{"id":26251,"date":"2024-08-06T17:21:33","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T23:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/at-least-95-indigenous-children-died-in-federal-boarding-schools-in-new-mexico\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:36:36","slug":"at-least-95-indigenous-children-died-in-federal-boarding-schools-in-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/at-least-95-indigenous-children-died-in-federal-boarding-schools-in-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 95 Indigenous children died in federal boarding schools in New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Albuquerque
Albuquerque Indian School, circa 1895. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

At least 95 Indigenous children died in federal boarding schools that operated in New Mexico for more than a century.<\/p>\n

That includes<\/a> 34 deaths at Santa Fe Indian School, 18 at Charles H. Burke Indian School at Fort Wingate near Gallup, 11 at Crownpoint Boarding School and 10 at Albuquerque Indian School. Children also died in schools in Blackrock, Cuba, Mescalero, Newcomb, Prewitt, Shiprock and Tohatchi.<\/p>\n

At least 175 children from tribal nations<\/a> represented in New Mexico \u2013 Navajo, Pueblo, Mescalero Apache and Jicarilla Apache \u2013 died in boarding schools, although it\u2019s unclear in what states other than New Mexico those deaths occurred.<\/p>\n

Of 74 marked or unmarked burial sites of Indigenous children identified across the country, five were identified at locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Newcomb and Fort Wingate.<\/p>\n

Those numbers are in a 105-page investigative report <\/a>the Interior Department issued last week that identified 973 Indigenous children who died in federal boarding schools designed to erase their cultures and dispossess Indigenous peoples of their lands. The true toll is undoubtedly higher, the report\u2019s authors note.<\/p>\n

From the early 1800s to the 1970s, the federal government, often in partnership with religious organizations, forced American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children as young as four to attend boarding schools<\/a> in 37 states or then-territories. Congress appropriated more than $23.3 billion over a century for 417 schools and similar institutions, according to a department estimate.<\/p>\n

Children faced physical, sexual and emotional abuse from school officials, along with disease, malnourishment and unsanitary and overcrowded housing.<\/p>\n

They were punished for speaking their languages or practicing their traditions and in many cases were made to spend half their days doing manual labor. For instance, in 1903 at the Mescalero Boarding School in southern New Mexico, Mescalero Apache \u201cboys sawed over 70,000 feet of lumber and 40,000 shingles and made upward of 120,000 brick.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report identifies 46 boarding school<\/a> sites in New Mexico, the third most in the nation, behind Oklahoma at 87 and Arizona at 50.<\/p>\n

At least 3,500 children from dozens of tribal nations attended New Mexico schools, at least eight of which were run by Catholic and Protestant groups who were supported by the government.<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s investigation<\/a>, including an initial report <\/a>in May 2022, represents the first time the federal government has attempted to thoroughly address the scope and legacy of boarding schools it operated or supported.<\/p>\n

The Interior Department was able to identify by name 18,624 children who attended boarding schools. That number doesn\u2019t include children who attended outside the years 1819 to 1969 or those who may be listed as attendees on unavailable records, like those maintained by religious groups that didn\u2019t receive government support. It also doesn\u2019t include children who attended institutions like day schools, sanitariums or orphanages.<\/p>\n

The schools \u201ccaused enduring trauma for Indigenous communities,\u201d said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) in a July 30 news release. Haaland has spoken <\/a>about the schools\u2019 effects on her own family, including her great-grandfather, who was taken to Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

One way that trauma has manifested is in poor health outcomes.<\/p>\n

Former boarding school attendees are 44% more likely to have chronic physical health conditions as adults, including cancer, diabetes and arthritis, according to studies led by Ursula Running Bear<\/a> (Sicangu Lakota) and funded by the National Institutes of Health. They\u2019re also at increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.<\/p>\n

Study participants whose fathers went to boarding schools had, on average, a 36% greater count of chronic health problems compared to other participants.<\/p>\n

The report calls on the U.S. to formally acknowledge and apologize for its policies and increase funding for language revitalization efforts, among other recommendations aimed at remedying the ongoing impacts of the schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must bring every resource to bear to strengthen\u201d what federal policies \u201ccould not destroy,\u201d said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community).<\/p>\n

The recommendations are:<\/p>\n

Issuing a formal acknowledgment and apology from the U.S. government regarding its role in adopting and implementing national federal Indian boarding school policies.<\/div>\n
Investing in remedies to the present-day impacts of the federal Indian boarding school system. (The report mentions funding for culturally based, community-driven healing efforts; family preservation and reunification; violence prevention; increasing investments in tribal and public school systems; and revitalization of Indigenous languages.)<\/div>\n
Establishing a national memorial to acknowledge and commemorate the experiences of Indian tribes, individuals, and families affected by the federal Indian boarding school system.<\/div>\n
Identifying and repatriating remains of children and funerary objects who never returned from federal Indian boarding schools.<\/div>\n
Returning former federal Indian boarding school sites to tribes.<\/div>\n
Telling the story of federal Indian boarding schools to the American people and global community.<\/div>\n
Investing in further research regarding the present-day health and economic impacts of the federal Indian boarding school system.<\/div>\n
Advancing international relationships in other countries with similar but unique histories of boarding schools or other assimilationist policies.<\/div>\n

This story was originally published in New Mexico In Depth <\/a>and is republished here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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