Indian boarding school cemeteries as an ongoing source of trauma for native communities: an interdisciplinary approach utilizing geophysical surveys and social science methods

Abstract

This research addresses the socio-economic, political, and spiritual impacts of federal Indian boarding school policies forced on Native communities, between 1800 and 1940. Untold numbers of Native children in the United States were kidnapped and stolen, placed in government or religious-run institutions. Hundreds died there and are now lost in the Indian boarding school cemeteries. The unknown and neglected children's graves are an ongoing legacy of colonization; today, the horrific Indian boarding school policies negatively permeate the lives of the Original Inhabitants. The disconnections from epistemological foundations have created an epidemic of impacts that stem back to the diabolical policies placed upon the Original Inhabitants by the United States government. Thousands of Indian children died while incarcerated at these Indian boarding schools (Tsestoo'ehevose ka'eskoneho-where children are jailed), and it is unknown how many remain in the cemeteries. The lack of data regarding the location of children in these cemeteries requires immediate remedy, as they are evidence of the ongoing legacy of colonization. I argue that current remedial constructs highlight the lack of trust and treaty responsibilities (contracts) that are obligated to the Original Inhabitants by the United States of America. I discuss how Indian boarding school cemeteries remain sources of ongoing trauma for Native communities and explore how geophysical surveys may empower healing in these communities. Constructed into five chapters, I start with positionalities. The positionalities of the worldviews I encountered. Methodologies used for the project is the second chapter. Next up is a presentation of the utility of geophysical and geospatial instruments to show the extent of missing relatives in the cemeteries. I explore whether these numbers are sufficient to reform the outdated federal Indian policies which currently restrict access to the records of the stolen and missing children who remain partially hidden in government archives, institutional, and religious sects. In the fourth chapter, I explore through interviews how the dislocation of core values and disconnection from individual homelands have negatively impacted urban Tribal communities, as well as on- and off-reservation communities. This research constitutes a glimpse into the rematriation processes from one Tribal member's perspective.