BILLINGS — On Friday, President Joe Biden delivered a speech at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona on behalf of the U.S. governmentformally apologizing for the abuse, mistreatment, and assimilation of Native communities in boarding schools spanning decades.
That apology was one that Montana's indigenous communities were closely watching, and for some, hit a little too close to home.
"I formally apologize as the President of the United States of America for what we did. I formally apologize," Biden exclaimed in his speech.
His apology has been over a century in the making, as the first Native boarding school began in 1819. About 50 years ago, the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed, giving parents the right to refuse to send their children to these schools.
For some, Biden's apology came too late.
"It's better late than never. This should have happened a long time ago," said Jeff Stiffarm, the president of Fork Belknap reservation in northeastern Montana.
Stiffarm's reaction is shared by many Native Americans, who had an even closer connection to boarding schools, like Richard Littlebear, a Northern Cheyenne tribal member.
"It was centuries too late. I'm glad that Biden was doing that, but it was centuries too late," says Littlebear.
Littlebear attended a residential school in Busby until the seventh grade. He says that the treatment he experienced was less severe than most generations before him. However, he still remembers multiple incidents of physical abuse.
"For me, it was getting hit on the back with a newspaper. I don't know what it was called, but they used to carry a newspaper with them," he said.
Littlebear says he was a troublemaker in school and would often get punished. Looking back now, he says the punishments were too extreme for the behavior.
"I would bring it more teachers who are more interested in what they're teaching, rather than what they could punish students," he said.
Littlebear, and Charlene Sleeper, whose great-grandmother attended boarding school, say that almost every single Native American either has experienced this mistreatment firsthand or knows someone who has.
"Unfortunately (my great grandmother) was subjected to pretty abusive circumstances when she was there. We don't know if she intentionally or unintentionally decided to speak her language, and she was punished for that," Sleeper said in a September interview with MTN News.
"When my mom and dad grew up they weren't allowed to speak their language... Some children stayed there and died there, and some of them ran away back to the reservation," said Charlotte Lamebull, a CFO at the Fork Belknap Indian Community.
Lamebull also has close connections to boarding schools. Her father and grandfather attended a residential school, and the remains of one of her relatives were returned home to Montana last month. Her relative, Almeda Heavy Hair, died at 16 years old at an Indian boarding school in Pennslyvania.
According to Biden's speech, around 1,000 people died at residential schools, but those are only confirmed cases. Most, of about 18,000 students, experienced abuse, assimilation, name changes, and language changes while in boarding school.
"I don't think this apology will reach that far," says Littlebear.
"While darkness can hide much, it erases nothing," Biden said.
