President Biden apologized Friday for Native American boarding schools that were part of U.S. policy for 150 years and stripped children away from their tribes and culture.
“The federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened, until today. I formally apologize as president of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize,” Biden said in remarks at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona.
“I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologize to the Native people,” the president added. “It’s long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there’s no excuse this apology took 50 years to make.”
Biden made history becoming the first president to apologize for the tragedy, doing so at his first diplomatic visit to a tribal nation in his four-year term.
Native American boarding schools were in use between 1819 and 1969, sending tens of thousands of Native children to schools run in collaboration between the government and some churches.
An investigation by the Department of the Interior found almost 1,000 children died at the schools, and many more were physically or sexually abused.
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