New Report Adds Relevancy to Indian Boarding Schools Course

The history of Indian boarding schools was formally investigated and documented for the first time in a sobering report released in May by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in residential schools—including five in Michigan—with the goal of assimilating them into white culture and, consequently, taking their territories.

The children were often abused, some died while attending and many did not return home. Northern Michigan University, which offers the state's only bachelor's degree program in Native American studies, has offered a course on the subject for more than 15 years.

By Kristi Evans