Statement on U.S. President Biden’s Apology for Forced Native Boarding School Policy

October 25, 2024

We acknowledge the formal apology of President Joe Biden today at the Gila River Indian Community for the forced, genocidal boarding school policy that led to the suffering, death, and torture of young Native boys and girls, with its traumatizing and rippling effects, which are still felt today.

While the gesture of a long overdue apology is welcome, there is still an unprecedented amount of work needed to heal and correct from the effects of colonization and forced assimilation policies like those of the boarding school era. A meaningful commitment to fully resource Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to defend our lands and sacred sites, programs to keep our languages alive, and initiatives to support our traditional health modalities is still needed and required. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to address and remedy the history of colonial and Christian invasion, and American oppression that robs Native people of our future.

Apology or not, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples will continue to do the important work of supporting our grassroots organizations and people who are doing the critical work across Indian Country to help reverse and heal the wounds of genocide, capitalism, and white supremacy.

Our work does not end with the virtue signaling we witnessed today.

— Christopher Peters | Puhlik-lah/Karuk

President, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples