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| Boarding School Tribunal 2014 by Brenda Norrell |
Article and photos by Brenda Norrell
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, NAIS
French translation by Christine Prat
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin -- The Truth Commissioners of the Indigenous Peoples Boarding School Tribunal held here in October have released the findings and recommendations, following three days of testimony by those who survived abuse and torture in Indian boarding schools in the US and Canada.
The abuse included kidnapping children from their homes and ripping away their language, culture and traditional religion. These boarding schools created generations of trauma for Native families. The exact number of Native children raped and murdered in these boarding schools is not known.
The abuse included kidnapping children from their homes and ripping away their language, culture and traditional religion. These boarding schools created generations of trauma for Native families. The exact number of Native children raped and murdered in these boarding schools is not known.
The Commissioners findings stated that the US government should implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the US. Further, it was found that the US government should acknowledge the human rights violations, which occurred through the boarding schools established by the US government.
The US government should work for a new International Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, collaborating with the Indigenous communities across the US and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Commissioners said.
The Commissioners recommended consultative status between the Indigenous communities and the US government. It was also recommended that the Convention on the Rights of the Child be ratified by sovereign, Indigenous nations throughout the United States.
The Commissioners recommended consultative status between the Indigenous communities and the US government. It was also recommended that the Convention on the Rights of the Child be ratified by sovereign, Indigenous nations throughout the United States.
The commissioners recommended that young people, youths to 25 year-olds, be involved in the process of truth-telling and remembrance. Elders were encouraged to not only share their boarding school experiences, but also their stories of resilience, courage, and drive to overcome the challenges they faced.
It was also recommended that a memorial date be set to honor and pay tribute to those individuals who were a part of the boarding schools and who faced discrimination, violence, and even death.
The findings include the need to publish a joint testimony including the stories from all Indigenous tribes in the US about the impact of boarding schools on their human rights.
Truth Commission Members were Fasoha (Maldives) , Aneeta Aahooja (Pakistan), Abalo Assih (Togo), Shiran Gooneratne (Sri Lanka), Athar Waheed (Pakistan), Kristi Rudelius-Palmer (University of Minnesota Human Rights Center.) It was organized by the Blue Skies Foundation. Live coverage was provided by Censored News, with livestream and video archives by Govinda at Earthcycles.
The complete statement is below:
BOARDING SCHOOLS TRIBUNAL
Truth Commissioners’ Summary Statement
We have found that the incidences testified to during the Indigenous Peoples’ Boarding Schools Tribunal held on October 22-24, 2014 violated, inter alia, the following articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC):