A RESOLUTION relating to the acknowledgment of the various harms and ongoing historical and inter-generational traumas impacting American Indian, First Nations, and Alaskan Natives for the forcible removal of Indian children and subsequent abuse and neglect resulting from the United States’ American Indian Boarding School Policy during the 19th & 20th Centuries; supporting American Indian and Alaskan Native communities’ efforts in calling on the United States Congress to commission a study and report on the United States’ responsibility and role in adopting and implementing an American Indian Boarding School Policy; and committing to work with the local American Indian and Alaskan Natives in efforts of reconciliation in addressing the impacts of historical trauma, language and cultural loss, and alleged genocide.
Item one agenda item one resolution 31621. Relating to the acknowledgment of the various harms and ongoing historical and intergenerational traumas impacting American Indian First Nations and Alaska Natives for the forcible removal of Indian children and subsequent abuse and neglect resulting from the United States American Indian boarding school policy during the 19th and 20th centuries, supporting American Indian and Alaska Native Communities efforts and calling on the United States Congress to commission a study and report on the United States responsibility and role in adopting and implementing an American Indian boarding school policy and committing to work with the local American Indian and Alaska Natives in efforts of reconciliation, in addressing the impacts of historical trauma, language and cultural loss and alleged genocide. Introduced October 5th, 2015. Thank you. Council Member So on. Thank you, Brian Burgess. I wanted to begin by thanking everybody in the Seattle Indigenous community for their activism, starting with the Indigenous Peoples Day resolution that we were able to pass unanimously last year. I wanted to call out my family specifically for his unflagging enthusiasm, for his community and for all of us who are fighting for social justice. I also wanted to especially thank Chris Jones as well for presiding over the celebration that we had at Burton Islanders. This resolution acknowledges the traumas and horrors of the U.S.. American Indian boarding school policy. For those who do not know throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th century, which was not that long ago, and you heard testimonies of people who here who have had relatives who went through this. The federal government had a policy that continued the genocide of the indigenous peoples of this continent. Over a hundred thousand Native American children were taken from their homes and families, often forcefully. As was said before, these children were not allowed to speak their own languages or practice their own religions. They were subjected to abuses including child labor and sexual abuse. Genocide. As the Seattle Human Rights Commission confirms, is not only the mass killing of a people, it is also the erasing of their culture, their language, their religion. And that is precisely what the US American Indian boarding school policy was designed to do. It was not accidental. This resolution demands that U.S. Congress acknowledge and take steps to correct the damage done by this policy. This resolution was initially drafted, as I said, by Madam Lee and has been supported by a long list of community organization , the Seattle Human Rights Commission. Also Idle No More. Their speakers were here El Centro de la Raza and the Northwest to Spirit Society. All these activists are part of a growing movement for justice in Seattle against racism, against violence, and for housing and income justice. And I must mention the Black Lives Matter movement organizations are also in solidarity with this resolution. And just like the Indigenous Peoples Day resolution we passed last year, this resolution is so powerful because it is groundbreaking. The federal government has never even acknowledged this history, never mind taking steps to correct the harm done or offer any sort of justice or restitution. And this resolution demands that the US Congress do that. The timing of the resolution is also not an accident. We are voting on this today. On Indigenous Peoples Day 2015, because Indigenous People's Day is about celebrating Indigenous peoples, but also about using the symbolic importance of this day to continue the struggle against ongoing marginalization and oppression of these communities and indeed all communities. Please support this resolution. And to everyone in the community, let's start preparing for the next steps of our struggle. Councilmember Rasmussen Well, I strongly support this resolution. I think that what is more powerful than the resolution, though, is hearing from the people themselves who suffered in the boarding school experience. And several years ago, I attended an elementary school classroom of fifth graders, and a Native American elder came and spoke to them about his experience of being taken away from his family at about the same age as those young students at the elementary school I attended were, and they were shocked to hear that something like that had happened to him, and he was barely able to speak about his experience 60, 60, 70 years ago. He actually broke down into tears talking about that experience that still traumatizes him today to talk about that. And I think that it is important, as this resolution says, that our public schools do teach that history because the people who have experienced that history are here today. And nothing is more powerful than hearing from the people who have suffered that experience and know that experience. And they can convey that to the students of today more powerfully than any of us can and far more powerfully than this resolution. So I'm hoping that the school district listens to us and they invite people in to teach the young people of the experiences of this history and to. Thank you, President Burgess. It's I'm speechless that this has come before us. And it's long overdue. It's something that should have been said long ago when I was a child. My family would go out to near Bay and we would fish. And I found myself invited into Native families to play and eat. And it wasn't until later in my adult life that I began to understand the injustices and the harm caused by the country. I live in the country that I'm a citizen to the native peoples, just unspeakable harm that to this day continues on. My family suffered some hardships during World War Two, were imprisoned in prison camps, and the trauma that it caused my family was widespread. It wasn't until my father was an adult that I heard the stories of being imprisoned and the emotional harm that that caused. I support this resolution. It's a beautiful thing to hear your young speak, your native language that despite the injustices caused by our country to you, that you're recapturing the heart of who you are. So with that, I support this resolution and will continue to support the causes of sovereign nations in our country. Thank you. I moved to adopt resolution 31621. It's moved in second and the resolution be adopted. Are there any further comments? Councilmember So on. Just wanted to say in closing that we've come a long way since Minneapolis and Seattle declared Indigenous Peoples Day last year. Many other cities are on the way and our hope is and we will keep fighting for this, that by next year the federal government will have abolished Columbus Day nationally. And did I hear correctly that the governor of Alaska declared today as indigenous peoples day? That's that's a huge step forward. We should make sure that happens at Washington State as well. And just very quickly, I also wanted to add that we should take all the energy that has been generated from what we've been able to achieve last year and this year to make sure that we win victories on affordable housing, racial equity in schools, and especially that we demand our elected officials support the educators who are pushing for the pushing to include the real history of America in the text books. I think that is all that is really necessary. And and last but not least, we've all also been together in fighting against Cherry Point Coal Terminal. And I really congratulate the Idle No More movement on that. And we've been in the canoes in front of the polar pioneer to fight against Shell's attempts to drill in the Arctic . So the fight goes on. Can actually. Those in favor of adopting Resolution 31621 vote I II oppose vote no. The resolution is unanimously adopted and the chair will support. Thank you very much for coming down and come back any time you want. We'd love to have you. Please read items two through five.