, like when a classmate muttered the N-word at her daughter in middle school. But more often, it comes in the form of quiet erasure and inaccurate tropes.

鈥淚n history class, it鈥檚 mostly the history of the colonizers,鈥� said her daughter Nittaunis Baker, 19, who graduated from Chariho High School in spring 2021 and now attends the University of Rhode Island. 

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really talk about Native people that much,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视.

Even now, as the topic of how to teach U.S. history in schools is receiving an unprecedented level of public attention, Indigenous parents say the debates still largely exclude lessons on Native people. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 [been] very Black/white centric,鈥� said Samantha Cullen-Fry, a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe who has two young children in the West Warwick School District. She agrees that highlighting the Black experience is important, especially in wake of the police murder of George Floyd. But efforts to diversify K-12 curricula are incomplete, she says, if they fail to accurately teach about Native people. 

When English colonists first came to New England in the 17th century, the Narragansett people had been living in the region for some 30,000 years 鈥� making the vast majority of North American history, chronologically speaking, Indigenous history. In the following centuries, Native people have continued to live in the region.

鈥淭here is no United States history, there is no Rhode Island history, without Indigenous history,鈥� the West Warwick mother told 蜜桃影视.

Across the country, fights over critical race theory have elevated conversations over social studies curricula to the central stage in many . CRT is not an ideology, but rather a scholarly framework that views racism and inequality as ingrained in law and society. Still, in Oklahoma, a bill to restrict its teaching led to the removal of classic books such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Raisin in the Sun from reading lists, according to a recent ACLU lawsuit. In Texas, the crackdown prompted a school administrator to . 

The Ocean State has emerged as a hotbed for the controversy. Over the summer, a South Kingstown mother made national headlines for filing more than investigating if the district taught terms like 鈥渟ystemic racism,鈥� 鈥渨hite privilege鈥� or the 鈥�1619 Project.鈥� Education writer Erika Sanzi, a former Rhode Island teacher and school board member, has become and other curricular changes her group, Parents Defending Education, see as divisive.

And although Rhode Island was not one of the to enact laws restricting teaching on race and gender, a bill to do so was introduced by state legislators in spring 2021, though it failed to pass.

Its author, Rep. Patricia Morgan, did not respond to questions from 蜜桃影视 asking whether topics such as the , which took place just miles outside the Chariho school system鈥檚 present day boundaries, would be among the 鈥溾�� that the bill sought to ban. In the event, 1,000 English colonial soldiers, joined by about 150 Pequot and Mohegan soldiers, attacked and burned a Narragansett stronghold, killing hundreds, including women and children. In late October, the Rhode Island Historical Society transferred the 5-acre South Kingstown site back to the Narragansett Indian Tribe, nearly three and half centuries after the deadly event.

In Chariho schools, where more than 9 in 10 students are white, alumni of the district who are Indigenous and graduated in recent decades have recounted experiences of being by their counselors. In nearby Narragansett Regional School District, Cullen-Fry had to spend a post-grad year doing unnecessary pre-college work, she said, because her counselor did not send in her paperwork, assuming she couldn鈥檛 afford higher education. The experience, she learned later at a high school reunion, was shared by numerous peers of color.

Chariho Assistant Superintendent Michael Comella said he was not aware of Indigenous students having had issues with the district鈥檚 college counselors in the past, but mentioned that the school system is working with local Narragansett leaders to improve school policy and providing professional development sessions on equity and inclusion for teachers. He said teachers typically cover the Great Swamp Massacre in fifth grade during lessons on King Philip鈥檚 War. 

鈥淭he district remains committed to ensur[ing] that we account for all important information and history as it relates to our tribal community,鈥� he wrote in an email to 蜜桃影视.

Though there is much more work to do, the elder Baker appreciates that the Chariho district has made some efforts to better serve its Native students. The high school has a on staff and, recently, has begun engaging in conversations with Indigenous parents about further improvements.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 about bashing the Chariho school district,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is about recognizing that there are issues that have affected past and present generations of Indigenous students who have attended this school system and they need to be addressed on behalf of present and future generations.鈥�

Chariho has formed an that has been meeting since the fall of 2020 in pursuit of more equitable school policies, practices and curricula. Some residents, such as the Bakers, say that the changes are sorely needed, but others staunchly oppose them.

鈥淚 do not support, at this point, the anti-racism task force,鈥� audience member Jim Sullivan said during public comment at a Nov. 9 . 鈥淚 am concerned about their bringing racism into the Chariho system.鈥�

鈥淲e are not domestic terrorists,鈥� he added, referencing escalating tensions nationwide at board meetings that recently prompted the National School Boards Association to send a letter to the White House requesting increased support and security.

The pushback does not phase endawnis Spears, who recently joined the Chariho School Committee after a member鈥檚 resignation. Spears, who does not capitalize her first name, is a member of the Navajo Nation, with ties also to the Chocktaw, Chickasaw and Ojibwe people. Diverse perspectives, she believes, are necessary to the development of all children.

鈥淚 want to ensure that teachers have everything they need to prepare their students 鈥� all of their students 鈥� to be able to navigate citizenship in the United States,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淭hat includes Indigenous histories.鈥�

鈥淭he lack of nuance around Indigenous histories also is a form of erasure,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t continues the process of erasing Native people from this landscape.鈥�

Statewide, Lor茅n Spears, executive director of the Tomaquag Museum for Indigenous history, culture and arts in Exeter, Rhode Island and related to endawnis Spears by marriage, believes officials must work to better represent the state鈥檚 Native students.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been very teacher-by-teacher, the improvement, rather than the system of education improving,鈥� she said on a of the Boston Globe鈥檚 Rhode Island Report podcast. 鈥淚 would like to see, you know, the Department of Education really take an active role in ensuring that the history is inclusive and includes Native people.鈥�

State social studies standards do not stipulate that schools teach specific aspects of Native history or culture, said the Rhode Island Department of Education, instead leaving those decisions up to districts.

鈥淚f materials [that districts] use presently from a publisher do not adequately address Indigenous representation, [the state education department] would strongly encourage school leaders to develop materials they can use to meet the standards,鈥� Communications Director Victor Morente wrote in an email to 蜜桃影视.

Accurately representing Native Rhode Islanders means addressing certain truths that may be difficult, said the younger Baker. But covering those facts in schools, rather than mythologized narratives of harmony between colonists and Native people, doesn鈥檛 mean placing blame on any students, she said.

鈥淭he establishment of this country was pretty much the murder of a lot of Indigenous people, including my ancestors,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don’t think that [white] kids should feel ashamed because it’s not really them. It鈥檚 their ancestors.鈥�

It鈥檚 only shameful when students shy away from those histories, she believes. 鈥淚f they refuse to acknowledge that that happened, then you kind of become complicit in not recognizing the struggles that [Indigenous] people went through.鈥�

In school, the only time she remembers a lesson on Indigenous people was a brief mention in fifth grade around Thanksgiving. She doesn鈥檛 recall any lessons on the Great Swamp Massacre. Additionally, in high school, outside of class, she had a teacher who held a reading group focused on Native sciences, which discussed a book written by a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She enjoyed the experience, and wishes there could be official courses devoted to such topics. 

鈥淓ven having a class just on the history of Indigenous peoples, like how they have classes on ancient Greek and Roman things, that would be really cool,鈥� said the college freshman, who is studying marine biology. She receives free tuition at URI thanks to her status as a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.

Teachers can cater Indigenous history and culture to learners of any age, said Cullen-Fry, who works as an educator at the Tomaquag Museum. For example, many classes visit the museum in November, Native American Heritage Month. She corrects the youngsters鈥� misconceptions about Thanksgiving, teaching them that it鈥檚 traditional in many Indigenous cultures to celebrate 13 Thanksgivings, one for each of the year鈥檚 moon cycles.

States such as Oregon have moved in recent years to require that schools teach , and to bring tribal educators .

But until such shifts, large and small, are incorporated into Rhode Island schools, the Baker family will celebrate progress on a more personal level.

When Nittaunis walked across the graduation stage in May 2021, she was adorned with tribal jewelry and ornamentation, passed down from her ancestors. Her mother, after so many of her own personal experiences of feeling that her Indigenous identity was erased by the world around her, wanted people to know: Another Indigenous child just graduated from Chariho High School.

The proud message was simple.

鈥淪ociety doesn鈥檛 think that we鈥檙e here,鈥� the elder Baker said. 鈥淲e are here.鈥�