Presidential Apology

While Biden’s apology is significant because it marks the first time the federal government has formally acknowledged their role in the generations of harm caused by abusive and deadly mandatory residential schools, the president’s words ring hollow without action. The pain caused by residential schools is immeasurable – all Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. and Canada are survivors of that brutal system, as it was used to collectively strip us of our languages, cultures, strong family structures, and community wellbeing. We all continue to navigate the residual impacts of such an aggressive assault on our Nations and lifeways.