President Joe Biden on Oct. 25 formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated Indian children from their parents, calling it a “blot on American history” in his first visit to Indian Country.
“It’s a sin on our soul,” said Biden, his voice full of anger and emotion at the event in Laveen Village, Arizona. “Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make.”
It was a moment of both contrition and frustration as the president sought to recognize one of the “most horrific chapters” in the national story. Biden spoke of the abuses and deaths of Native children that resulted from the federal government’s policies, noting that “while darkness can hide much, it erases nothing” and that great nations “must know the good, the bad, the truth of who we are.”
“I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did,” Biden said. “The Federal Indian boarding school policy — the pain it has caused will only be a significant mark of shame, a blot on our record history. For too long, this all happened with virtually no public attention, not written about in our history books, not taught in our schools.”
Democrats hope Biden’s visit to the Gila River Indian Community’s land on the outskirts of Phoenix’s metro area will also provide a boost to Vice President Kamala Harris’ turnout effort in a key battleground state. The moment gave Biden a fuller chance to spotlight his and Harris’ support for tribal nations, a group that historically has favored Democrats, in a state he won just by 10,000 votes in 2020.
The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump is expected to be similarly close, and both campaigns are doing whatever they can to improve turnout among bedrock supporters.
Biden has been used sparingly on the campaign trail by Harris and other Democrats since he ended his reelection campaign in July. But analysts say Biden could help Harris in her appeal with Native American voters — a group that has trailed others in turnout rates.
In 2020, there was a surge in voter turnout on some tribal land in Arizona as Biden beat Trump and became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Biden, whose presidency is winding down, had promised tribal leaders nearly two years ago that he would visit Indian Country.
For decades, federal boarding schools were used to assimilate children into white society.
Not everyone saw the apology as sufficient.
“An apology is a nice start, but it is not a true reckoning, nor is it a sufficient remedy for the long history of colonial violence,” said Chase Iron Eyes, director of the Lakota People’s Law Project and Sacred Defense Fund.
The Alaska Federation of Natives, which includes 177 federally recognized tribes, 154 village corporations, nine regional corporations and nine regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums in Alaska, said in a statement that it welcomed Biden’s apology for “a policy that has caused deep-seated trauma over generations.”
AFN President Ben Mallott said Biden’s apology was “an important step forward, but it must be accompanied by meaningful actions addressing these historical injustices’ ongoing impacts. This includes revitalizing our languages and cultures and bringing home our Native children who have not yet been returned, so they can be laid to rest with their families and in their communities.”
At least 973 Native American children died in the U.S. government’s abusive boarding school system over a 150-year period that ended in 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation that called for a U.S. government apology.
At least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were taken from their parents and forced to attend schools that sought to assimilate them.
The Alaska Federation of Natives said it “encourages all levels of government to actively engage with Native communities.”
“It is essential that our voices are heard and that lessons from our past lead to meaningful change,” the group said.
Democrats have stepped up outreach to Native American communities.
Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, met with tribal leaders in Arizona and Nevada this month. And Clinton, who has been serving as a surrogate for Harris, last week met in North Carolina with the chairman of the Lumbee Tribe.
The Democratic National Committee recently launched a six-figure ad campaign targeting Native American voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska through digital, print and radio ads.
Biden picked former New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to serve as his Interior secretary, the first Native American to be appointed to a Cabinet position. Haaland is a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.
She, in turn, ordered the comprehensive review in June 2021 of the troubled legacy of the federal government’s boarding school policies that led Biden to deliver the formal apology.
Associated Press writer Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma, contributed to this report.
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