In light of the recent news about the mass grave of 215 indigenous children found at Kamloops Indian Residential School in BC, we are not only advocating for indigenous people in Canada, but demanding a full investigation into residential schools that operated here in the United States. 

The last residential school in the United States closed its doors in 1996, and the genocide that took place within the walls of these schools is not in the distant past. Children were forced out of their homes where they were abused, tortured, malnourished, ill, raped, and murdered. These acts were an attempt to assimilate them into “American” culture and to “kill the Indian” within them. 

We, the people of the United States, hereby petition the US Federal Government to fully investigate and disclose the truth to the American people. We the people are demanding a full and complete national study of the history of residential schools, the “US Boarding School Policy”, and a complete documentation of all schools, how many students attended, a follow-up on what happened to those students, and all events that took place in each school. 

Additionally, we hereby petition the US Federal Government to gather testimony from those who suffered and survived from abuse, and other traumas and to fully document the impact these schools and associated policies have and had on indigenous individuals, families, and communities. 

We are demanding full disclosure of the truth, and appropriate action steps to facilitate paradigms for healing, reconciliation, and support for intergenerational trauma indigenous people face.