President Joe Biden issued an apology for the United States’ role in the boarding school system, an institution which actively disenfranchised and harmed generations of indigenous peoples. Though some activists are left asking – what next?
In an emotional, teary, and challenging discussion, Rapid City-based indigenous advocacy network NDN Collective hosted a press conference to respond to the Presidents’ apology.
However, the tone of the response was definitive.
“This question is a simple one for me to answer about the apology, because I’ve heard many apologies," says 78-year-old Daryl No Heart, a survivor of the Indian boarding school system. "So, ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t work for me. It just won’t.”
It’s a sentiment reflected throughout the press conference. NDN Collective CEO Nick Tilsen said apologies without meaningful change mean little.
“Today’s speech can’t just be a speech from the President about what he’s done for Indian people during this administration," Tilsen said. "It has to be about what this country is going to continue doing for Indian people moving forward. So, we have some demands for the President of the United States, and to the Department of the Interior at this moment in history.”
Those demands include an audit of still-active schools that trace their roots to the boarding school era, the revocation of Medals of Honor for participants in the Wounded Knee Massacre, and executive clemency for indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, a boarding school survivor often described as a political prisoner. He’s serving a life sentence for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.
Boarding school survivor activist Amy Sazue, with Remembering the Children, said there is yet more work to do.
“While I’m relieved and appreciative of the apology, I’m joining the many voices reminding the government and President that while this is an important and historic first step, it is just that," Sazue said. "I will anxiously await the next steps.”
The President issued the apology on the tribal lands of the Gila River Reservation in Arizona.