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In 1930, five-year-old Bernice Rabideaux and her siblings were sent to a Catholic-run Indian boarding school in Wisconsin after their family fell into poverty. There, they faced harsh discipline, forced labor, and constant efforts to erase their Native identity. Like thousands of Indigenous children across the U.S., they were subjected to a federal system of assimilation that operated for over a century, aiming to sever tribal connections and culture.
These schools often inflicted physical and emotional abuse, malnutrition, and cultural trauma on Native children, leaving deep scars not only on the students but also on their descendants. The broader goal was to replace Native traditions with white Christian norms and to facilitate land seizures through the dismantling of tribal sovereignty.
Generations later, the psychological effects—shame, rage, fear—continued to ripple through Native families. The legacy of these institutions is now being understood through the lens of historical trauma, which explains how the pain and dysfunction caused by such mass abuse can be passed down. However, Native communities are increasingly turning to their own cultural and spiritual practices for healing.
The story is part of a larger reckoning with a dark chapter in U.S. history, one that calls for truth, accountability, and the revitalization of Indigenous identity.
Learn more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/daughter-reckoning-indian-boarding-school-100000571.html
