Lake County News, California – Assembly approves resolution supporting federal inquiry into residential schools in the United States

[ad_1]

Members of the California Assembly this week approved a resolution supporting US Home Secretary Deb Haalands’ investigation into residential schools following the grim discovery of more than 1,000 unmarked graves in such schools in Canada.

Assembly member James C. Ramos (D-Highland) introduced HR 60, and the measure was the first proposal approved by the new California Native American Legislative Caucus that Ramos chairs.

The Assembly adopted the measure on Thursday.

Students were sent to these schools to coerce assimilation, Ramos said. They were punished for speaking their language and practicing their culture and religious beliefs. They were subjected to poor sanitation, disease, malnutrition and even starvation. Parents were not kept informed of their children’s well-being despite inquiries. Through Secretary Haalands’ investigation, we have the opportunity to end the multi-generational guessing game of what happened to those who did not return from residential schools.

Indigenous children were allowed to be separated from their families under the Indian Civilization Act of 1819. The aim was to force assimilation by erasing Indian culture by separating indigenous children from their parents and sending them to residential schools.

Ramos added that a dominant attitude was that of the promoter of the boarding school, Captain Richard Pratt: Kill the Indian and save the man.

The US government has operated 25 residential schools across the country, including three in California, according to Gold Chains, a website dedicated to uncovering the hidden history of slavery in California.

These schools were the Greenville School & Agency, founded in 1890; the Perris Indian School, later to become the Sherman Indian School, founded in 1892; and the Fort Bidwell Indian School, founded in 1898, according to the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center.

However, several other schools, run by other organizations, including religious denominations, have been reported across California, with different groups studying the schools offering different number estimates.

Among these religious schools was the St. Turibius Mission School in Kelseyville, operated in the early 1900s.

The book Lake County Schoolhouses, by Antone Pierucci, former coordinator of the Lake Countys Museum, explains: Beginning in the late 19th century, Indigenous children in Lake County were educated in separate schools run by a mishmash the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and / or religious leaders. Reports sent to the state by the county superintendent indicate that at one point there were only two or three of these separate schools: Middle Creek north of Upper Lake, West Lake north of Lakeport, and Big Valley north of Kelseyville. Stories still told within families also suggest that many young children were sent to one of the many BIA-run boarding schools in the state.

Haalands’ investigation will identify the facilities and sites of boarding schools, the location of known and possible student burial sites located in or near school facilities and sites, and the children’s identity and tribal affiliation. buried in these places.

Investigators will collect and review historical records, including those from the American Indian Records Repository and the National Archives, as well as school enrollment records, administrative reports, maps, photographs, and other documents.

Haalands’ team will also formally consult with tribal nations, Alaska Native societies, and Hawaiian Native organizations to determine the nature and scope of the proposed work, cultural concerns, potential release of sensitive information, and future protection. burial sites and repatriation of remains in accordance with the Native American Burials Protection and Repatriation Act.

A final report will be published by April 1, 2022.

HR 60 was approved on a bipartisan unanimous vote with 71 Democratic and Republican members adding as co-authors.

[ad_2]