President Joe Biden Apologizes to Indigenous Communities for U.S. Legacy of Boarding Schools
Boeing Machinist Unions Deny Latest Contract Offer From Boeing
South Seattle Emerald and Partners to Host Election Night 2024 on Nov. 5
President Joe Biden has become the first president in U.S. history to acknowledge and then apologize for the country’s legacy of federal boarding schools. On Oct. 25, in a visit to the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, Biden called the apology “long overdue” and stated, “I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did.”
“The federal Indian boarding school policy, the pain it has caused, will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history,” Biden continued.
Federal boarding schools — similar to residential schools in Canada, which the Canadian government recently has begun to address through the 2007 passage of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement — arose following the Indian Civilization Act of 1819. The policy established boarding schools across the country which forcibly took children away from their families and put them into often distant schooling facilities that were encouraged to “kill the Indian, and save the man.” Boarding schools have resulted in a well-documented legacy of trauma and loss of culture within a generation of students whose culture was devastated and suppressed.
Prior to Biden’s speech, current Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland — the first Native person in U.S. history to lead the department, which houses the Bureau of Indian Affairs — gave her own remarks. She stated, “We know that the federal government failed. … It failed to violate our languages, our traditions, our lifeways. It failed to destroy us because we persevered.”
Biden’s apology comes two years after Pope Francis apologized for Canadian residential schools. Like the pope’s actions, Biden’s words have also been met with a wide range of reactions from different Indigenous communities. Some believe his actions are crucial for healing, while others are skeptical or believe the words to be hollow without financial investment. Still, others feel a blend of numerous kinds of reactions.
In 2021, Haaland announced the Federal Boarding School Initiative, which helped spark a deeper level of recognition around the United States’ history of boarding schools. The initiative was also paired with a “Road to Healing” tour across the country, where Haaland visited numerous Indigenous communities to hear their stories.
According to the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report published in May 2022, goals of the initiative include: “identifying Federal Indian boarding school facilities and sites; identifying names and Tribal identities of Indian children who were placed in Federal Indian boarding schools; identifying locations of marked and unmarked burial sites of remains of Indian children located at or near school facilities; [and] incorporating Tribal and individual viewpoints, including those of descendants, on the experiences in, and impacts of, the Federal Indian boarding school system.”
The report has also found that at least 973 children died in boarding schools, though the numbers could in fact be larger. The report also identified 15 federally run boarding schools in Washington State, including:
Chehalis Boarding and Day School in Oakville
Colville Mission Boarding School in Kettle Falls
Cushman Indian School in Tacoma
Fort Simcoe Indian Boarding School in White Swan.
Fort Spokane Boarding School in Davenport
Neah Bay Boarding and Day School in Neah Bay
Puyallup Indian School in Squaxin Island
Quinaielt Boarding and Day School in Taholah
S’Kokomish Boarding and Day School in Olympia
St. George Indian Residential School in Federal Way
St. Joseph’s Boarding School in Federal Way
Paschal Sherman Indian School in Omak
Tonasket Boarding School in Tonasket
Tulalip Indian Industrial School in Tulalip Bay
Tulalip Mission School in Priest's Point
Last Wednesday, Oct. 23, 64% of striking Boeing workers from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 751 and District W24 voted to reject the latest offer from the aerospace company. The results of the long-awaited vote mean that the 33,000 striking workers — who began their strike on Sept. 14 — will not be returning to work in the foreseeable future.
“Today’s vote is a culmination filled with many emotions. We have made tremendous gains in this agreement in many of the areas our members said were important to them,” IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said following the vote. “However, we have not achieved enough to meet our members’ demands today. We remain on strike.”
Union leadership had called for a vote from their membership after initially determining that the contract terms had, according to Holden, “a lot of positive things” and that “it would be irresponsible of us not to place it in front of our members.”
The overwhelming vote from union membership, however, showed that they were unsatisfied with Boeing’s offer, which would have retained the company’s previous offers of annual cost-of-living wage increases and 50-cents-per-hour increases every six months for any employee not already at a maximum pay grade. The contract also proposed a 35% wage increase over four years — which is an increase from its previous offer of 30% but lower than the union’s original request of 40% during that same time period.
One of the largest sticking points remains Boeing’s refusal to offer its workers a pension, which is something the company previously had. The company rescinded its pensions 10 years ago and has said unequivocally that it would never be able to accommodate a pension because they are “prohibitively expensive.”
Holden acknowledged the unlikelihood of pensions being reinstated and commented on Wednesday, “If they’re not willing to give it, we’ve got to get something that replaces it.”
Boeing has already lost $6.2 billion during the third quarter of this year. It has also announced that the continuing strike will lead to layoffs of 10% of its workforce.
Strike updates can be found on the websites ofIAM District 751 andIAM District W24.
On Nov. 5, the South Seattle Emerald will partner with a number of local journalism outlets to present Election Night 2024, hosted by comedian and DOOM LOOP comic artist Brett Hamil. The event will feature an evening of political commentary, community insights, and a live Q&A with local reporters.
Election Night 2024 partners include Real Change, Town Hall, The Needling, The Urbanist, and International Examiner. Guest reporters and commentators include Lauryn Bray from the Emerald, Guy Oron from Real Change, Chetanya Robinson from International Examiner, Dominique Morales of Real Change, Lex Vaughn of The Needling, and Ryan Packer of The Urbanist. Also present will be multimedia journalist Marian Mohamed and journalist Tobias Coughlin-Bogue, who writes regularly for multiple publications, including the Emerald.
The in-person event takes place at 6 p.m. at The Wyncote NW Forum (1119 8th Ave., with entrance off Seneca Street), and an online version is also available for streaming. RSVP on Town Hall’s website.
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