Hundreds of Indigenous people have testified. They鈥檝e sobbed, cursed and laughed in spite of it all. Many told stories about their time in boarding schools that they鈥檝e kept inside for decades, finally able to begin recovering from childhood trauma.
An oral history project led by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is wrapping up in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday. To date, the nonprofit鈥檚 historians have collected video testimony from more than 360 Indigenous survivors in 19 states 鈥� stories set to be preserved in the Library of Congress for years to come.
Iona Mad Plume, who is Blackfeet and grew up on her tribe鈥檚 reservation in Montana, said she 鈥渃an鈥檛 emphasize enough鈥� how healing her experience was. She testified in front of a video camera last month in Billings about her time in the , where she was sent at age 14.
Mad Plume, now 74, said since her interview she鈥檚 been more grounded and has been able to let go of some of the haunting memories: a dusty blue Greyhound bus driving her away from her parents鈥� red pickup truck. School staff beating her with a wooden dowel as she cowered on a bunk bed in her dorm room. Eating corn meal or cereal littered with weevil bugs.
鈥淚 got a lot out of that, pretty much a lot of closure,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was after almost a lifetime of carrying around questions and different things in my mind 鈥� so I don鈥檛 have to carry that around anymore.鈥�
Another boarding school survivor who contributed to the project in Michigan in 2024 recounted a similar experience. Gene Bozicic, of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, attended the Catholic-run in Harbor Springs, Michigan, beginning at age 11.
鈥淎s we further went along, I started to feel more confident in what I could do and what I have accomplished, almost like more pride to be Native,鈥� Bozicic, now 81, said about her video interview. 鈥淚 hate to see it coming to an end, because they have given me my backbone back.鈥�
Survivors endured systemic abuse
The oral history project, which began in , is a collaboration between the Minnesota-based National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The intent is to document and share with the public the systemic abuse endured by boarding school survivors under the government鈥檚 attempts at forced assimilation 鈥� policies that began in the 1800s and lasted for over a century.
Two years earlier, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland 鈥� a Laguna Pueblo member and a descendant of boarding school survivors 鈥� led the historic listening tour with Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community.
贬补补濒补苍诲鈥檚 also included on the schools鈥� multigenerational impacts. Nearly 1,000 Native children were buried at 65 different school sites, the federal government reported. Atrocities occurring within school walls ranged from physical and sexual abuse to failed attempts at cultural genocide, the report found.
In the more than two years since the boarding school coalition鈥檚 oral history work began, the process of collecting these in-person testimonies in 19 states evolved, said Lacey Kinnart, the coalition鈥檚 oral history program co-director.
Initially, the 鈥渜uiet room鈥� where survivors decompress with a fellow elder after their interview was optional. But staff soon changed that policy so entering the room was automatic, and added a second 鈥渜uiet room.鈥� They also began matching survivors with a licensed clinical therapist who specializes in boarding school trauma and a licensed social worker.
鈥淥ur elders don鈥檛 want to be a burden,鈥� said Kinnart, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. 鈥淏ut they really do need that extra support.鈥�
Kinnart said staff also noticed survivors feeling nervous around the Indigenous photographer. That shyness showed in the photos. So they built in an extra half-hour into the schedule so each survivor could get to know the person who took their portraits.
Stories affect generations
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Department of the Interior are still assessing how to present the video interviews to the world. Survivors, however, will retain full ownership of their interviews and they alone decide whether their stories are made public.
The videos will be housed in a permanent oral history collection at the Library of Congress, and the project鈥檚 end date is June 2027.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition will continue other oral history projects independently. Staff said their next project will likely be more costly 鈥� potentially as much as $13 million 鈥� compared to the $6.2 million they received from Interior and the Mellon Foundation for the initial oral history project. And while the upcoming venture would take longer, it would be even more inclusive.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just scratching the surface with these stories,鈥� said the coalition鈥檚 Oral History Program Co-director Charlee Brissette, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie of Chippewa Indians. 鈥淲e want to get a more robust picture of the boarding school experience because it does have that intergenerational effect.鈥�
Indigenous people excluded from this first iteration of the oral history project may get another opportunity in the coming years. It鈥檚 an effort welcomed by survivors and descendants alike.
鈥淚鈥檇 be interested in doing that, because the whole story needs to be taught,鈥� said Desiray Emerton, 56, a Seminole woman and a descendant of two generations of boarding school survivors.
Her relatives attended and She said she鈥檚 seen the generational impacts: Because of her boarding school experiences, Emerton鈥檚 mother struggled to be affectionate toward her as a child. And her grandmother died long before the oral history project鈥檚 existence.
鈥淚 know time鈥檚 running out for those who did go through that personally,鈥� Emerton said, 鈥渂ut I always tell my kids I鈥檓 walking on the prayers of our ancestors, and I鈥檓 running out of time.鈥�
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