According to the findings of The Washington Post, up to three times more children died in boarding schools than the authorities officially report. Conditions often resemble prison camps.
The American newspaper The Washington Post reported on Sunday, based on its annual investigation, that more than 3,000 children died in boarding schools for the indigenous people of the United States. This is three times the official number confirmed this year by the US Department of the Interior. TASR writes based on a report by AFP and The Washington Post.
The Washington Post’s investigation contradicts official figures released by the US government in July. According to her, 973 children died in the system of these schools.
The US operated hundreds of boarding schools for indigenous children from 1819 until the 1970s. The goal was forced assimilation into the culture of European migrants, including conversion to Christianity.
Schools resemble prisons
The director of one of the committees for indigenous people in the USA, Judi Gaiashkibos, compared the conditions in the schools to prison camps. Children in them died of diseases and malnutrition. According to previous investigations, they were often abused by representatives of the Catholic Church, writes The Washington Post.
Deceased children were usually buried in cemeteries near schools. Many graves are currently unmarked, and for Native Americans, finding the remains of their relatives is therefore a major complication.
US President Biden’s cabinet has invested heavily in indigenous communities, expanding tribal autonomy and protecting sacred sites for them. In October, he apologized on behalf of the US government for the forced placement of children in these schools, calling it “one of the most horrific chapters in American history”.
Native Americans continue to remain poorer than the average US resident. Many attribute this to centuries of marginalization after the arrival of Europeans.
