Our Stories Heal – Ginoojimomin Apii Dibaajimoyang [Recording]

The full recording can be found here.

 

In 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the
Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. This initiative, which
includes gathering records from the boarding school era, and compiling
an official list of boarding school sites, makes visible on a national
scale the intergenerational impact federal Indian board schools have had
on tribal communities. Currently, there are five schools in the state
of Michigan that were identified from the federal investigation process
(Holy Childhood Boarding School, Baraga Chippewa Boarding and Day School
(Holy Name), Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, Mackinac
Mission School, and Catholic Otchippewa Boarding School). This is not
an extensive list of all the other entities, schools, and programs that
operated in Michigan through the Indian Civilization Act of 1819.

The Native Justice Coalition’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) was launched in July 2022. It seeks to expand its reach
to strengthen relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
people in an effort to seek the truth behind the Indian boarding school
policies and corresponding actions taken by the government and church.
Through this work, the NJC provides safe, supportive, and culturally
competent spaces that offer opportunities for healing and uniting our
Native communities on this journey. Our goals are to create an
Indigenous-led process that is grounded in mutual respect, culturally
sensitive, and focused on meeting clearly defined, jointly agreed upon
metrics. Our key four priorities are truth and reconciliation, healing
our people and our communities, strengthening ICWA and ensuring a
cultural identity for our children, and building a strong ecosystem
through investment in the Native Justice Coalition.

Without support from community partners such as the Indigenous
Law & Policy Center, Native American Institute, and American Indian
and Indigenous Studies at Michigan State University, this work would not
be possible. This one-day symposium honors that work on a local scale,
providing Michigan State University, and the greater Lansing community
an opportunity to learn about the intergenerational trauma caused by
federal Indian boarding school policies. Attendees will hear first-hand
accounts from boarding school survivors and others who can provide the
legal, social, and historical context of the Indian boarding schools. By
joining together in community to share stories and voices, the
symposium provides a space for knowledge and healing.