by Wanda Frenchman
The National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools in the United States is Monday, September 30. It originated in Canada as the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in 2021 when the Government of Canada passed Bill C-5, making it a federal holiday. Canada has done work in healing its Indigenous people and the trauma inflicted by residential schools by designating a day to honor the survivors, their families, and communities.
Why do we need a Day of Remembrance?
Residential or boarding schools inflicted trauma on Indigenous children that is still being felt today, generations later. Indigenous children were taken from their families, some as young as four years old. These children were often put on trains and taken as far away from their community as possible. Many of these children died and were buried on the grounds of the schools. Many that survived were no longer accepted in their own communities. Many of these children were forced to believe in Christianity and weren’t allowed to speak their language, sing their songs, or dance their ceremonial dances. This forced erasure of Indigenous culture is still felt in every tribal nation across the country.
As an Indigenous person, I am a descendant of four residential school survivors, my grandparents. I grew up listening to the stories of how the nuns treated the children at the mission school and how they forced them to cut their hair, learn English, and worship Jesus. In any other context, children worshipping Jesus would be a good thing, but when people are indoctrinated into a belief by force, later there can be some resentment.
I am grateful every day that I received, learned, and was shown the love of God in the way it was intended so that I can help my people heal with God’s good love. I am grateful to be a leader in a church, the ELCA, which is leading the way in reconciliation with Indigenous people.
September 30th 2024 is the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools. Learn ways you can support this day by wearing orange and more. Use hashtags #ELCA #FaithAndHealing #DayofRemembrance
Visit ELCA.org/IndianBoardingSchools
Wanda K. Frenchman is an Indigenous leader in the ELCA. She is a member of the Oglala Lakota (South Dakota) and Lenape (Oklahoma) tribes and serves as the vicar for Native American Urban Ministry in Phoenix, Arizona. The ministry serves all urban Natives in Phoenix, providing a community for believers and traditional culture to come together for spiritual growth. She is currently a student at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in the new TEIL (Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders) Program, with the hopes of taking over leadership for NAUM. She is a Mission Developer and Fund for Leaders Mission Developer Scholarship winner in 2021. She has a twin sister, Yolanda and is the daughter to the Rev. Mary Louise Frenchman. Her passions include playing competitive billiards, doing yoga, reading, traveling, bible study and attending Native American powwows and ceremonies.