Boarding Schools
The Department of Interior released their initial report on boarding schools in 2022. Read the report.
In 2024, Department of Interior released their second report on boarding schools. Read the report.
In 2024, Department of Interior released their second report on boarding schools. Read the report.
From the beginning Methodist missionaries stressed education as a form of evangelism and mission work with Indigenous Peoples. This eventually led to missionaries becoming Indian agents for the US government. According to the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, in the 19th and 20th centuries "There were more than 350 government-funded, and often church-run, Indian Boarding schools across the US." Find out more on their website: Boarding School history here and History of the Churches involved here.
Recently, the UMC put out a "progress report" on the Methodist owned and operated boarding schools. "In the Northeastern Jurisdiction, there was one boarding school identified in the Upper New York Annual Conference. The Oneida Indian School existed during the 1840s and 50s. According to an excerpt of an interview of Loretta Metoxen, Oneida Tribal Historian:
One of the things that you see is that: there is normally one denomination that will be stronger in an area, and this was because the churches would basically draw straws to see who would go into an area to Christianize a particular tribe.
This type of dividing up mission-areas was not limited to Indigenous lands but was common during the 19th and 20th century US missionaries created comity agreements between the denominations to limit competition and expand Christianization. The agreed upon territory of the Methodist Church was mostly in the southern US." (Boggan, A. 2024).
Read the progress report here.
References
Boggan, A. (2024). The United Methodist Church and Indigenous Boarding Schools: A Progress Report. https://www.umc.org/-/media/umc-media/2024/09/12/16/27/Indigenous-Boarding-School-Report-2024-final.pdf
Recently, the UMC put out a "progress report" on the Methodist owned and operated boarding schools. "In the Northeastern Jurisdiction, there was one boarding school identified in the Upper New York Annual Conference. The Oneida Indian School existed during the 1840s and 50s. According to an excerpt of an interview of Loretta Metoxen, Oneida Tribal Historian:
One of the things that you see is that: there is normally one denomination that will be stronger in an area, and this was because the churches would basically draw straws to see who would go into an area to Christianize a particular tribe.
This type of dividing up mission-areas was not limited to Indigenous lands but was common during the 19th and 20th century US missionaries created comity agreements between the denominations to limit competition and expand Christianization. The agreed upon territory of the Methodist Church was mostly in the southern US." (Boggan, A. 2024).
Read the progress report here.
References
Boggan, A. (2024). The United Methodist Church and Indigenous Boarding Schools: A Progress Report. https://www.umc.org/-/media/umc-media/2024/09/12/16/27/Indigenous-Boarding-School-Report-2024-final.pdf
A documentary film on the Abuses of the Indian Boarding Schools discusses the inter-generational trauma in Native American communities. Watch the "Wellbriety Movement: Journey of Forgiveness" here.
In 1879, the first government-run boarding school for Native American children opened at Carlisle Pennsylvania under the direction of Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt. It is known that Methodists were teachers at the Carlisle Indian School. The NEJNAMC is supportive of the work of the The Carlisle Indian school project. More historical information on the Carlisle Indian School can be found here.
The PBS video "Unspoken" also provides history on the Carlisle Indian School.
The PBS video "Unspoken" also provides history on the Carlisle Indian School.
More information regarding Schools in Oklahoma and under the purview of Methodism can be found through the Oklahoma Historical Society Website, Oklahoma State University Website, and various Methodist archives including those of the General Board on Archives and History housed at Drew University.
On September 10, 2024, the first ever report on the role of the Methodist Church and IBS was made resulting from a collaborative effort begun in the spring of 2022 by the General Commission of Archives & History, United Women in Faith and the General Board of Global Missions. The report emphasizes that while this is a preliminary study with much further research needed, it is manifestly clear that today’s United Methodist church has culpability and the responsibility to continue the work of making amends, acknowledging the truth and the harm enacted through its former expressions (Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Episcopal Church South and United Brethren in Christ). The report can be read here.
Child Removal via Foster Care
The United States Government also carried out cultural genocide through systematic assimilation of Native Peoples through the US Foster Care System. Children were removed from their homes and placed in the homes of non-Native (often white) families. Despite the passage by Congress of the INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT (ICWA) in 1978 in response to the alarmingly high rate of Native children being separated from their parents, extended families, and tribal communities, children continue to be taken from their homes and placed with non-Native families. The movie Dawnland discusses the harm that continues through the systematic removal of Native American Children from their homes. To learn more or to hold your own screening in your local congregation or Annual Conference visit the Dawnland homepage here. For more information about ICWA go here.
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