Biden visits Indian Country and apologizes for the 'sin' of a 150-year boarding school policy
President Joe Biden has formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated children from their parents, calling it a “blot on American history” in his first visit to Indian Country
LAVEEN VILLAGE, Ariz. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated children from their parents, calling it a “blot on American history” in his first presidential visit to Indian Country.
“It's a sin on our soul,” said Biden, his voice full of anger and emotion. “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 United States of America for what we did,” Biden said. The government's removal of children from their Native American community for boarding schools "will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history. For too long, this all happened with virtually no public attention, not written about in our history books, not taught in our schools.”
