Grijalva Commends Designation of Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument
WASHINGTON – U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on President Biden’s designation of the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Pennsylvania.
“Today’s designation is an important step in acknowledging and holding ourselves accountable for the country’s complete history, no matter how dark or shameful the era,” Ranking Member Grijalva said. “Native communities deserve to seek healing from the generational trauma inflicted by federal Indian boarding schools, and the new national monument can be an important part of that process. I want to thank President Biden and Secretary Haaland for their continued leadership in bringing this horrific chapter to light and for uplifting the voices of those who have been silenced too long.”
President Biden issued the proclamation at today’s White House Tribal Nations Summit, during which the administration issued a final Progress Report highlighting its actions to strengthen the Nation-to-Nation relationship with tribes. During the summit, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also announced a new partnership with the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institution to memorialize stories and accounts from the Indian Boarding School era.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
On May 12, 2022, under the leadership of then-Chair Grijalva, the Natural Resources Committee led the first-ever congressional hearing on the Indian boarding school era. The hearing featured testimony from boarding school survivors. U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Haaland also led the first Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to investigate the forced assimilation efforts and injustices committed by the federal government through these schools. In this work, the Biden-Harris administration released reports in 2022 and 2024 that outlined the current and intergenerational impact of boarding schools and made policy recommendations. In October, President Biden issued a formal apology to Native Americans for the federal government’s role in the Indian Boarding School era.
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