KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Friday marked a day that many people, including Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes, have fought toward for years — acknowledgment of the hardships Indigenous children faced at boarding schools.
During a visit to the Gila River Indian Preservation on Friday, President Joe Biden apologized for policies the United States government put in place that hurt Indigenous children.
"I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did," Biden said Friday. "It's long overdue."
KSHB 41's Sarah Plake previously spoke to Barnes about the dark history, one that happened close to home in the Kansas City area at Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas.
Though it's now a historic site, it was once a manual-labor school where hundreds of Native American children from different tribes in the area were forced into assimilation practices.
Among hundreds of pages of historical documents, KSHB 41 discovered records of at least five children dying from sickness while at the school from 1853 to 1855.
The deaths were briefly mentioned in the reports to the government, but it's unknown if more children died while in attendance.
Barnes, who was in attendance for Biden's remarks on Friday, applauded the president's apology but also said he hopes it leads to more change.
"I’m pleased to be alongside so many boarding school survivors and allies to the cause of exposing the truth of this dark chapter in our shared history,” Barnes said. "Survivors have said receiving an apology for the atrocities that occurred in these institutions is important to them. I hope [President Biden] will propose further action to advance boarding school truthtelling and healing."
The City of Fairway issued a statement following Biden's apology:
"While the Shawnee Indian Mission ceased operations before the federally mandated schools opened, we believe it is important to acknowledge the often-painful trauma Native American children experienced at boarding schools and particularly at the federally mandated schools where children were sent far from their families. It is important to honor the resilience of those affected, recognize the ongoing impacts of this legacy, and support efforts towards healing and the revitalization of Indigenous cultures."
The Shawnee Indian Mission is a Kansas State Historic Site and National Historic Landmark.
Over the past couple years, the Shawnee Tribe has denounced the conditions at the Shawnee Indian Mission and announced a plan that they hope would turn over control of the site to the tribe.
More coverage of the Shawnee Mission Indian below:
- Kansas bill would convey Shawnee Indian Mission land in Fairway to Shawnee tribe
- Shawnee Tribe releases plan to save, restore Shawnee Indian Mission
- Shawnee Tribe releases report on poor conditions of Shawnee Indian Mission site
- Another report details concerns, need for updates at Shawnee Indian Mission
- Kaw Nation opposed to giving Shawnee Indian Mission land to Shawnee Tribe
- Plan to use radar to search for graves at Shawnee Indian Mission on hold
- State plans ground survey at Shawnee Indian Mission to look for graves
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