Remembrance
Great Plains Conference Graphic
The Great Plains Conference’s Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM) invites you to an event honoring Native Americans who endured the trauma and indignity caused by parochial boarding schools as children.
This second-annual gathering is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 — the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools — at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 1144 M St., in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The featured speaker will be Judi Gaiashkibos, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs and a member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Dave Williams, Nebraska state archaeologist who works on identification, recovery and repatriation of remains in consultation with tribes; and Aliyah American Horse, Nebraska’s youth poet laureate and a Lakota Tribe member.
Bishop David Wilson, a member of the Choctaw Nation who also has Cherokee lineage, will preside over the event, which will feature an educational video and talks about the legacy of boarding schools, as well as music and poetry meant to bring a deeper meaning to the commemoration.
Boarding schools were part of a strategy enacted by the federal government to assimilate Native Americans into the predominantly white society. From about 1820 until as late as 1983, more than 500 boarding schools operated across the United States, including some in Kansas and Nebraska. In many cases, children were taken hundreds of miles away from their families. Children rarely were allowed to spend time with family, even if parents, siblings and others traveled great distances to see them. In other cases, restrictive laws and dishonest treaties forced Native families desperate to feed their children to turn minors over to boarding schools as a means of survival.
In nearly all cases, the schools prevented Native children from speaking their tribal language, wearing traditional clothing and following their customs. Their hair often was cut short, and discipline often was harsh and violent. This effort to strip Native children of their culture still greatly impacts tribal communities today, with many tribes being forced to take great efforts to preserve their languages and traditions.
Free Ribbons
CONAM is providing free orange ribbons to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools. Ribbons can be worn on Saturday, Sept. 28, or Sunday, Sept. 29, in worship services. Wear the ribbons to honor the Indigenous children who were sent to boarding schools and suffered the loss of their families, community and their traditions.
The ribbons will come with a QR code linked to The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
The deadline to order Sept. 14. Please fill out the short form at https://gp-reg.brtapp.com/CONAMRibbons2024 to place your order, free of charge to local churches.