Haaland, of Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico, is the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history, and the agency she oversees recently released a report that identified more than 400 of the schools that were trying to assimilate Native children in white society during a period spanning from the late 18th century to the late 1960s. Although most closed their doors long ago and there is still no one to take their identities away from students, some still operate as schools, albeit with drastically different missions that celebrate the cultural backgrounds of their native students. Among them is the Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southwest of Oklahoma City, which is one of the oldest and is where Haaland will meet with former students and their descendants on Saturday. Riverside, which opened in 1871, serves students in grades four through 12 these days, offering them specialized academic programs as well as classes on cultural topics such as beadwork, shawl making, and an introduction to tribal art, food and toys. Currently operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, it has nearly 800 students from more than 75 tribes across the country, and the school’s administration, staff, and faculty are primarily Native American. It is one of 183 elementary and secondary schools across the country funded by the Bureau of Indian Education that seek to provide an education aligned with a tribe’s needs for cultural and economic well-being, according to the bureau’s website. Until recently, the federal government was not open to examining its role in the troubled history of Native American boarding schools, where children were taken from their families, forbidden to speak their languages and often abused. This has changed because people who know about the trauma caused hold prominent positions in government. At least 500 children died in such schools, but that number is expected to reach the thousands or tens of thousands as more research is done. The Home Office report includes a list of boarding schools in states or territories operating between 1819 and 1969 that had a housing component and received support from the federal government. Oklahoma had the most, 76, followed by Arizona, which had 47, and New Mexico, which had 43. All three states still have significant Native American populations. Former students may be reluctant to narrate the painful past and trust a government whose policies were to eradicate tribes and, later, assimilate them under the veil of education. But some welcome the opportunity to share their stories for the first time. Lahoma Schultz, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation who lives in Bixby, Oklahoma, said she uncovered records showing her grandfather was forced to wear military clothing, learn English and perform unpaid labor while attending boarding schools in Oklahoma and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Schultz said she became angry when she discovered how such schools affected generations of her family. Her mother, Mollie Hicks, attended boarding school for a semester in 1938 and was punished for speaking the Creek language. “He said if he ever got married and had kids, he wouldn’t teach them the language,” Schultz said. “Here I am in my 70s trying to learn my language and it’s really frustrating.” Her mother’s experience led Schultz to research her boarding schools and family history in the early 2000s after she earned her PhD in psychology. She has learned the names of relatives she never knew and has a better understanding of why her parents were adamant about not sending their children to boarding schools. “That was therapeutic, even for me, because I’m gathering more information about my own family,” she said. The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
