“The truth about the US Indian boarding school policy has largely been written out of the history books. There were more than 350 government-funded, and often church-run, Indian Boarding schools across the US in the 19th and 20th centuries. Indian children were forcibly abducted by government agents, sent to schools hundreds of miles away, and beaten, starved, or otherwise abused when they spoke their native languages.
https://boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history/
To enable boarding school survivors and their descendants to recover the truth of what happened to their forebears, the National Native American Boarding Schools Healing Coalition and the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative have asked all religious bodies who ran Indigenous Boarding Schools to share any school records they have that show names and tribal affiliations of children and their parents, and to share information about possible student burial sites located at or near school facilities, with identities and Tribal affiliations of children interred at such locations.
This past summer, the Yearly Meeting committed to thoroughly research the Yearly Meeting's (and its predecessors) engagement with and support for the Federal Indian Boarding School project. The Permanent Board appointed us—Andrew Grant (Mt Toby, MA, Friends Meeting), Betsy Cazden (Providence, RI, Friends Meeting), and Janet Hough (Cobscook, ME, Friends Meeting)—to bring a plan of research for the Board’s February meeting. The Permanent Board approved the plan of research and appointed us to coordinate the work of research. We would welcome hearing from people who are interested in engaging with us in this work. Please email Janet Hough, Andrew Grant, or Betsy Cazden.
What we have found so far
In our preliminary review of the archives, we found correspondence, reports, and Yearly Meeting minutes from the 1820s onward which illuminate New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) Friends’ early concerns for tribal peoples within the bounds of the Yearly Meeting, and also west of the Mississippi. In 1840, Friends approved a trip by John D. Lang, from Vassalboro Meeting (ME); and Samuel Taylor, Jr., from Fairfield Meeting (ME), to visit tribal peoples on the western frontier under a concern “to ascertain whether any way is open in the Truth, for us to promote their welfare and best good.” In 1843, Lang and Taylor made a lengthy report on their trip, which was published and widely circulated. John D. Lang was later appointed by President Grant to the newly formed Board of Indian Commissioners, set up to advise on Indian policy.
In 1869, wanting to pursue peace instead of waging war against American Indians, President Grant initiated what he called the “Indian Peace Policy.” He assigned the management of Indian reservations, where tribal peoples had been forcibly relocated and confined, to various Christian denominations, among them Hicksite and Orthodox Quakers. NEYM-Gurneyite joined with the other Orthodox yearly meetings to form the Associated Executive Committee of Friends for Indian Affairs (AECFIA), through which Orthodox Friends jointly managed the reservations in the Central Superintendency, in “Indian Territory” (which later became Kansas and Oklahoma).
The Quapaw Agency was under the particular care of the Yearly Meeting. Asa and Emeline Tuttle, from Dover Meeting (NH), were sent to manage the Quapaw agency, establish a farm, and start a boarding school. The work of these Friends, and those that followed them, was part of the corporate life and witness of the monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings, expressed in clearness committees, meeting support for individuals, and the long, active participation of NEYM-Gurneyite in the AECFIA.
Our Quaker forebears participated participated in a project aimed at cultural assimilation, which caused ongoing intergenerational trauma that is felt to this day. What steps can we take towards making amends for our Quaker predecessors' involvement in the Federal Indian Boarding Schools project? Searching our records, bringing the truth of our past to light, is one small way we can support boarding school survivors and their descendents in their healing.
We plan to have a summary account ready in time for Yearly Meeting Sessions in 2023. We also plan to draft a report of relevant findings from the Yearly Metting to the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. We will seek further help when we come to undertake the interpretation and reporting phases, when there will be the need to follow trauma-informed practice in conveying relevant and sensitive information to Tribal partners.
This journey towards right relationship that we are on requires tender care for past, present, and future generations. As we meet our spiritual ancestors in the course of their lives, and as we consider the impacts of decisions they made, we intend not to hold judgment but to be held together in the Light and Love that permeates all. We walk humbly on a path towards truth and healing in response to explicit requests from the impacted Peoples.
Edited March 4, 2024, at the request of the Yearly Meeting QIBS Research Working Group