At least 3,100 Native Americans died at boarding schools.

(CLO) According to a Washington Post report on Sunday (December 22), the number of deaths in Native American boarding schools may be three times higher than official statistics.

From 1819 to the 1970s, hundreds of boarding schools for Native Americans were established across the United States, with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous children into the culture of European settlers, including forcing them to convert to Christianity.

An investigation by the Post found that 3,104 Indigenous students died in schools between 1828 and 1970, three times the number released by the government .

Teachers and students pose for a photo at Tunesassa School in Tunesassa, New York. Photo: Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College

In October 2024, Joe Biden issued a historic apology to Native American communities for one of the "most horrific chapters" in American history, when Native American children were separated from their families and abused in boarding schools.

An investigation by the Post has exposed a heartbreaking truth: these children were not given a proper burial. Their bodies were interred in cemeteries near their schools, separated from the loving embrace of their families and tribes.

Determining the exact number of children who died in schools, which were once described as "prison camps," is extremely difficult due to incomplete records and the passage of time.

While some cemeteries are clearly marked, many others are neglected, concealed, or even built upon, according to an investigation by The Post based on hundreds of thousands of government documents.

According to the Post, children die from illness, malnutrition, and accidents.

Past discrimination and deprivation have created a deep economic divide between Native Americans and other communities.

The disappearance or deaths of over 4,000 students at Canadian boarding schools have been concluded by a government committee to be an act of "cultural genocide."

Ha Trang (CNA, WP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/it-nhat-3100-nguoi-my-ban-dia-tu-vong-tai-cac-truong-noi-tru-post327051.html