Department of Interior set to issue report on Native American boarding schools

U.S. churches are bracing for an unprecedented reckoning with their histories of operating boarding schools for Native Americans.

Native children were forced to attend these schools in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The schools broke down students’ connections with their families, tribes, and traditions and tried to assimilate them into a predominately white, Christian society.

The Department of Interior this month expects to issue a report on the enduring traumas of these schools.

Most were government-run, but many were church-run.

The report comes after Pope Francis’ April 1 apology for abuses at Catholic-run boarding schools for Indigenous children in Canada.