Tribes to gather in Fort Shaw for boarding school day of remembrance

FORT SHAW (MT)
Ravalli Republic [Hamilton, MT]

August 13, 2024

By Nora Mabie

Tribal leaders and community members will gather in Fort Shaw on Thursday, Aug. 15 for a “Day of Remembrance” to honor the children who died at Indian boarding schools.

From the 1800s to the 1970s, Native children were taken from their homes and forced to attend government-funded Christian boarding schools, where they were emotionally, physically and sexually abused. The explicit mission of these schools was cultural genocide. Some children died at these schools and were buried in unmarked graves. Tribes suffered language and culture loss as a result, and historical trauma persists in Native communities today.

Established in the late 1800s, the Fort Shaw Indian School was one of several boarding schools in Montana.

The event, free and open to the public, will kick off at 10 a.m. with remarks from Iva Croff, liberal studies division chair at Blackfeet Community College, and Carol Murray, a boarding school survivor. Attendees will also have an opportunity to share their stories, and the event will conclude around 2 p.m. with a tour of the cemetery. 

Members of Montana’s congressional delegation were also invited.

‘I am a survivor’: Resolution would recognize Indigenous boarding school experience

The gathering is a product of Senate Joint Resolution 6, which asked the Legislature to recognize, honor and support people who attended Indian boarding schools. 

State Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning and a boarding school survivor herself, brought the resolution before the Legislature. At the event, she said speakers will discuss the long-term consequences of past boarding school policy.

“They’ll be speaking on resilience and generational trauma,” she said. “We are a group that was traumatized systemically. And that trauma still affects us.”

For more information on the event, call state Sen. Susan Webber at 406-450-1894.

Day of Rememberance

What: Remembering the Children of Fort Shaw Indian School

Who: Free and open to the public

When: Thursday, Aug. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Simms Schoolyard, Fort Shaw, MT

Bring: Chairs

More info? Call Sen. Susan Webber at 406-450-1894

https://ravallirepublic.com/news/state-and-regional/fort-shaw-susan-webber-boarding-school-day-remembrance/article_d67c376b-47d8-5acb-aeb7-d39616e8b1c4.html