In case you missed it, President Joe Biden traveled to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona today, where he made a landmark formal apology on behalf of the U.S. government for the federal Indian boarding school era. “It’s a sin on our soul,” he said, before asking for a moment of silence “for what was lost and the generations who have lived with that trauma.”

In his speech, Biden earnestly described some of the atrocities perpetrated on generations of young children, separated from their families at these “schools.” He also used the occasion to list his administration’s accomplishments on behalf of Native People, including hiring Deb Haaland of the Pueblo of Laguna as the nation’s first Indigenous Cabinet secretary and protecting the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in the Supreme Court. 

As a Lakota Law supporter, you know those were team efforts, and I’ll always remain grateful to you for helping us participate in making them both happen. I am also thankful to the president for his long-overdue apology. But the truth is — as I said in a statement picked up widely by the press — it is not enough.

Watch: President Biden’s full speech here.

Let’s be clear: an apology is an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, but it is not any form of redress. An apology is just the beginning of a necessary truth-telling. It is a nice start, but it is not a true reckoning, nor is it a sufficient remedy for the long history of colonial violence. The president’s apology calls for a deeper examination. I ask him to work with those knowledge holders within Indigenous communities to tell the entire, historical truth and look at proper redress.

We need more real action on a path toward reconciliation. As you know, we have many ideas for what truly addressing the history of genocide in the U.S. should look like. From rescinding medals of honor given to those who massacred our people at Wounded Knee to codifying ICWA at the state level, there are many tangible steps that can be taken to help and honor Native families, children, and communities. 

Let’s remember that the separation of Native children from their families did not end with boarding schools. Lakota Law came into being because our grandmothers sought help with the ongoing epidemic of South Dakota’s Department of Social Services (DSS) removing our children at alarming rates. While Native people make up around a tenth of the state’s population, Native children comprise about half of the children in foster care here. And a report we produced a few years back showed that more than 60 percent of children who aged out of DSS custody in South Dakota wound up dead, addicted, imprisoned, or houseless.

So yes, I’m grateful that Biden has acknowledged some historic wrongs and begun to prioritize Native representation and funding for our communities in the present day. I’m also clear-eyed that we have much more to do together moving forward, so let’s keep working! I thank you for your heart and your activism in helping us realize a better world for the generations to come.

Wopila tanka — my gratitude for your friendship in this journey.
Chase Iron Eyes
Director and Lead Counsel
Lakota People’s Law Project
Sacred Defense Fund