Biden Formally Apologizes for Indigenous Boarding Schools
Ask students: Who launched an investigation into the history of Indigenous boarding schools? How did boarding schools affect Indigenous communities?
In October, President Biden apologized for a U.S. policy that forcibly separated generations of Indigenous children from their families and sent them to boarding schools for forced assimilation into white society. An investigation uncovered abuse at the schools and the deaths of at least 973 Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Dana Hedgpeth.
View the transcript of the story.
Discussion Questions
- Who launched an investigation into the history of Indigenous boarding schools?
- How did boarding schools affect Indigenous communities?
- When were Indigenous children forced into boarding schools?
- Where were some of the boarding schools located?
- Why do many Indigenous critics see this as only one important step in addressing the harms of the boarding schools?
Focus Questions
Do you think the federal government should do more than apologize for the effects of boarding schools? If so, what?
Media literacy: Who else do you think could have been interviewed to help understand the impact of these boarding schools in Indigenous people?
More Resources: Indigenous Peoples and Native Americans
Share My Lesson is your go-to resource for indigenous peoples and Native American lesson plans with this free PreK-12 collection of resources.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
PBS NewsHour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of NewsHour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
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