Statement from the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center on President Biden’s Apology for Indian Boarding Schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Miranda Raney, Director of Communications
media@niwrc.org
LAME DEER, Mont. — The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) welcomes today’s historic apology by President Biden for the U.S. government’s role in the violent legacy of federal Indian boarding schools. This recognition is a critical step in acknowledging the ongoing trauma and generational harm that these policies have inflicted upon Native children and families throughout Indian Country.
For more than a century, federal boarding schools enforced policies of forced assimilation designed to erase Native identities, languages, and cultures—a calculated tool of colonization with impacts still reverberating today. Native peoples continue to endure the consequences of this era, evident in ongoing trauma, loss of cultural heritage, and persistent systemic inequalities.
As an organization dedicated to confronting the ongoing violence against Native women, we recognize that this struggle is not confined to history. The violence of the boarding school era is intricately linked to the disproportionately high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault affecting our communities today, as well as the present crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and relatives. This destructive legacy aimed to undermine the very foundations of Tribal Nations by targeting our most vulnerable—our women and our children. We carry with us the strength of survivors and honor the memories of those who were lost.
This moment must be a catalyst for meaningful action that addresses the ongoing impacts of colonization and trauma. Healing from this violence requires more than acknowledgment; it demands justice. NIWRC joins President Biden, partners, and allies in urging the nation to look directly at this painful chapter in our shared history. The federal government must invest in and prioritize Native-led solutions to restore our safety, sovereignty, and well-being.
###
About the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc. (NIWRC) is a Native-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against Native women and children. NIWRC provides national leadership in ending gender-based violence in Tribal communities by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen Tribal sovereignty. To learn more, visit niwrc.org.
