Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools [FULL DOCUMENTARY]

PBS Utah takes a moving and insightful look into the dark chapter of American history, the federal Indian boarding school system. #Indigenous #Documentary #boardingschool #nativeamerican #buffalosoldier #santafe #kiowa #comanche #navajonation
The goal was total assimilation into Anglo civilization at the cost of Native American culture, tradition, and language. The film story starts with pre-history and comes full circle to modern day. Much of the film is told in first person Native American voice by the people who continue to live it.
The history of the United States of America is like a coin. For every story written of the successes and growth of the country, there is the other side - where people are subjected to the consequences of decisions over which they had no control. During the westward expansion of the U.S., the indigenous people were those people, whose treatment ranged from being dismissed to outright extermination.
Somewhere along that spectrum is the story of American Indian Boarding Schools. One school in particular, the Santa Fe Indian School, today serves as a microcosm of American Indian education and the history of tribal culture since before the Civil War. The school also shows a potential path forward from a troubled past.
The boarding school concept can be traced to Civil War Army Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt, who led a unit of Buffalo Soldiers near Oklahoma. Together they captured 72 men from the Caddo, Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa Nations, and transported them to Fort Marion, Florida. Upon arrival, the captives were forced to cut their hair, dress in military uniforms, and learn English. In essence, they were being groomed to resemble their white captors in an effort to “civilize” them. During a time in U.S. history when the policy toward Native Americans was usually one of forced removal and even extermination, the idea of assimilation, was considered progressive. The famous quote “Kill the Indian, save the Man,” is attributed to Pratt.
“Early assimilation policies were to steal Native American land,” says Christy Abeyta, Superintendent at the Santa Fe Indian School. “If we can assimilate these Native Americans into the dominant culture then they have no need for reservations, they’re going to migrate into urban areas and there will be no need to maintain tribal lands, because they would have lost their culture, the language, all ties to what they held so sacred…and that was the land.”
Many of the old boarding schools are now relics of history. Carlisle, the most famous, is a National Historic Landmark. Tomah Indian School in Tomah, Wisconsin, is a Veterans Administration Hospital. The Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah, closed its doors in 1984 and has since been demolished.
The Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas is now Haskell Indian Nations University, billing itself as the premiere tribal university in the U.S. Sherman Indian High School in Riverside maintains a military-like boarding-school schedule, but has moved away from the assimilation concept. It teaches native languages and offers college prep and career pathway programs. And then there is the Santa Fe Indian School.
Academic standards at the school exceed New Mexico’s standards. It offers advanced college preparatory classes, tracks in computer programming, math and science, as well as a language arts program. It also has courses in Native American history and silversmithing. Since the council took over, the drop-out rate declined from 30% in 1981 to 4% in 1986.
Alicea Olascoaga is a recent graduate of the school, now attending Dartmouth College. She has strong memories of the Santa Fe Indian School.
“It’s the best that I’ve ever experienced and I think the best that New Mexico has to offer,” she says. “I’ve been in public schools in Albuquerque and I never had the same connection that I do with my teachers here. I never got the attention and the assistance that I have here.”
Alicia is also reflective when it comes to the history of her school, and the policy that created it.
“It’s definitely hard to think about boarding schools, the pain and anguish that Native Americans were put through during that time. But I think today it’s very different, and the purpose is to nurture Native Americans, and to ultimately benefit and to support and to improve who we are as a people as a whole.”
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[@jennyloohoo]

Most were not given the choice to go or not. I work for my tribe and have heard horror stories. I pray the generational trauma put on Native American's will no longer have a hold. It is all about speaking up to heal and stop the pain. The Government should hold up it's promise to seat a Cherokee Delegate in the House of Representatives... Treaties are still being broken today

[@Inkironnrum]

Write a book sharing your insight with issues you are aware requiring a voice- your voice.

[@jennyloohoo]

@@Inkironnrum Thank you, that is a great idea. I am a single mama of three with zero time to write. Writing is my passion though and I feel like your comment gave me the nudge I needed to make something happen. Thank you again!

[@powerofloveism]

The Jewish are speaking out too , not because they want to but they say it's their duty to educate and share the truth with the people who don't know the truth as a result of some people who made many efforts to cover it up. I am so sorry and I apologize on behalf of my Ancestors if any took part in hurting others. I wish to heal our bloodlines starting with myself. My dads side were European and on my moms side my Great Nanny was Indigenous. I pray we can all heal and not repeat Mistakes just because we are ordered to repeat them. Nuremberg trials , most said " I was just following orders" , fear of death can make a lot of people commit sins, especially when they fear where they will end up after their physical death.

[@OGDweeb]

​@jennyloohoo sister, even if you only write 30 minutes a day, do it. Many years I neglected my artwork as a young mother. Now, I start again almost at square one. Chip at it little by little.

[@jennyloohoo]

@@OGDweeb Thank you so much for the motivation! God Bless

[@evalenasbabys]

My grandmother was in a boarding school and that school impacted her life in a negative way. My grandmother always tried to hide her indigenous roots she was ashamed to be native so she tried to fit in with the white peoples and that really didn’t work she was never welcomed by them when she was in her early 20s she married a soldier he was a white man so she lived on the army base but she was segregated from the white people she wasn’t able to use their bathrooms and public places and the women would have Tupperware parties and my grandma was never invited and that just broke her heart. My mother was raised on base and she also wasn’t welcomed by the whites they wouldn’t let their children play with my mom or her siblings, on the military base my mom and her siblings were called engines and Mesicans and the white people wouldn’t allow their children to play with my mom. My grandmother often talked about her time in boarding school she would talk about how she would get beat up by the nuns when she would speak her native language and my grandmother was unruly so she would often get locked in what she would call a dark small moldy broom closet for days with out food or water until the nuns would let her out if she agreed to act normal. My grandmother passed from cancer when I was in my 20s and I remember her always flying the United States flag on her car because she wanted people to know she was American she would always tell me that if she didn’t have the flag on her car or home people might think she was Mexican or middle eastern and she didn’t want that and the truth of the matter is my grandma was Apache Native American and it’s sad that she was treated the way she was treated I wish my grandmother would have seen how beautiful she was and how beautiful our people are. My mother married another Native American my dad is Pueblo and my mom is Apache I married a Aztec man and my daughter is going to marry a Apache man our family is no longer ashamed to be indigenous we embrace our roots and our proud to be Native American ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾

[@WendyAllen-df5yg]

I am shocked that this was left out of my history books growing up. My God this is heart breaking. Love to you and your tribe ❤

[@rebeccacutler6355]

That makes me want to cry! It is appalling how white people treated natives. I am mostly white, but am very proud of the little bit of Choctaw and Cherokee in my blood❤

[@merricat3025]

​@WendyAllen-df5yg I think this would be under critical race theory. We can't have teaching truth. If you don't teach history and learn from the past you will repeat it. I was taught some of this in school in 70/80. I am white and went to public school. I don't. I dont know what they teach now.

[@catmejia6109]

The Mexican people , particularly the ones in this land before colonizers man made borders went through the same thing,,,,,the lighter ones assimilated and the darker ones were called Mexicans (as that was used in a derogatory way then) or dirty Indian …..never American never native ……by colonizers and their offspring who aren’t even from these lands……many Mexicans and Indians look alike because they are as they share indigenous blood, it’s the white man who made them feel different with the age old divide and conquer methods they’ve used

[@helenedesforges3483]

My grand father was also ashamed of it , as a little girl I asked him if I was an Indian ? He answered me no we are French Canadian . His mother was native his dad was French . His dad was a very mean man . His mother was an absolute sweet heart . I look like my grand father’s mom . And I am proud I do . I am not ashamed I am proud of what native people achieved all those years . I will always have native people’s back before the other side . I know many things was so unfair .

[@bettybilly2496]

I grew up in a Native American boarding school in the 60’s and 70’s. The caretakers were known as “dorm aides” short for Boarding School Instructional Aides. At age nine, I was disciplined by being dragged around by my hair on the floor by one of the dorm aides. I was physically thrown every which way by my my hair. Years later, I cheered when I learned this physical abuser died. That was one of the happiest days of my life. I lived through trauma and still have not been able to forgive the ethnic cleansing of the Indigenous Peoples of the United States. Today there is racial divide still on reservations. I once heard a young Native American girl, in 2002’ say “There’s a white person let’s run him off the road!” We are conditioned to hate our abusers! We need healing but oppression continues. Not just Black Lives Matter, ALL lives matter!

[@pricklypear6384]

Exactly ALL LIVES MATTER! The priority should be NATIVE AMERICANS not foreigners.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

Then it's your people who are racist to white people then.

[@bmo4645]

❤️‍🩹❤️‍🔥💔♥️🤎🖤💘💝💖💗💓💞💟🙄🤩😖😆🌅😒😆😄😃😀😂😠😡😤😮‍💨🙄

[@bmo4645]

How wonderful people the natives are sorry for everything.

[@jenniferisbell9629]

That was done in a horrible way. Forcing those children to be taken away from their families. I’m Irish , we were mistreated. But never taken away from our parents.

[@charlottehatch6696]

The Irish were actually first slaves brought to America. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r53Nm3aGhLaZapY

[@chosen757]

The original Irish were black and they were sold into slavery.

[@healingandgrowth-infp4677]

I am scottish our ancestors were also taken away from their families and parents and beaten n abused the culture and gaelic language out of them. It was also beaten into them that they were the barbaric and wicked ones n as goes their culture ways and language.

[@katrabbit]

The irish were most definitely taken from their parents.

[@madelineschultz4968]

No, Irish children were never taken away from family under a strict legal policy. Ireland had no nationalized policy to remove children from their families. However, poor children could be removed from loving parents on the flimsiest of reasons. They were then trapped in a horrifying system of public institutions where they suffered abuse, inadequate food and medicine and often death. All the while without the protection and knowledge of their families.

[@MissSarahe]

As a soon to be teacher with native american ancestry my heart breaks for every single person that had to endure this. I cannot stop crying but I cant wait to incorporate lessons with native stories, art and traditions.

[@Vancouverpillmuncher666]

lol what was the other option? leave a segment of the population illiterate and unemployable? how do you teach people who haven't got a written language? Build thousands of school houses close to their homes and then try to find thousands of teachers to learn the local language, then develop a written form in order to teach? Unlike today there aren't thousands of midwit activists calling themselves teachers willing to go into the middle of nowhere to live and hopefully not get killed by the locals. Maybe you could teach them how it was the natives of Florida who were the last people in the US to own African slaves, and only freed them when threatened with the military, a full 2 years after the emancipation proclamation. They argued they had slavery before the white men, and were on their reserve. The US was having none of it. They then freed their slaves and then kicked them off the reserve. Same with the indigenous people in Canada, and New Zealand

[@user-fl1pc7zu7f]

as a teacher you should be aware that there are boarding schools to this day all over the world where children are sent as they were to these schools by the band and their parents, no police did not have time to attend to students who did not attend school, boarding schools around the world require that the student speak the language of the school ie. french, german, italian, japanese, chinese, etc. and wear the school uniform they also require that the students maintain hygiene and learn the ways of the country they are attending school in. Also be aware that the government had no intention of setting up schools to educate the people, why would they, they were forced to find away to educate the people because the chiefs insisted upon it, read the treaties.

[@RohanSingh-hy5ze]

Yes it’s true , but great prosperous nations are built over a homogeneous base . Diversity has always come in between material prosperity. That’s the unfortunate trade off. The Native Americans or the Aztecs or Hellenistic Greece prospered only because they were a homogeneous bunch . This is the unfortunate reality of human history, how many great cultures are liquidated by rival cultures for homogeneity. But in all this we forget the culture which expands , filling the space created by the liquidated culture also comes from human beings .

[@athensmajnoo3661]

​@@user-fl1pc7zu7f no parent sent their chil willingly to these boarding schools. Kids were forcefully taken away from their families . You are going by today's boarding schools, but those mentioned in the video are the ones established by paleskins wh illegally occupied the land of the indigenous, destroyed their culture, language, religion, way of life. Would you have been be happy if a strange looking foriegner wh dressed, spoke, behaved entirely differently from you snatched you away from your family and took you to a boarding school to teach you their strange language, customs, religion.....

[@koltoncrane3099]

Ya that’s true. The ruling kingdom sets up the culture even going back to the kingdom of Assyria forcing language and culture on others. It’s why the Bible has stories that are very close to Sumerian stories cause Jews lived as slaves in Babylon. Well that time they literally moved societies or groups or people around to different locations so they wouldn’t rebel as likely. But ya Rome destroyed completely the phonecians at Carthage destroying the place totally, killing most everyone and selling the rest off into slavery. They literally did horrible things to ensure they were the peak ruler. Kind of reminds me of the U.S. bombings of some civilian cities in Germany totally destroying some cities unnecessarily or Japan like destroying a China city killing like 200,000 people. There’s some good later examples of total destruction that weren’t necessary. The atomic bombs could be argued as not necessary but that perhaps was more necessary then some cities that were civilian cities totally destroyed. The other thing though is that the UK ruled before ww2 globally. Afterwards the U.S. did, but the cultural differences between the Uk and US isn’t very different since the U.S. derived from the UK.

[@alicemeyer307]

My father fought in ww2 and told us without the code talkers. We would have lost the war. Then last year my son did his school report on them. My son found it fascinating

[@OGDweeb]

It's true. They couldn't break the "code" because Navajo was largely unknown to the world and complex compared to European languages.

[@laurieberry162]

I would like to learn about Native American people and the Jewish Holocaust. Like the Native American soldiers. I know that there were African Americans who fought. Oppenheimer said let’s give Los Alamos back to the Native Americans.

[@josephinetracy1485]

@@laurieberry162 This comment isn't aging very well !! 😆

[@bellalim3806]

My great uncle fought in that war. Cherokee man and he too said the same thing.

[@frankorobinson1540]

There is no doubt there contributions helped in the war i am amazed they even agreed to help if they did ,after what the army had done to there people in the past they definitely contributed to and helped the effort as everyone did in those times it was a great effort which everyone played there part all men women all races that fought with America 🇺🇸 but the biggest scare to the Japanese was those bombs which they new they couldn't let anymore be dropped on there country if it weren't for the emperor the Japanese command would have had everyone fight till there was no more Japanese left.it is a horrible war that we turned away from until December 1941 then they got our response ,I would like to thank all our ancestors that fought for our freedom and sacrificed there lives so we could live generations in some ✌ peace unfortunately we have a long way to go before we can all live as one nation with one general belief that all men and women can live anyway they please believing in anything they want within the laws❤may that time come soon before we extinguish each other from the face of the earth. Peace to all .😊

[@clestemanning6357]

I AM OF THE LAKOTA DESCENDANTS AND THIS HURTS MY HEART TO WATCH EVENTHOUGH I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN OF SAID ATROCITIES. HOW MANY TRAILS OF TEARS MUST THE NATIVES WALK ? IT WILL NEVER END THIS I KNOW. MY HEART BREAKS BUT YOU WILL NEVER BREAK MY NATIVE SOUL. A'HO

[@tranquilladimoradelcuore3887]

It'll end instead...you have to believe it, please never give up! I'm so sad for all you went through, but the earth needs your ancient wisdom, don't lose your bright roots! You are wonderful people, don't forget that! I'm italian, sorry for my english not very good...

[@belindapoplin5439]

These are the one of several things that make me feel so ashamed to be American. It'll never be enough to say I'm so very sorry for the things your ancestors were made to endure at the hands of my ancestors. 😢 I feel especially sorry because this whole fiasco could've, and most certainly, should've been handled entirely differently.

[@rubytuesday7653]

🪶🔥🦅🦬Thank U.

[@LeeSeanSullivan]

Its Humans who do this it does not matter where they come from, find a country that has not been conquered by someone else, they were saying the Inca's killed and ate other tribes, when they looked into it everyone around the world was doing it.

[@thedesertwarrior7447]

My friend, never be ashamed of who you are. You are obviously a beautiful human being, and for that, please hold your head up high. You are a child of Earth and Sky. Walk with them. Honor them. The guilty ones are in their own darkness; created by THEIR evil. Stay beautiful, Belinda, for that is what your spirit is... Beautiful. ~An Apache Sister

[@thedesertwarrior7447]

​@@LeeSeanSullivanYou speak truth, my friend. I am Indigenous, and I can say that our ancestors are NOT totally innocent. To a great degree, our own division, and even in-tribe and intertribal betrayals aided in our defeat. Truth be told, not much has changed. Moreover, American politics are doing to Americans what they did, and are still doing to us. Consider what is called, "the American education system," and what THAT nightmare is doing to the minds of our young ones... Many blessings, my friend.

[@michelinaperfetto415]

Belindapoplin it also happened here in Canada,we are trying to make it right,it’s not easy,we can’t change the past,we can change the future for better,it’s a very sad history,😢😢😢

[@karenlasslett5731]

Ben Bonga went to Carlisle and went home to White Earth, got married and gathered his wife, mother and father and took them Lavonia, MI. He worked for GM and raised his children, retired and moved his family to the UP of Michigan, his real homeland. His youngest daughter, Patricia, married a wonderful man, Timothy Lasslett, who is Native, but does not know his tribe because his grandmother was adopted by white people and the Catholic adoption service obliterated her records. Patricia and Timothy had four children, one of whom I married. There has never been another husband in the history of the world that has been better. Be proud of your ancestors, some of them have walked through hell for you.

[@PBSUtah]

Thank you so much for sharing your words and also thank you for taking the time to watch this documentary.

[@diordiva]

what is sad is that I do not remember being taught about the trail of tears in school. I work at a facility for alcohol abuse and our clientele is Native American. I found out through them. That, is a disgrace but the important thing is..I know now. Great presentation!

[@truthmatters7805]

My sisters husband's mother was carried in a papoose by his grandmother on The Trail of Tears

[@aananimity]

School teaches us what they want us to know. We have to read & learn the truth to tell our children & grandchildren.

[@Myopinionmattersthemost]

I remember learning about the trail of tears never thinking it had to do with my family. Thanks to genealogy research I found out my family were creek cizens enslaved by a Creek land owner named Wat Grayson. They traveled the trail of tears to Oklahoma and were freed when the 1866 treaty between the US govt nation and Creek tribe was signed.

[@user-fl1pc7zu7f]

many people all over the world went through famine, forced marches, slavery,, etc but very few generations of today continue to use the past of their ancestors as an excuse for their chosen behavior today.

[@joewidmar9332]

It was taught you just didn’t put attention

[@javiersilcock4637]

I am a mixed African-American mix with Mexican and native American Choctaw and this truly makes me feel sad. Breaks my heart because I have two family members from my biological family that still live on the reservation today.

[@catmejia6109]

Blesssings to you, indigenous AA/mexican here as well….❤❤❤

[@javiersilcock4637]

Thank you for your support for native Americans. Thank you for your support for us. It really means a lot to us. Thank you so much.❤

[@user-fl1pc7zu7f]

what is wrong with reservation, many make very good money on reserve from working for farmers, renting out farm land, collecting royalties for oil reserves, working in maintaining the reserve or providing services.

[@user-fl1pc7zu7f]

@@javiersilcock4637 Blessings to all people not discriminating against any

[@achilles1373]

No you dont and you're not African unless if you were born there. Youre an American, but youre more than welcome to leave if you disagree.

[@cjbond66]

Haskell indian school kidnapped my mother she was an orphan her mother was murdered trying to escape an abusive white man who was my mother's father, my mother has taken her journey home but she left my brother's and sister's a legacy of compassion, strength never dwelling on her pain. Yes she talked about her experience in graphic detail showing us the physical wounds of enduring being whipped with a bull whip and hot rod iron burns on her back. My mother endured a great deal amd never allowed it to define her future she later met my father and they loved each other and carried each other for 5 decades until their death.damn these catholics to hell, there is nothing they can say to convince me they have a soul.

[@pamelapaulin550]

Over the history of humanity there's been hate. Race was a problem with not only others race ,but, their own. We've learned from barbaric actions.

[@englishwoman7697]

I dnt see how anyone can walk around with their head up and admit that they are catholic... They disgust me!!!

[@LilyZerep]

Bless her heart. I can only imagine what she and many other children went through at those horrible schools 😔 Thank you for sharing.

[@henrypadilla7763]

I totally agree very deeply sorry

[@thechiefwildhorse4651]

Alot of children died at Haskell Institute. People in Lawrence Kansas built KU ontop of Indigenous babies -COMANCHE NATION

[@terribohn7588]

My grandmother , aunt and uncle were all subject to this. My grandmother fared the best as she was the oldest. My uncle committed suicide as an adult and my aunt was traumatized by the experience as she was very young. Their mother died when my aunt was born. My grandmother was well educated and never spoke poorly about the nuns beyond that they were tough. But my aunt never said a kind word about them. I never heard my grandmother and aunt speak Creek until I was an adult and almost fell out of my chair. Had no idea they could still speak the language. My grandmother stayed very close to her tribe and was involved up to the end of her life at 93. She would be proud today of how far they have come.

[@isailevilopez5134]

No they were the ones subjecting others to this. Pocahontas Elizabeth warren

[@francestoddy4368]

My late mother (Navajo/Dineh) attend Phoenix Indian School. She never talked about her experience. I'd always wonder now that I am older if she had been traumatized (physically abuse, emotionally abuse or sexually abused). She passed away from alcoholism. Her grandmother from area now called Lupton, AZ near the AZ/NM border was born while returning from Bosque Redondo during the Long Walk in the 1860s. The generation trauma was so pervasive to my family, grandparents & their parents. Now, our children & grandchildren are still affected by it, colonialism.

[@petra6655]

Es tut mir sehr leid für Eure Familie. Deine Mutter war ganz bestimmt von der schrecklichen Brutalität in ihrer erzwungenen Internatzeit traumatisiert und ist darum in die Alkoholsucht geflüchtet. Es macht mich als Deutsche betroffen, daß die Greuel und Diskriminierungen an den unterdrückten Ureinwohnern der USA, Australien, Neuseeland und Afrika über Generationen hinweg immer noch stattfinden, aber kaum jemand darüber spricht. Es gibt traurigerweise auch keine Widergutmachungen für vergangene Verbrechen, Morde und Landraub. Ich wünsche Dir alles Gute für Deine Familie!

[@MHGTV-pd9yi]

sooo sad

[@catalinamargomyers9970]

💔😔🙏

[@kyleklukas4808]

Hello to my Dene cousins from the great white north .

[@user-yv9fq5ym9w]

Go yell at the Spanish and Mexicans too.

[@cocky633]

It’s awful what they went through. No child should be treated this way 😢

[@ensuniversalis]

No child or adult

[@lorigauthier8355]

We are still being oppressed today. I lived assimilated, in an urban center. I felt the need to return to my traditional territory. I don't live on reserve but only blocks away. I work for my band. Its nice walking into a store or doctors office and no one judges my brown skin. I am learning my language and traditions right along side my children. I now speak up for all the children in our community in government forums.

[@mayamachine]

resist, native not American... return the land to the rightfull people.

[@veronicaalvarez5040]

I’m from the city of Perris, in Riverside county, and I did not know this part of our history. This is why it’s is important to remember everyone’s history. Thank you 😊

[@SuzanneTatham-so1jj]

My step grandmother taught at the Phoenix Indian School. She was a stern woman. I have been there many times. We had Dine live in our home. Such a hard chapter to see, but it is necessary to hear these stories so we can make amends.

[@wahinewha1]

Bless us all that survived! Stolen Children still alive

[@renatacantore3684]

Thank you for this most important presentation about the Atrocities of psychological genocide that were inflicted upon The People of The First Nations / Native Americans. One of my Great - Great Grandmothers appeared to have been one of the children who was made to endure this experience. The only clue I have is that I was told that She had beautiful penmanship & handwriting which I believe indicates that she must have gone to one of these schools perhaps even Carlisle. Everything humanly possible must be done to restore & heal the psychological damage that has been done & passed down through the generations of Native People. I am so happy that President Obama made a Formal Apology to our Nations First People. I am Very happy to see that many tribal nations have taken the education of their Beautiful children into their own hands. It is in this way that they can prevent & end the generational trauma from continuing. I Wish for Peace, Love & Joy as well as Pride, Dignity & Respect to continue to spread to All Native People.♥️🌻💐🌹🌺♥️🙏🏽🌞🌈

[@ravennelson827]

Grown-up I see we as natives have drank from the same cup and are learning to deal with how our world is spinning . Blessings

[@manjram363]

This is the same as palestinas goes tru right now.

[@gigireyes143]

🤣@@manjram363

[@kyleklukas4808]

It's called genocide .. The other niceties mean nothing no such thing as cultural genocide . It's genocide period.

[@gretchenstormer6501]

The government was so wrong for doing that. Why can’t the United States government acknowledge to the First Nations people the wrong that was done their families? Other countries have acknowledged this to their people.

[@KAT-dg6el]

Yet the people running the boarding schools were Christians.

[@merricat3025]

I think Obama diddo an apology for the America gov for treatment of natives in our country.

[@RonJacksonToahani]

It took a Black President to apologize yet it was buried in a huge bill and was never publicly acknowledged.

[@OSIYO267]

Because they can't tie native American to Indian. There is only one race of people in the Americas that was tied to the term INDIAN back then, and it was not native American. To be a native American you just have to be born in America 🤷🏿‍♂️ that don't mean that you are indigenous to America. I'm sorry but I don't think you understand the definitions to these words...🤦🏿‍♂️

[@davidyancey8743]

I was told by my mother that I was Blackfoot. My father just tolerated myself and my brother. When I was 7 and my brother was 5 he decided that we were old enough to do many chores. We did these chores after school on weekends. If we didn't do them right, fast enough, or all of them, he would whip us with his belt. Not just 2 or 3 swats but until he got tired. He stopped whipping us when he whipped me and accidentally let go of the end of his Cowboy Ranger Belt and it hit me in the groin, bringing blood. My mother finally said that she had enough abuse and Divorced him. He moved to Glasgow, Montana and took us to keep from paying child support. When we were in his pick up and said something he didn't like, he would backhand us with his fist. He made one mistake . He didn't beat the Red out of my skin . Vietnam and Agent Orange did what he could not do . I want a Cleansing Ceremony to sweat it out of my skin and my Mind. I WISH TO BE REPATRIATED WITH MY RELATIVES . I sick of these people !!!

[@rubytuesday7653]

I'm sorry this happened to you.....🪶

[@debbielance68]

My mom was halt Blackfoot so I'm a quarter S he and my brother looked different than me complexion wise . I want to learn more about my Blackfoot history.

[@KAT-dg6el]

He treated you the way he had been treated. I am from Western Montana. Same things in this video happened to the families and children by the catholic church in Saint Ignatius. The St. Ignatius Mission school was one of 17 American Indian boarding schools in Montana listed by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. The schools were funded by the federal government, but mostly run by churches, part of an overt U.S. government effort to strip Indigenous people of their culture and language and assimilate them into white culture. Many students were subject to *severe punishments, starvation, neglect and sexual abuse as they were denied the use of their own language, culture, and families.* Often, children were shipped to far away schools or adopted out and raised away from their families and culture. Some are still trying to find their way back. Catholics🤬 I am white, but whenever I hear other white people complaining about the Native Americans and their drugs, alcohol, raping, and violence… hum they’re just repeating what they were taught.

[@damnnative3188]

@@debbielance68 Indigenous people cannot be reduced to simple fractions. That is not the way of our ancestors. That way of thinking was forced upon us by Europeans with the purpose of diminishing our identity and connection to the land. If you are Blackfoot, you are 100% Blackfoot.

[@chosen757]

The Blackfoot were black.Esau is the only nation thats Red and the most high hates him according to scripture.

[@juanesteban8827]

I went to one of the best traditional boarding schools in the United States - it was less than an hour from the "Carlisle Indian School" . From there I got a double major in college and then went on to graduate school. I was almost 40 years old when I first heard the term "Residential School"and learned of the sick history associated with these facilities. My niece is in the 4th grade and she has already learned about the Nazi Holocaust in Europe but when you ask the schools if their teaching about residential schools and the plight of First Nation People they look at you like you're communist sympathizer. It's time for the schools to teach real American history because it's our story

[@patantoine6819]

That is really crappy and hypocritical!

[@claudiablanco6518]

They are still trying to justify the crimes by silencing anyone who brings it up.

[@maryl8753]

Time aksi fir tge US citizenry to see how all their politicians are bought in order to support a genocidal foreign policy

[@SuzanneTatham-so1jj]

Our darkest chapter. I feel shame for the wrongs of my ancestors. It was genocide.

[@patriot4life262]

@Suzanne Tatham-so 1 jj NO

[@Joyeuxjoie]

May the Lord heal us.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

@@Joyeuxjoie May your lord never forgive Genocide.

[@mayamachine]

we're still here. return the land to the rightfull people. theft conveys no ownership

[@StarrSky]

@@Joyeuxjoiewe didn’t have the Bible before the colonists came and brought it over. How can I trust it when it’s not apart of my people’s religion or culture? How can your god allow such a terrible things to happen? I don’t believe in your god and that’s okay. I have my own religion and I’m a good person. I’ll continue to follow the corn pollen path. You continue to follow yours.

[@aqivgaqm5025]

My father was one of those generations sent to boarding schools in Alaska.

[@Mathilda5xp]

Of course, you are bright humans. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you are not bright! You are skilled in everything! Just imagine what would have happened during world war 2, if the Americans could not use your language as a communication code. Always feel proud of who you are! God created all of us for a reason. We speak different languages for a reason! Kia ora. Blessings and so much love from Aotearoa.

[@Thankful_.]

❤

[@javiersilcock4637]

I’m proud to be an Native American Choctaw by 41%. I’m proud to be African-American by 41%. I’m also proud to be Mexican by 7% and I can truly say we are natives and even though we were given a bad deal we still made it strong, but we still suffer with what our ancestors went through. I am proud to be 41% Native American in Choctaw thank you but we will never forget where our sisters came from

[@asangamanoj]

Could you admit that some of those same God-fearing people did those things

[@athensmajnoo3661]

​@@asangamanojthey aren't God fearing, they were cruel, selfish, arrogant, greedy paleskins 😡

[@christinaca4681]

My mom was a boarding school survivor and she has a apology letter from the queen

[@PBSUtah]

Thank you for sharing.

[@Vancouverpillmuncher666]

some intern wrote that

[@kreiner1]

My son has been told to go home. I told him that next time someone is that rude, let them know that this has been your for for over 10,000 years.

[@remaeburney832]

My dad told me that in his day, it was better to check "black" so that things would go better for you. I was never taught about my Native American Heritage. I did not know that i was half Native until i was a grown woman. Tuscarora from the CapeFear River. Before white Europeans pushed my ancestors into Lake Waccamaw, NC. They were the ones that were not killed off.

[@deeppurple883]

Watching and listening to this I get killing mad. It brings up so much hate against the people involved even though their long dead. When children are hurt it sends me to a place of hate inside. I feel their pain even now. I'm Irish I understand some of their feelings thats why I have empathy. I'm sad listening to their stories. ✌️☘️

[@sequoiasunnieredwing7777]

This documentary taught me so much!

[@juicyjules7409]

Discriminate like Mexicans n blacks americans

[@mrsseasea]

My grandpa born 1894 was taken for boarding school, he attended up to 3rd grade, but was in WW1 lived to 97 and was a great man. Sacquilty. I will forever remember his teachings.

[@antoniom4016]

Words can not describe the horror that Native Americans suffered in their own land. The United States government owes a lot to the native. I love & enjoy watching the history of different cultures, especially the Native culture. I wish all peace, health & prosperity 🙏🏾

[@Lisa-tt9hm]

My grandmother told me about this. It wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things.

[@JDoe-gf5oz]

In the lifetime of a human it was a long time ago.

[@PBSUtah]

Thank you for asking. It is not currently available without background music.

[@kathymurray5946]

A very shameful part of history. Same thing in Australia.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

How is this shameful when this has been done all over the world? What is shameful history? What is history without the dark pieces? Are we to forever feel shame for things we did not do ourselves? Are we to wipe our white kids ?

[@josephinetracy1485]

If that's true, then how comes these people never saw a single speck of White technology, or a single strand of White DNA that they didn't like? If what you're saying is true, then they should refuse to use any White invention in protest! They would have to go back to living in poles with animals skins for walls and dirt floors, and 1 in 4 children might survive. The Aborigines... naked eating bugs.... maybe you should try that for a week! Homo Erectus.

[@elwin38]

I remember when i was in Sydney in 1987 and i saw a lot of Aborigines in Kings Cross homeless and on the streets.

[@tandiparent1906]

😢It's the same on every continent & in every country that the Spanish & Europeans took over.

[@user-fl1pc7zu7f]

and in Africa and in many parts of the world, it is part of the past and not to be used as an excuse for the chosen behaviors of today

[@zackabee5498]

I was born in Iraq and was raised here in the us. I had few native Americans friends in college and at work I really liked them. 2004 in college they saw how I was getting discriminated against. they we know how you feel but we can’t say anything.

[@josephinetracy1485]

Your actions don't match the discrimination. For example, why didn't you immigrate to Madagascar? There would have been less discrimination or bigotry there. I guess they weren't up to your standards or where too dark skinned for you to live with. Same with Native Americans, who never saw a single speck of white technology or a single strand of white dna that they didn't like. They just threw themselves at white men for 500 years. Also, Arab Muslims eliminated culture after culture across the globe for 1,400 years. I guess you think that this doesn't count. What was wrong with Madagascar anyway? Did your family even consider that country? Maybe you and your Native American brothers can do a real protest, and stop using computers, cell phones, automobiles, etc. Protest those inventions of the bigots.

[@njandrews4105]

@@josephinetracy1485 you sound like a crazy person

[@Platero505]

I entered US gov't boarding school at 6 yo. Crownpoint NM (1971-1980) Navajo. My spirituality went on a roller coaster of churches. Christian preachers picked us up on weekends by the bus load like clock work. It gave us time away from the school. One week I might be Catholic, next Baptist, then Pentacostal, Presbyterian, Mormon, Lutheran, etc. Brain washed with religious hope of a same God. I learn the hates, fears, damnation of the soul, killings, and more control again. I have no real spiritual connection to anything or one source. Native practice forbidden, Im an outsider to my own tribe. The Ke' Clanship but a mockery of our ways. Traditions die generation after generation. Only the few cling to the stories, chants, blessings, and knowledge.

[@petra6655]

Und wenn Du Kontakt zur Natur aufnimmst? Ich habe als kleines Kind 5 Jahre in einem katholischen Heim verbracht und bin mit 6 Jahren von evangelischen Adoptiveltern angenommen worden. Mit 16 bin ich abgehauen und habe 3 Jahre als Straßenkind gelebt. Mit 18 und 19 Jahren habe ich oft alleine im Wald geschlafen. Das gab mir Kraft und den Mut, von Drogen wegzukommen. Ich glaube nicht an Gott, aber an die Kraft der Natur.🌳

[@GaryEllington-dy8li]

I am happy to hear that education is being placed in native American hands.

[@pamelablessing1571]

No smiles, my elders my family has a heavy heart. Chumash represent! My mother now 93 living, has stories, my grandmother told us, my great great grandmother spoke of etc. I have heard of the Genocide.

[@charlesmoore4244]

This is brutality of the government in Washington and the worst part it has not changed even today. It practices its brutality in other countries now!

[@Faustimfelix]

Blessings 🙏🏾❤🙏🏾 My first instinct was, let's remove the headstones from these enforcers grave, remove all history of their existence. As a little boy I loved the heart and loyalty of Native Americans. Europeans came to America, they were feed, healed and cared for, then turn around killing the same people who saved your lives. To this year 2023 they continue to be pushed away from their land, especially if they find wealth on the land. Bless❤

[@Vancouverpillmuncher666]

lol what planet are you on? What heart and loyalty? they enslaved each other and tortured each other and slaughtered each other for thousands of years before we enlightened them

[@user-pl6mj7cj6n]

Дявол в човешки образ си ти,който говориш лошо за коренните.

[@achilles1373]

Youre an absolute fool lol. Speaking of Europeans... they were the first slaves. Slavic ppl enslaved by moors for 700 years. Salvs... salves. Where do you think we learned it from. Now run along and quit pretending that history starts when your little feelings do.

[@gailfox1026]

I HEAR YOU. I LOVE YOU. I RESPECT YOU.🙏❤️🦊

[@daveretiredbkk4701]

These horrific schools were very common in countries with Indigenous communities. residential schools were common in over 30 of the 90 countries with Indigenous communities. Countries such as Mexico, India, Brazil, China, and Russia all had residential schools but the indigenous were never given any compensation. The top countries who gave compensation to the indigenous people were Canada $5 billion, Australia $3 Billion, USA $1 Billion, New Zealand $1 Billion

[@Lana-pf5ce]

No amount of money can compensate for the loss of culture and knowledge that came with genocide

[@daveretiredbkk4701]

@@Lana-pf5ce Yes, but Canada has tried harder than any other country to help mend the wounds of history. There is no evidence to support an attempt at Genocide like Iran or Turkey did. Building schools for the assimilation of the indigenous people was simply what every country was doing at the time. The difference is, that Canada has acknowledged the wrongdoings and paid $5 billion vs. other countries paying zero.

[@daveretiredbkk4701]

@@Lana-pf5ce Countries that commit genocide like Iran and Turkey don’t build 130 schools and hire teachers. Canada was wrong to try assimilating just like Mexico, Russia, India, Brazil and many others at the time. 10% of students at these horrific schools were White. They too have horrible stories from the abuse they also suffered

[@MsSavageKat]

Oh boy, that was tough to watch. Beautiful documentary.

[@leanneadams2549]

And it’s still happening ! With the fires in Maui. Greed knows no limits.

[@danieladavis6594]

Thank you for showing and telling us about all this.. Sad❤

[@PBSUtah]

You are very welcome.

[@debramcmurl9559]

It is so sad to hear about how your life was done God created us all as equal praying for you all !

[@KAT-dg6el]

Well apparently your god doesn’t care what goes on around here.

[@jame2182]

AMISH HAVE THEIR OWN SCHOOLS BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THEY SENT THEIR OWN CHILDREN TO GOVERNMENT

[@ivyrose779]

You say that like there was always a choice.

[@cynthiadrolshagen4144]

God Bless our Native Americans. My heart is breaking watching this video. As a believer in reincarnation, I feel I have lived during this era. And I am ashamed. My tears speak to me without words. We need to pay more attention to this story.

[@dawnhill539]

😅when I found out about this It broke my heart. The atrocities never end

[@flynn4838]

ask them who genocided the Huron.

[@sarajreiser]

Iike they say.. if you are proud of your country then you didn’t learn history.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

@sarajreiser You can learn about your countries history and be proud ofnit at the sametime , honey. I'm very proud of my nations history despite is dark parts. That's history for you and I love history and my ancestors to boot.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

@sarajreiser Never, ever tell anyone that they shouldn't be proud of their country's history. Without history we would not exist. Without Colonialism you would not exist.

[@patantoine6819]

Indigenous people existed way before colonialism. They did not need to be exploited, abused and traumatized in order to still exist. That comment is so arrogant! We just needed to be left alone and we would have been just fine. The European invaders need to go back where they came from. 😢😮

[@carolharquail9131]

It's like no one is allowed to talk about the church, in Canada we had to take them to court to be able to speak the truth of what they did to our children. ,😢

[@shari9721]

Look at all the children who have been sexually abused and raped by members of the church and it continues to this day . Look at all the child molesters they protected and hid and moved constantly giving them new victims and it continues to this day . They refuse to give up their names . They are literally ALLOWED to sexually abused children and protect child molesters . It is absolutely sickening . SMDH

[@Vancouverpillmuncher666]

gave them free education and a ticket out of the stone age?

[@athensmajnoo3661]

​@@Vancouverpillmuncher666which they never wanted, never asked for, Who the hell was the paleskins to kidnap native kids? How would you feeel if someone kidnapped your child in the pretext of excellent free education?

[@vytautaskrasnickasonenuoty9369]

I am so proud and honoured to be able to meet indigenous people of America, which I was encountering all my way on hich-hiking trip around USA twice. I am more than sure that the most deepest hearted people are native Americans, God bless You and may all your Spirits go in peace and harmony forever

[@SuzanneTatham-so1jj]

Our healing from this starts with the truth being told fully. Ty for this program

[@PBSUtah]

You're very welcome, Suzanne. Creating trusted educational content is part of our mission here at PBS Utah!

[@sgerianda]

I know this sounds naive, but howcome that assimilation never goes in the opposite direction....if only it had...how much ancient knowledge we could have acquired... 😢❤😢

[@violetbennett2407]

This is so sad.

[@lobodurango2754]

Everytime someone asks me how much Navajo am I? I usually tell them that I'm part Chihuahua and part Rez Dog. Because blood quantum to me is nothing more than a pedigree to identify myself as K9s and Horses. My ancestors were treated like Dogs. I'm not going to live my life as one. "Aheehee"

[@isailevilopez5134]

Okay Elizabeth Warren calm down. We get it you’re NAtiVE AmERIcan and the facts don’t back up your story. So best to avoid these tests. 🥶

[@evasinclair4294]

I wasn't going to comment on these schools. I am a Cree from Canada. My parents and grandparents had all survived the schools but with so much trauma that has been passed down. Our schools use to have names the same as yours. They have been changed and any street named after these early settlers are being changed to accepted names. ( usually after one of our relayions).

[@javiersilcock4637]

It’s so sad to see what they did to our native American ancestors. I Imports African-American part Native American and part Mexican. My Native American tribe is a Choctaw. It’s makes me sad.😢😢😢

[@markjohnson5307]

My mother attended the Tonawanda Mission School in NY State in the 1940's and 1950's before she transitioned to a regular high school. My mother never discussed her boarding school experiences, but her life began again when she meet Lexis and married my dad. Mom had academic difficulties until she meet a white friend named Lexis who helped tutor her in English and Math. She was the first real friend my mother had. Lexis helped my mother with Physics, and my mother discovered that she was good at math. My mother graduated from high school in 1963. Lexis helped match my mom and dad together who married in 1965. Mom served as an accountant. My mother always told from age 5 that I would graduate from college. I earned my master's degree in 2020. My dad, and I always admired my mother's quiet strength and ability to love others unconditionally.. . RIP Mom.

[@PBSUtah]

@markjohnson5307 Your mom sounds amazing and also had a very good friend and mentor with Lexis. Thank you for sharing this part of your families history and your admiration for your mother:).

[@Emy53]

This was terribly tragic and such an injustice to a race of people. American history is as horrific as any other country and they have the nerve to judge other countries on human rights. Maybe a lot has changed along thecway but i still see it at one level or another. First we take their land then we try to eliminate they even existed. We call ourselves human...but tgat doesn't nean humans are humane. I do recognize that it was our leaders and "their" way of thinking but mostly their fears and lack of understanding and acceptance of another people, another race, another human being.

[@josephinetracy1485]

If that's true, then why did Native women just throw themselves at White men! I would think that would be the ultimate humiliation.... to shack up with the men who were genociding their people.... and they did it shamelessly by the tens of millions. How come nobody can explain that?

[@petra6655]

Ja, so ist es leider überall in den ehemaligen Kolonialländern. Viele Nachfahren der deportierten Strafgefangenen und der Siedler in die Kolonialländer USA, Kanada, Südamerika, Australien, Neuseeland und Afrika spielen sich weiterhin wie die weiße Herrenrasse auf und misshandeln, diskriminieren die Ureinwohner weiterhin und nehmen ihnen noch mehr Land für Bodenschätze weg! Traurig ist das.

[@pchris6662]

American Indians are a unique and precious resource. Some would argue that when cultures clash it inevitably brings injustices and tragedies. In this case the most agregious things were the deliberate attempts to erase all traces of American Indians and stamp out their legacy. Through the trials and suffering though, they have stood tall and are right here in spite of everything. I think the best we can do is listen to the voices and preserve their stories and live up to the promise of freedom and liberty we were founded on. Our country has not always lived up to that promise. But that doesn’t mean we give up on her nor does it mean we stop trying. Just look at the wide range of experiences being told here. Some kids run away and others look back with fondness. We only owe our people one thing, and it’s not apologies or speeches, we only owe it to our kids to wake up tomorrow and keep trying to make it better. Comfort the crying child, wipe the tears, and give them a loving shove to get back out there and try again because they are our most precious resource and they can surpass all of us if we nurture them properly.

[@kyleklukas4808]

I can tell you're not from Canada. Our wars are not over and canadians hate us and think of us as rats to be exterminated .

[@donnaterrell9545]

My great great gandfather was a cherokee chief and I'm very proud of my hereitage. Thomas Jefferson is the so called president that done all of this he was responsible for the trail of tears how proud are you of him . Me i hope hes burning in hell along with Custer he deserved what he got .

[@petra6655]

Ja!

[@patantoine6819]

Pres. Andrew Johnson

[@Lily-fr9jt]

God bless you. This needs to be in public schools history class. 💕

[@jame2182]

PARENTS DON'T SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SCHOOLS. teach them yourself with family and friends but NO MORE STRANGERS. every single teacher is a stranger and not "FRIEND"

[@rubytuesday7653]

I'm a surviver . I have CpTSD. I suffer everyday.

[@anglophils645]

Ruby, Survivor is spelled with an O, not an E. If you're going to complain about it, at least learn how to spell it.

[@tranquilladimoradelcuore3887]

​@@anglophils645shameful comment...respect the pain of others!

[@tranquilladimoradelcuore3887]

​@@rubytuesday7653I'm so sorry for all you went through. Strength and courage! 💪💪

[@rubytuesday7653]

@@tranquilladimoradelcuore3887 🦬🔥🦬Thank you, for your kindness.

[@Emy53]

Breaks my heart

[@marieandresen4060]

Very informative article! Thank you for making this viewable,since I can’t afford PBS & I love to delve into Indigenous/FirstNation history! ❤

[@escherichanja8522]

Been working on a garden. Millions of years of intelligence past down through nature. We have our ancestors knowledge in us. Our spirituality gives us strength to conquer ourself through the outside challenges. Because that´s what life is full of. So I offer this sees to you of positive energy. We all are in a garden and like this garden our minds will grow what you plant in them. Exactly what you plant. So please plant positive love in others hearts and minds. Yakoke. Hatuk Hill

[@claradavis5911]

Indigenous people as you like to be call these, SOME of us Americans are going to always remember you as Native American a great nation who not only have a History like other nations, but who have fought and die to HELP keep this nation free, and I just want to say THANK YOU!!!!! and if you CAN please continue to help keep it preserved for your people and this great nation of Americans. Etc. Godbless ❤ 😊hallelujah

[@mayamachine]

we're still here. return the land to the rightfull people. theft conveys no ownership. Native not American...

[@louisedoolitttle6842]

I, a white woman, would like to apologize to all the Native Americans, who have suffered and died because of a group of people who felt superior to all other races. I wish that we, as humans, could see the beauty in other races, their cultures, and that we could learn from each. Watching this, my heart broke for your people. I see you as my equal. I being white makes me superior to NO race.

[@kimberlyhendricks6388]

It's not your fault...and I as an black woman am sorry for the wrongs done to the Native Americans as well. I wish we could all love each other we all have so much to contribute to this experience call life.

[@louisedoolitttle6842]

Your people have a horrible history with the whites, also. Just like the Native Americans, that history still has an impact on your lives today. For this, I am so very sorry. Sending hugs to all those who are suffering.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

Why shoukd you apologize when they continue to hate white people? You should be proud of your ancestors and not apologize just because people tell you to do your history or race.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

Natove American have not apologized for killing or kidnapping women or children or other Narive Americans un war and Discord.

[@lovejoy2438]

No race is superior to any race we all are same we all get hungry, thirsty and do what other do and thinks just like others thinks plus I wish back in the day people could have more power and voice like today everyone has to fight back.

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

The learning of today is tomorrow's knowledge.🦉

[@MovinOn2222]

So awful that they went through all that!!! I saw that happen to foreigners who come to America. They wanted them to give up customs and language and relations.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

That's the whole point of assimilation. You do not nessary have to give up everything but in oder to live in a different country you do need to assimilate to survive.

[@shari9721]

@@brittanyhayes1043 Europeans are the ones who came to live in a different country . NO ONE other than the Indigenous had their crying children ripped from their Mother's arms and kidnapped , stolen from their families , communities and tribes , their hair chopped off , their clothes ripped off , were brutally beaten and abused as their entire identity , language , beliefs , culture , traditions was stripped away and FORCED to "act white" in order to survive . That is genocide . There were German neighborhoods , Italian neighborhoods , Irish neighborhoods , Chinese neighborhoods , Jewish neighborhoods etc all across the country where they all freely spoke their languages , celebrated their traditions , practiced their faith , wore their traditional clothing etc . Guess what ? They all survived and thrived, and continue to do so . SMDH

[@brittanyhayes1043]

@@shari9721 Okay 👍🏻 👌🏻

[@brittanyhayes1043]

@@shari9721 Europeans are those ones who made the United States. Native American didn't.

[@brittanyhayes1043]

@shari9721 Shari, do you live in the United States?

[@aaronbrigham4743]

I just want to say I am profoundly sorry to you Native Americans. This is your land and I'm profoundly sorry that things went wrong and I know my four founding fathers tried to help you guys but I just want to say thank you and I apologize from the bottom of my heart for what has happened to your people seriously. I support you 110% I am just professionally sorry for what you went through you are my role model in my life really. I pray for you every day because I'm old fashioned I love the tribes I've learned the Viking tribes and the wampanoag Cape cod Massachusetts Just want to say thank you for the history and I am again profoundly sorry. 🇺🇸🇦🇸🙏⚜️✝️🇮🇱🇺🇸⚜️

[@englishwoman7697]

I agree with this 100% I am so sorry.....I have listened to a lot of videos of idigenous of Canada.....it is painful to listen to but I do it so I can know

[@GaryEllington-dy8li]

I grew up in Riverton Wyoming & had both Shoshone & Arapahoe friends 😊& I can tell you that if you have a Native American as a friend, you will have a friend for life 😊.

[@donnaterrell9545]

They treated those children so bad . It should never of happen

[@fungi42021]

it was purposely made horrible

[@everydaydadfixinit4803]

I could not agree more than the message of embracing One's culture...so important. And those from outside of that culture...respect the uniqueness and respect those differences.....To THIS is the face of Humanity

[@amandahelmboldt4347]

I live in a small town in Michigan. It has a long history of native Americans. They too, sadly had boarding schools here. In fact, the tribe voted to keep a few of the decaying buildings as a reminder to the newer generations. Almost like their Auschwitz. It’s a sad but much needs to be told/remembered history.

[@nicholaskallenborn9059]

Not almost

[@michellewaterhouse7373]

HUGE impact ! I can't trace my lineage on my grandmother's side. She was Nez Perce and tracing her family is near impossible.

[@myrnaeberhardt4993]

I’m so sorry.

[@kalicokathy1944]

I had a Native American lady as a very close friend. She had 6 brothers and sisters they lived in Northern Wisconsin. Each child was put in boarding schools,each child was sent to a different State,she was sent to Kansas. Their treatment was terrible at the boarding schools.

[@PBSUtah]

I'm sorry to hear about their experience of being separated. That must have been very, very hard.

[@margaritaochoa8a]

This is so sad. My heart is wrenching for the children that had to endure all the atrocities that they suffered

[@catalinamargomyers9970]

I will never understand the profit in changing another to suit the one that believes their ways are superior. This has happened to many not of the "caucasian" Klan. Humans can be very narrow minded in believing only one human flavor is superior to all. The Creator of all loved the beauty in variety. That is why we are all beautiful.

[@patriciayomes8800]

I read about Indian code talkers during WW1! They are really smart!

[@devotednstill57]

Happy to see this here! We are now hearing so much about chattle slavery and the black struggle but not so much the Latino & Native American experience

[@user-iv7ve4ry8x]

This was both heartbreaking and encouraging.

[@bradleyhulen768]

❤by the grace of God may our people and culture survive

[@Afc91artistNC]

The Native American Indians were to assimilate but were exclusively excluded. IT EFFECTED EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY. My grandparents said we couldn't hate. Everyone talked Cheyenne at home.

[@mayamachine]

native not American.. it's still our land. theft conveys no ownership

[@Bones575]

It's heartbreaking to hear these stories. I'm so sorry that this happened to Native Americans.😢

[@sparky951]

I like that this film was made but I'm sad for all those souls affected. My heart has always gone out for the trauma native Americans endured.

[@SteampunkGroove_John3.16]

MY FOREFATHER WAS RAIN-IN-THE-FACE {ITE NAGAJU / ITENAGAJU}, I WAS RAISED BY MY WHITE MOTHER`S PEOPLE {WHO I NEVER LIKED}, AND I SUPPORT THE SOUTHERN WALL BETWEEN "USA" {WHICH IS SO NOT UNITED IN MUCH} AND MEXICO ... AND I HAVE THIS QUESTION FOR YOU........ IF EVERYONE WHO HAS NEVER BEEN INDIGENOUS AMERICAN / NDN / NATIVE SUDDENLY LEFT "USA" AND STOPPED ENTERING, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE INDIGENOUS AMERICANS / NDNZ / NATIVES? IF THE ANSWER IS> WE`D FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO ALL THAT THE OTHERS DID SO THAT WE COULD MAKE THE CURRENT SYSTEMS WORK ONLY FOR US, MY NEXT QUESTION IS> THEN WHY STAY ON THE REZ - WHY NOT GET OUT THERE NOW AND WORK WITH THE NONNATIVES? IF THE ANSWER IS> WE HAVE NO IDEA, THEN MY NEXT QUESTION IS> WHY HAVEN`T THE "OLD WAYS" BEEN PRACTICED ON REZ LAND, IN ORDER TO CREATE THE LIFE THAT SO MANY HAVE BEEN MOURNING THE DEATH OF? MAYBE IT`S MY "ITENAGAJU BLOOD", BUT I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FIGHTER {WHICH MY WHITE MOTHER`S FAMILY CALLS "REBELLIOUS"} AND I HAVE BEEN CALLED A "SURVIVOR" BY MANY PEOPLE AFTER THEY HEAR SOME OF THE STORIES OF MY LIFE. I`VE SUFFERED, BUT I KEEP GOING IN MY FREEDOM ... LIKE A WILD HORSE.

[@blackdiamond306]

History shows that everything that they done to other people they would not subjected to them selves so they knew what they were doing was inhumane and morally wrong

[@denisethorbjornsen7493]

If the government would do what they promised to give the native Americans what they need and not keep taking away from them and to see them as representatives in the Congress and the Senate that would be fair

[@spanishrose213]

I'm speechless 😢

[@janaprocella8268]

Respect has. Greatly. Improved. .!! Love my. Kin.!!+++++!! My brothers and sisters I pray for all your endeavors

[@markminton8974]

Have a Good Friend that is Navajo,, and my Grandma was part Cherokee too..

[@daisyduke8656]

I am related to Crazy Horse and Geronimo.

[@KAT-dg6el]

Are you sure? Stories handed down can be wrong. That was proven when my ex did his dna. He found out he didn’t have as much native Am as he thought he did.

[@cherylstewart8611]

❤ this documentary.

[@user-fo2uh4rm5c]

This part of history must be remembered .

[@kyleklukas4808]

My grandmother was in Canadian residential school. Way worse than what went on down south. Took her from her family , sent her hundreds of miles away from her home . Gone for ten years , never seeing her family again .

[@iakadayrneh]

All were the worst schools.

[@kyleklukas4808]

@@iakadayrneh yes terrible today it's called genocide .

[@tandiparent1906]

That's the same things that happened at all residential schools😢no matter where the school was located.

[@lolasvow3732]

I learned about this when I started researching my family history. Sad sad sad. Although my grandmother was Blackfoot I learned about this on the Hopi reservation in Arizona

[@user-wx9je5jl4x]

..🎀🎄🎀..🙋🌌.... HOPI*ARIZONA*🇺🇲 *Francis Sakeva* I think it's a good idea for the house 🏠🙏🏽*🦅🦅🦅🦅....📿*🌺🌺*🧸🧸🧸*🥀🥀🥀🥀*🤐............. 🎅🏽....9:27 PM....

[@escherichanja8522]

While watching into the stars I realized my heart is going for a big journey. When I saw you, it suddenly flew away and I wasn´t able to stop it. It was jumping and felt as happy as it never feel again. In my head there is only you and at night I´m dreaming of you. If you watch that star above he will say you good night. In his mind he hopes you love me too. Hatuk Hill.

[@shericontrary2535]

Is this available without background music