Student paper by Sasha Elliott 

Excerpt:

“The United States used boarding schools to commit genocide against Native children. The legal requirements outlined in The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which were codified into the United States Code, have been met. The statute has four special intent requirements: intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, as such. The United States government’s actions satisfied all four elements. The statute has five underlying crimes, only one of which must be met. The government’s actions satisfied four of the five underlying crimes. All the legal requirements for genocide, therefore, appear to have been met.

While prosecution, whether international or domestic, is highly unlikely or even impossible, the United States can take responsibility by focusing on other options for redress and reparation. They can follow Canada’s lead, since Canada modeled their boarding schools after the United States’ schools, and come to a settlement agreement with the Native community. This agreement should offer monetary reparations and provide community resources to aid in healing and health for addressing intergenerational trauma from the boarding school experience. Taking responsibility for the genocide of Native children through boarding schools is the only way the United States can begin to address the lasting impact of these actions on Native communities.”

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