Tell Congress to Support 
Truth and Healing on Indian Boarding Schools

Since the passage of the Indian Civilization Fund Act in 1819, hundreds of thousands of Native children have been extracted from their families and Tribes and required to attend government-backed Indian boarding schools. The act authorized and incentivized the forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples, and it was instrumental in the spread of Indigenous boarding school policies—schools that were often used as tools of assimilation, cultural genocide, and territorial dispossession. Too often, with an intent to replace Native religious practice with adherence to Christian practices. 

Our Unitarian forebears had a role in this history when they accepted responsibility for managing American Indian reservations and agencies of the Colorado reservation, occupied by various tribes of the Ute, and with a school run by Unitarians on the Crow Indian Reservation near Custer Station, Montana.

Unfortunately, there has been insufficient accounting of the number of children caught up by the policies and programs and the long-term systemic effects on the individuals and communities impacted. For this reason, UUSJ supports the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2023 (S.1723) and 2024 (H.R.7227).

The resulting loss of language and culture from Indian boarding school policies has been devastating. The often permanent separation of children from their families is a travesty and blemish on our history as a Nation. The two reports under U.S. Interior Secretary Debra Haaland by the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative have helped establish an important baseline of documentation; nevertheless, we agree further action is needed, and the proposed legislation would establish a commission that is more expansive than the department’s effort.

As Unitarian Universalists, we abhor the practice of family separation, and we have articulated strong opposition to systems of oppression, especially those aimed at Americans of Native or Indian identity, as well as those of Indigenous identity. As far back as 1970, we committed to Indian Rights, “insisting upon adequate reparations for past and present injustices perpetrated upon them.” As a consequence, UUSJ believes that the aims of these bills merit support from Unitarian Universalists.

As of 2024, the House and the Senate have each introduced versions of the bill and referred them for consideration by relevant committees in their respective Chambers. Happily, the House version was introduced with the support of Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK-4) and is, therefore, a bipartisan proposal. The Senate version articulates several primary purposes:

• To establish a Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the U.S. 
• To  investigate the impacts and ongoing effects of those policies
• To recommend ways to protect unmarked graves and accompanying land protections; 
• To support repatriation and identify the tribal nations from which children were taken; 
• To discontinue the removal of Indian children from their families and tribal communities. 
• Unitarian Universalists value considering root harms and causes; this legislative proposal is essential for reparative justice. Please take our action.

Tell your members of Congress in both chambers you support Truth and Healing on Indian Boarding Schools, and expect them to do the same.

As of General Assembly 2024, we Unitarian Universalists have agreed to “adopt new language on core religious values.” We agree that love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. The values we share include all the following, which we hold as inseparable and deeply interconnected: Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, Generosity, and Equity. (Read more on the Article II revision process.) With these agreed core religious values in mind, we also ground our call for action in support of a healthy democracy in the following Unitarian Universalist Statements:

• Address 400 Years of White Supremacist Colonialism, 2020 Action of Immediate Witness
• End Family Separation and Detention of Asylum Seekers and Abolish ICE, 2018 Action of Immediate Witness
• Thanksgiving Day Reconsidered, 2016 Business Resolution
• The Doctrine of Discovery, 2012 Responsive Resolution
• Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society, 2007 Statement of Conscience
• Truth, Repair, and Reconciliation, 2007 Responsive Resolution
• Economic Injustice, Poverty, and Racism: We Can Make a Difference!, 2000 Statement of Conscience
• Resolution on Support for the Cleveland, Ohio, Native American Community, 2000 Responsive Resolution
• Fair Treatment for Native Americans, 1998 Action of Immediate Witness
• Solidarity with the San Carlos Apache Regarding Mt. Graham, 1997 Action of Immediate Witness
• Justice for Indigenous Peoples, 1993 General Resolution
• Opposing Extradition of Dennis Banks, 1976 General Resolution
• Native Americans, 1975 Business Resolution
• Indian Rights, 1970 Business Resolution