Indigenous Boarding Schools: Resources

NABS, based in Minneapolis, was created to develop and implement a national strategy that increases public awareness and cultivates healing for the profound trauma experienced by individuals, families, communities, American Indian and Alaska Native Nations resulting from the U.S. adoption and implementation of the Boarding School Policy of 1869.

A rigorous and thorough review of literature regarding the impacts of boarding schools on Native Americans and a comprehensive summary of the state of knowledge of the present impacts of the Boarding School era and policies on Native Americans, and remedial measures known to address those impacts.

A bill to establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy in the United States, and for other purposes.

This project, developed by the Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections, aims to develop a comprehensive searchable database of Carlisle Indian School resources.

Primary source documents from the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of Residential School Survivors, families and communities are honoured and kept safe for future generations.

From Facing History & Ourselves

Primary sources from LOC

Indigenous people are calling on the Catholic Church to be held accountable after continued revelations of unmarked graves on grounds of residential schools the church operated. Christian-based boarding schools are an enduring symbol of forced assimilation of Native children in the United States. At the same time, Christianity is a strong component of many Indigenous people’s lives. We’ll explore the history and complexity of the Christian faith among Native traditions.

The Counter Stories crew digs into another element of Indigenous trauma: boarding schools. More and more bodies of children sent to these boarding schools are being discovered, shedding more light on the intentional erasing of Indigenous language and culture.

When the remains of more than 200 children were recently found on the grounds of a boarding school in Canada, it forced the entire country to confront one of its darkest chapters, the state-sponsored abuse of Indigenous people. Astead Herndon speaks with Ian Austen about one survivor’s story.

Native Americans have dodged bullets since first contact with Europeans. This film brings a cross-generational sampling of Indigenous people, researchers, and politicians to reveal stunning reasons for their disproportionately high incidences of health and social issues.