List of Catholic-run Native boarding schools is ‘significant step toward truth-telling’

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

Alist of Native American boarding schools affiliated with the Catholic Church — including such schools in Minnesota — is available this month through a new website.

The database of roughly 87 Catholicrun Native boarding schools in the United States, and the information about them, was compiled by archivists, historians, Catholics and tribal members as research into the schools and their generational impact continues.

Recent research included a U.S. Department of the Interior report released last year, which indicated Native boarding schools, many of them operated by various religious orders, sought a process of forcibly assimilating Indigenous children to a European and Christian way of life, suppressing language and culture in the process.

The introduction to the list of Native boarding schools affiliated with the Catholic Church notes that to be included a school had to meet five criteria: that it “was operated by a Catholic entity, such as a diocese, a parish or a congregation of men or women religious;” it “provided on-site housing or overnight lodging at some point in its existence;” it “provided formal academic or vocational training or instruction;” it “was established before 1978 (when the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed);” and it “was established specifically for the education of Native children, or received federal funding to bring children from reservations even if established originally for white students.” government between 1819 and 1969, with many sites operated by Christian churches and related organizations.

The list includes eight Minnesota schools. They were among 21 total Native boarding schools in Minnesota, according to a DOI report appendix. The schools were among more than 400 overseen across the country by the U.S.

Congratulations!

Of the Catholic-run Native boarding schools in Minnesota, none were situated within the current boundaries of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis; however, three were situated within the historical diocese boundaries: Academy of the Holy Child, formerly in Avoca, part of the WinonaRochester diocese; Convent of Our Lady of the Lake, formerly in Graceville, part of the New Ulm diocese; and St. Paul’s Industrial School, formerly in Clontarf, part of the New Ulm diocese.

Allison Spies — who has been archives program manager for the archdiocesan Office of Archives and Records Management since 2019 — said her first encounters with records of the Native American experience began when she was a genealogy research volunteer for the archdiocese.

“I remember at that time being both deeply moved by what was in those records and questioning why they were here versus somewhere else with broader access or in the hands of tribal nations,” Spies said.

Hjalmar B. Gudjonsson

All Saints in Lakeville extends our gratitude and congratulations upon your Ordination to the Order of the Transitional Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

You bring honor to our parish and will remain in our prayers.

Continued Efforts

This summer, the Minneapolis-based organization Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition expects to launch an online tool to help Native Americans search for information on relatives who attended Native boarding schools.

According to the NABS website, the National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive “is essential to understanding this history and its consequences on Tribal Nations.” NIBSDA makes records more accessible to survivors and their descendants.

“Through cultivating historical insights, NIBSDA supports community-led healing initiatives throughout American Indian and Alaska Native Nations and towards restored Indigenous cultural sovereignty,” the website states.

Information about NABS can be found online at boardingschoolhealing org

Tekakwitha Conference

that this is about transparency, this is about facilitating connections between people and records that are meaningful to them.”

According to the list, the majority of those affected in Minnesota were from the Dakota and Ojibwe tribal nations.

In a statement regarding the list’s release, Jaime Arsenault — tribal historic preservation officer for the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe — said it is “a significant step toward truth-telling. Before there can be truth-telling, there must first be truth-finding. Basic information, such as how many Catholic-run Native American boarding schools operated in the United States and where they were located is critical information that must be known for the truth-telling and the reconciliatory process to take place.”

Arsenault went on to state, “This list has the potential to open lines of communication between Catholic archives and Tribal Nations.”

The theme of this year’s Tekakwitha Conference — named for St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century convert known as the “Lily of the Mohawks” who was canonized in 2012 — is “Gathering for Healing through Living Waters” and there will be an emphasis on the Native American boarding school era. The conference will be held July 19-23 in Bloomington. More information can be found online at tekconf org updating the list annually, but Spies said the group anticipates more frequent updates, particularly as more research into the history of Native boarding schools comes to light — locally, nationally and internationally.

“Families and communities of boarding school survivors and their descendants deserve prioritized access to information regarding their own histories,” compilers stated in their introduction. “The Catholic Church also has an obligation to understand the scope of its own role in this history.”

Spies began conducting more research when she assumed her role with the Office of Archives and Records Management. Through professional networks, Spies and other archivists, historians, Catholics and tribal members began considering how to grant more streamlined public access to records information. Doing so, Spies said, has presented its challenges.

“The complexity of this history is a constant challenge and figuring out how to share basic information when nothing about it is basic, that’s a challenge; and it’s challenging because this information isn’t neutral.”

“Being able to handle this information with care, being sensitive to what it means really had to be running through everything we did,” Spies said. “Making sure that the objective was always kept in mind —

Maka Black Elk — executive director for truth and healing at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, who was part of the effort to compile the list — said, “While there are more steps for the Catholic Church to take to move toward truth, healing and reconciliation, this list is a powerful step forward.”

The online list is searchable by state, school and key terms. The website for the list also includes explanations of criteria for the list and how to interpret it, information about those who compiled the list, a glossary of terms used, and links to additional resources.

Spies said this work — which had been ongoing for two years prior to the website’s launch — is far from complete. “This is not a comprehensive list and being information professionals, we (the list compilers) are committed to making it more accurate and more complete, if possible,” she said.

The group has already committed to

As federal research was released, Church leaders issued statements of apology. Pope Francis made a penitential pilgrimage to Canada in July 2022, formally apologizing for the suffering and trauma many endured.

Locally, Archbishop Bernard Hebda formally apologized for “the role that our Church played as part of the U.S. government’s systemic separation of families, often leading to the intergenerational trauma experienced by so many of our sisters and brothers.

“There are women and men in our Archdiocese and across our state who personally experienced the boarding school system. They are with us now. Their stories must be told and we must listen to them. We must also listen to the voices of the children and grandchildren whose ancestors endured such pain and death,” Archbishop Hebda stated.

The list of schools and available information can be accessed online at ctah archivistsacwr org