Cultural Genocide: The Extermination of Indigenous Children

Brought to you by the Roman Catholic Jesuits; Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ (Dutch and French IPA 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19th century among the Native American peoples, in the midwestern and northwestern United States and western Canada. He began the abuse of Native children under the guise of removing their heritage, traditions, religions, and language in order to Catholicize them. Everything that was done was the equivalent to the European Inquisitions, including the murders of hundreds of native children in Canada.

The discovery of more than 1,300 unmarked graves at residential schools across Canada shocked and horrified Canadians. The indigenous community have long expected such revelations, but the news has reopened painful wounds.

The Roman Catholic Church was a key player in the devastating colonization of the Americas, operating more Indian boarding schools in the United States than any other religious group, and more than all other religious groups combined, according to Kathleen Holscher, an associate professor and endowed chair of Roman Catholic Studies at the University of New Mexico. These numbers, she said, come from lists created by the Catholic Truth and Healing initiative and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.

Indian boarding schools operated in the United States between 1819 and 1977, and were part of centuries-long attempts by the U.S. government and Roman Catholic missionaries to subjugate and eradicate Native culture and traditions by removing children from their parents and tribes.

A recently published (2023) online database provides vital breadcrumbs of information for survivors and their descendants, including the tribal members of Quapaw and countless others across the nation.

The list of Native boarding schools overseen or staffed by the Catholic Church prior to 1978 was made public in May 2023 by a group of archivists, historians and “concerned Catholics.” The Catholic Truth and Healing list is described by its authors as “the first and most comprehensive source” of such information.

Indigenous advocates and descendants of boarding school survivors say the information is long overdue and provides a solid first step in what can be an arduous process of learning about the past and attempting to heal. But the accounting may not provide all the answers or the comfort sought, said Maka Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota member.

Jerilyn DeCoteau, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota and a tribal law attorney, also worked on the project. DeCoteau said her advocacy for accurate teachings about boarding schools stem from her family’s experience.

DeCoteau’s parents went to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Education — under the Interior Department — where they were barred from speaking Cree and Michif, a dialect of Canadian French combined with Cree.

Later, her siblings attended the Catholic-run St. Ann’s Mission day school on the reservation. Day schools were often similarly abusive, fueling “another set of horrible stories” and a second generation robbed of their native languages, she said. “As siblings, we just always felt so, so cheated.”

DeCoteau described the punishing boarding school legacy as extending beyond language loss.

“Even though my parents were not bad people and always did their best, they grew up very regimented, away from their families in boarding schools,” she said. “They didn’t learn a lot of parenting skills.”

More information: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/new-archive-sheds-light-on-indian-boarding-schools-run-by-the-catholic-church/242011

Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools
[FULL DOCUMENTARY]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OtfBPE4u1U

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