Native Americans share trauma of boarding schools

LAVEEN VILLAGE, Ariz. (AP) – Survivors and descendants of Native American boarding schools in Arizona shared memories and tears before U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

The session is part of a yearlong “Road to Healing” tour for victims and survivors of abuse at government-backed boarding schools.

It is the fourth stop for the nation’s first and only Native American cabinet secretary after previous stops in South Dakota, Oklahoma and Michigan

They spoke Friday at a school in the Gila Indian River Community just south of Phoenix before a large audience that included Gov. Katie Hobbs and Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego.

Several testimonies addressed issues of not just abuse but the loss of culture and language.