On Sept. 30, 2024, NDSU New Beginnings and The Office of Multicultural Programs hosted an event in order to honor and remember the Native Americans placed in boarding schools through a presentation discussing the history of how they came to be until the recorded closing of the last one in North America. This presentation was given by Vanessa Rabitaille-Kinney, the Program Coordinator of New Beginnings Tribal Initiatives. Rabitaille-Kiney began the presentation extending her gratitude toward those present to help honor the day. “Again, thank you all for attending our event today. I appreciate those who took the time out of their day today to honor those who attended the Indigenous boarding schools,” said Rabitaille-Kinney in her opening remarks. The presentation mainly centered around the history and facts of these boarding schools. 

What is this day of remembrance all about? “According to the House Concurrent Resolution 53 that was signed Sept. 30, 2021, so just four years ago, expressing the sense of Congress that Sept. 30 be observed as a designation of a national day of remembrance for the Native American children who died while attending a United States Indian Boarding School and to recognize, honor and support the survivors of Indian boarding schools, their families and communities,” said Rabitaille-Kinney as background for the enactment of the national day. This was the response of the United States Congress following Canada’s enactment of their National Day for Truth and Reconciliation bill on June 2, 2021. The American Day of Remembrance shares the day with Orange Shirt Day, yet another day intended to raise awareness of these topics. Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”. The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. 

The presentation then gets deeper into the stages of Indigenous history in America and the timeline in which everything played out. Indigenous history can often be split into 6 or 7 different eras, however, these boarding schools appear in stage 3 of the timeline. The Assimilation Era from 1887-1932. During this time, the Civilization Fund Act was being created and used involving policies and practices meant to assimilate American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children by removing children from their families and native communities throughout the United States. 

The first Indian boarding school in the United States was the Carlisle Indian School founded in Pennsylvania in 1879 by Richard Henry Pratt. Richard Henry Pratt was an American Civil War General who later founded, and became the superintendent of the Carlisle Indian School. This school was then the poster child for all other boarding schools of this nature. Carlisle was an industrial school taking in individuals ages 9-30. Carlisle also included an outing program as well as a cemetery. This school closed for good in 1918, putting an end to the first historical landmark in Indian boarding schools. 

The continuation of this day of remembrance helps honor and commemorate the children, families and communities impacted by the atrocities presented in these schools, making it a quite important national day enacted by the U.S. Congress.