Sam Cabral
American journalist

Image source, Reuters

In about 20 minutes, President Joe Biden issue an official presidential apology to Native Americans for the role of the U.S. government in managing boarding schools.

From the early 1800s to the 1960s, thousands of Native children were taken from their families and homes and sent to boarding schools aimed at erasing their cultural heritage and assimilating them into white American culture.

There are more than 500 such schools, funded by the government and often run by churches.

Biden will speak at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, during his first visit to a Native reservation as president.

“I never imagined in a million years that something like this would happen,” Deb Haaland, Biden’s Interior secretary and the first Indigenous cabinet member in history, told the Associated Press on Thursday. of the United States.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a big deal for all of Indian Country.”

An investigation launched by Haaland found that at least 18,000 American Indian and Alaska Native children were taken from their parents in the 19th and 20th centuries. Nearly 1,000 deaths have been recorded, although this figure is estimated to be much higher.