Federal Indian boarding schools still exist

The few that remain have become places Native families want to send their children. [View this email online]( [NPR Education]( June 11, 2022 --------------------------------------------------------------- Navajo citizen Lorenda Long, who attended a federal boarding school as a young girl, is a supporter of students at Riverside Indian School today. Brittany Bendabout for NPR Happy Sunday, It’s June! In addition to the month of my birth (happy Gemini season to all who celebrate!) this also means we are awaiting two big Supreme Court decisions regarding education. One will decide the fate of President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt and the other will determine whether colleges and universities, public and private, can consider race as one of many factors in deciding admission. As we wait, I wanted to tell you about a story blurring the lines between past and present. It’s about Riverside Indian School in Oklahoma, one of the few federal Indian boarding schools that still exist. The school is still residential, so there are dorms and a dining hall. The walls hold murals and newspaper clippings depicting American Indian students proud to be Indian. Native culture is integrated into as many classes as possible; activities include drum-making, dress and ribbon skirt-making, and moccasin-making. But the school has a dark past. "It was 12 years of hell," says Donald Neconie, who attended the school decades ago and is now 85. "The moment I landed there, they took me downstairs, took all my clothes off, and threw a bunch of green stuff all over me," he recounted at an event held at the school by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, part of a months-long effort to hear from boarding school survivors about their experiences. There’s been a renewed spotlight on the legacy of these boarding schools, which were part of the U.S. government's attempts to erase tribal culture. The Department of Interior, for the first time ever, [admitted its role in creating the system]( in 1819 and enabling the physical and emotional abuse Native children endured while attending them. So how does a school deal with painful memories? And why do families who had such harrowing experiences at the school continue to send their children and grandchildren? [Read Sequoia Carrillo’s story here.]( — [Elissa Nadworny]( Education Correspondent, NPR [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't miss this great investigation from our member station WFYI in Indiana … [The story]( dives into the unchecked use of restraint and seclusion in Indiana public schools. Indiana lawmakers approved legislation a decade ago that was intended to regulate and curb the use of restraint and seclusion in schools. But a lack of oversight from the Indiana Department of Education means its unclear whether the law has had its intended effect. And [Indiana parents are kept in the dark]( as schools isolate and restrain kids thousands of times. A lack of transparency in both general education and special education environments means parents aren't aware of the extent to which these interventions are used in schools. — [Lee V. Gaines]( Reporter, WFYI There was a lot of ed news this week! Let’s get into it … [A new survey]( from the Educational Theatre Association is a snapshot of both what's popular with high school theater departments and the educational climate. Eighty five percent of respondents reported being, "at least somewhat concerned about censorship" and 67% said that, "censorship concerns" are influencing their selections for next year. — [Elizabeth Blair]( Senior Arts Desk Producer/Reporter, NPR More than two years into a conservative push against teaching about Black history, literature, and gender identity in public schools, the Southern Poverty Law Center has concluded that [a dozen so-called "parental rights" groups behind the movement are extremist.]( The civil rights organization particularly focuses on the largest of these, the nonprofit Moms for Liberty, in its annual Year in Hate & Extremism report for 2022, saying that it advances an anti-student inclusion agenda. — [Odette Yousef]( Domestic Extremism Correspondent, NPR President Biden [announced new actions to try to address discrimination]( against LGBTQI+ Americans — including the appointment of a new point person at the Education Department to address an increase in book bans. "Book banning erodes our democracy, removes vital resources for student learning, and can contribute to stigma and isolation," Neera Tanden, Biden's domestic policy adviser said. — [Franco Ordoñez]( White House Correspondent, NPR A school district in Utah [officially decided to remove the Bible]( from elementary and middle school libraries for containing "vulgarity or violence." A parent's complaint gained national attention when it was reported in March citing Utah's 2022 law banning any books containing "pornographic or indecent" material. The statement calls the Bible "one of the most sex-ridden books around.” — [Tilda Wilson]( Kroc Fellow, NPR And this last bit is for parents, teachers, and comics fans, like myself … I just ordered a copy of [Darrin Bell's debut graphic memoir]( The Talk, which explores the question of how people — in this case, a precocious, geeky, and artistic young man, the child of a white mother and Black father — know what they know. How can you make sense of the world around you when your lived experiences don't match up with the conflicting things people around you, particularly adults, say or do? As always, thank you for reading!!! — [LA Johnson]( Art Director, NPR Ed --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! [They can sign up here.]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. 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