On 30 July 2024, a federal government investigation commissioned by United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland revealed that it had found gravesites at sixty-five of over 417 United States federal boarding schools used for forceful assimilation of Native American children into White American culture and society.
As a result of the federal boarding school system, "at least" 973 Native American children were found to have died, many of whom were buried in unmarked or marked graves.
[5] The schools were usually harsh, especially for younger children who had been forcibly separated from their families and forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.
[1] Deb Haaland characterized the boarding school system as a "concerted attempt to eradicate the 'Indian problem'" through assimilation or outright wiping out Native American culture.
[3] While expressing personal remorse, Haaland suggested that the United States federal government needed to make a formal apology on behalf of the abuse, death, and trauma caused by the school system.