My grandfather was a survivor of theFederal Indian Boarding School System.
By 1926 nearly 83% of Native school-age children in the US were attending these schools.
We just didnt know the full extent of these horrors.
My elders taught me to fight for Native American self-determinationfor families, women, and children.
Just as with my grandfather, Id heard the stories throughout the years.
Then, in 2021, a tip pointed me back in the schools direction.
Photo courtesy of The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
And that work turned into the podcastAmerican Genocide: The Crimes of Native American Boarding Schools.
Meanwhile, the primary location for the GPR event we covered was only the front yard of the school.
Surprisingly, as we discovered, the youth council didnt have support from the whole community.
Photo courtesy of IIYC Oglala Lakota Chapter
Some in their community disagreed with their demands.
We spoke with a third-generation boarding school student and his grandmother, who attended Holy Rosary Mission in 1951.
She shared that the priests and nuns who taught at the school were rejects from their diocese.
Wielding tremendous power over the students, the priests and nuns took advantage of this power imbalance.
We spoke with a former student who talked about thepunishments that came at night.
Lashay and I could sense the tension in the community leading up to the GPR event.
The day was filled both with community prayer and protests led by the youth.
But ultimately, after days of searching, nothing was found in the searched area.
For many, the day was a healing and cathartic process all in itself.
Our podcast has given a voice and platform to the survivors of the Holy Rosary Mission.
And for that, I couldnt be prouder.
