Gila Crossing Community School
Laveen Village, Arizona
10:44 A.M. MST
PRESIDENT BIDEN: I'm Joe Biden. I'm Jill Biden's husband (Laughter.)
Gov, thank you for that introduction and to the Gila Indian River Community — the — Gila — yeah, Gila — nothing wrong with me — (laughter) — Gila River Indian Community for welcoming me today.
You know — (applause) — I say this with all sincerity, this, to me, is one the most consequential things I've ever had an opportunity to do in my whole career and as president of the United States. It's an honor — a genuine honor to be in this special place on this special day.
Thank you to Senator Mark Kelly, a great friend, who also is married to an incredible woman who is my friend.
Please have a seat, by the way. (Laughter.)
And Congressman Greg Stanton. I saw Greg when I came in. He's over there somewhere. Greg, thank you.
And I'm putting these glasses on because I'm having trouble seeing this.
And all the elected leaders and the Tribal community leaders for being here.
You know, I can't tell you what a special thanks I have for Deb Haaland, my Interior secretary. I was determined — (applause) — I was determined — I made a commitment when I became president to have an administration that looked like America. Except you're America, and there's — never has been — never has been a Native American, an Indigenous person who was on — in the Cabinet or in a — in the secretary's job or any consequential job in a presidential administration.
She's the first — but it's clearly not the last — Native American Cabinet secretary ever. (Applause.) And her historic and dedicated leadership is strengthening the relationship between the Tribal Nations and the federal government — is unlike ever happened before.
That's why we're here today.
You know, when I got to the Senate, I was only 29 years old. I had to wait 17 days to be eligible. And I had — after I got elected, w- — while I waiting, my wife and daughter were killed and my two boys were badly injured.
And a guy that came to my assistance was a guy named Danny Inouye. And the first thing he taught me — not a joke — was, "Joe, it is not 'Indians.' It's 'Indian Nations' — Indian N-" — (applause) — No, I — he was serious, deadly earnest about it.
It's been 10 years since a sitting president — president came and visited Indian Country. That's simply much too long.
And that's why I am here today not only to fulfil my promise to be a president that — first president to visit Indian Country but, more importantly, to right a wrong, to chart a new path toward a better future for us all.
I am also here because, as I said, my wife Jill has been here 10 times in Indian Country, literally. The first lady sends her love and said, "Joe, make sure you come home." (Laughter.) Because every time she goes — she spent a lot of time in, excuse me for saying this, the Navajo Nation. I'm worried — (applause) — every time she goes, I'm worried she's not coming home. (Laughter.)
I watched that beautiful performance just now, and it moved me deeply. It's a reminder of everything Native people enjoy and employ: sacred traditions, culture passed down over thousands of — thousands of years. (Applause.)
Long before there was a United States, Native communities flourished on these lands. They practiced democratic government before we ever heard of it, developed advanced agriculture, contributed to science, art, and culture. (Applause.)
But eventually, the United States was established and began expanding, entering treaties with sovereign Tribal Nations. But as time moved on, respect for s- — for Tribal sovereignty evaporated, was shattered, pushing Native people off their homelands, denying — denying their humanity and their rights, targeting children to cut their connection to their ancestors and their inheritance and their heritage.
At first, in the 19- — 1800s, the effort was voluntary, asking Tribes to sell their children — to send their children away to vocational schools. But then — then the federal government mandated — mandated the removal of children from their families and Tribes, launching what's called the Federal Indian Boarding School era — era. Over a 150-year span — 150 years — from the early 1800s to 1870 — to 1970. One of the most horrific chapters in American history. We should be ashamed. A chapter that most Americans don't know about. The vast majority don't even know about it.
I was — I was at my hotel today. I told the pe- — the hotel staff, as we were leaving. They said, "Where are you going?" I told them. They said, "What are you doing?" I told them. They said they're Natives here. They said, "I never knew that. I never knew that." Think of how many people don't know.
As president, I believe it's imper- — important that we do know — know generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn't know with people they never met who spoke a language they had never heard. Native communities silenced. Their children's laughter and play were gone.
Children would arrive at schools. Their clothes taken off. Their hair that they were told was sacred was chopped off. Their names literally erased and replaced by a number or an English name.
One survivor later recounted her days when taken away. She said, quote, "My mother standing on that sidewalk as we loaded into a green bus. I can see the image of my mom burned into my mind and my heart where she was crying."
Another survivor described what it was like at the boarding school, and I quote, "When I would talk in my Tribal language, I would get hit. I lost my tongue. They beat me every day."
Children abused — emotionally, physically, and sexually abused. Forced into hard labor. Some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents. Some left for dead in unmarked graves.
And for those who did return home, they were wounded in body and in spirit — trauma and shame passed down through generations.
The policy continued even after the Civil Rights Act, which got me involved in politics as a young man. Even after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, it continued.
All told, hundreds and hundreds of Federal Indian Boarding Schools across the country. Tens of thousands of Native children entered the system. Nearly 1,000 documented Native child deaths, though the real number is likely to be much, much higher; lost generations, culture, and language; lost trust.
It's horribly, horribly wrong. It's a sin on our soul.
I'd like to ask, with your permission, for a moment of silence as we remember those lost and the generations living with that trauma.
(A moment of silence is observed.)
After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program, but the federal government has never — never — formally apologized for what happened until today.
I formally apologize — (applause) — as president of the United States of America, for what we did. I formally apologize. And it's long overdue.
At the Tribal school — at a Tribal school in Arizona, a community full of tradition and culture, and joined by survivors and descendants to do just that: apologize, apologize, apolo- — rewrite the history book correctly. (Applause.)
