AK HJR17

Alaska Legislature urges Congress to pass S. 1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, to address federal Indian boarding school policies implemented from 1819 to 1969.

Over 100 Indian boarding schools operated in Alaska with the stated purpose of culturally assimilating American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children by forcibly removing them from their families and communities.

Attendees of these schools experienced manual labor, abuse of languages and cultural beliefs, physical and emotional abuse, and some children died; approximately 53 schools have marked or unmarked burial sites.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has documented intergenerational trauma resulting from these policies and the Alaska Federation of Natives passed Resolution 23-14 supporting the federal Truth and Healing Commission Act.

Resolution directs copies be sent to President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary of Interior Haaland, and Alaska's congressional delegation including Senators Murkowski and Sullivan and Representative Peltola.