LAVEN VILLAGE, Ariz. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of the government-run residential school system that forcibly separated children from their parents for decades, calling it “a stain on American history.” “On his first presidential visit to Indian Country.
“It is a sin against our souls,” Biden said, his voice full of anger and emotion. “Quite frankly, there is no excuse that this apology took 50 years.”
It was a moment of remorse and frustration as the president sought recognition for one of the “most horrific chapters” in the national story. Biden spoke about the abuses and deaths of Indigenous children as a result of the federal government’s policies, noting that “while darkness can hide much, it erases nothing” and that great nations “must know the good, the evil, and the truth of who we are.” “.
“I formally apologize as President of the United States of America for what we did,” Biden said. The government transferring children from the Native American community to boarding schools “will always be a great mark of shame, a stain on American history. For a very long time, all of this happened with almost no public attention, was not written about in history books, and was not taught in Our schools.
Democrats hope Biden’s visit to the Gila River Indian community land on the outskirts of the Phoenix metro area will also provide a boost to Vice President Kamala Harris’ turnout efforts in a key battleground state. That moment gave Biden a bigger opportunity to highlight his and Harris’ support for tribal nations, a group that has historically favored Democrats, in a state he won by just 10,000 votes in 2020.
The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump is expected to be similarly close, and both campaigns are doing everything they can to improve turnout among core supporters.
“The race is now a turnout magnet,” said Mike O’Neill, a nonpartisan pollster based in Arizona. “The trend lines have been remarkably flat. The question is which candidate will be able to attract their voters in a race that looks set to be decided by narrow margins.
Biden has been used sparingly on the campaign trail by Harris and other Democrats since he ended his re-election campaign in July.
But analysts say Biden could help Harris appeal to Native American voters — a group that has lagged behind others in turnout rates.
In 2020, there was an increase in voter turnout on some tribal lands in Arizona, where Biden beat Trump and became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Biden, whose presidency is about to end, promised tribal leaders nearly two years ago that he would visit Indian Country.
For decades, federal boarding schools were used to absorb children into white society, according to the White House. Not everyone thought the apology was sufficient.
“An apology is a good start, but it is not a true reckoning, nor is it an adequate remedy for the long history of colonial violence,” said Chase Iron Eyes, director of the Lakota People’s Law Project and Sacred Defense Fund.
At least 973 Native American children died in the U.S. government’s abusive residential school system over a 150-year period that ended in 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation that called for an apology from the U.S. government.
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At least 18,000 children, some as young as 4 years old, were taken from their parents and forced to attend schools that sought to absorb them.
“President Biden deserves credit for finally bringing attention to this issue and other issues affecting the community,” said Ramona Charette Klein, 77, a residential school survivor and enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. “I think this will reflect well on Vice President Harris, and I hope this momentum continues.”
Democrats have intensified their outreach to Native American communities.
Harris and her deputy, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, met with tribal leaders in Arizona and Nevada this month. Clinton, who served as Harris’ replacement, met last week in North Carolina with the chief of the Lumbee tribe.
The Democratic National Committee recently launched a six-figure ad campaign targeting Native American voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska through digital, print and radio ads.
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is in a competitive race with Republican Carrie Lake for an open Arizona Senate seat, has visited all 22 of Arizona’s federally recognized tribes.
Harris recently kicked off a campaign rally in Chandler, near the site of the Gila River Reservation, with a salute to the tribal leader. Walz is scheduled to go to the Navajo Nation in Arizona on Saturday.
The White House says Biden and Harris have built a strong track record with Native Americans over the past four years.
The president designated the sacred Avi Kwa-Ami, a desert mountain in Nevada and Pag Nuavjo Itah Kokvini – ancestral footprints in Arizona’s Grand Canyon, as national monuments and restored the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
In addition, the administration directed nearly $46 billion in federal spending to tribal nations. The funds have helped bring electricity to a reservation that previously had no electricity, expand high-speed internet access, improve water sanitation, build roads, and more.
Biden chose former New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to serve as his Interior Secretary, the first Native American to be appointed to a Cabinet position. Haaland is a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.
She, in turn, ordered a comprehensive review in June 2021 of the troubled legacy of the federal government’s residential school policies that prompted Biden to issue a formal apology.
The Harris and Trump campaigns — and their allies — have put a remarkable amount of effort into micro-targeting in Arizona, said Tom Riley, co-director of the Center for Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University.
“They’re just trying their best to see if they can wrangle a few more votes here and there,” Reilly said. “The Indian community is one of those groups that Harris hopes will excel and help make a difference.”
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Bock reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma, contributed to this report.
