Indian boarding school survivors share stories in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- From the late 1800s to the 1970s, US government policy led by the Department of the Interior, aimed to erase Native American heritage through forced assimilation. Native children were ripped from their homes and forced into boarding schools, where they were stripped of language, culture and identity.

It's a history Charlee Brissette knows well. Her mother is a boarding school survivor.

"I feel like a byproduct of that, too, has been witnessing the healing that can happen by somebody sharing their story," said Brissette, the co-director of the Oral History Project for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.

At least two notorious boarding schools operated in our area — Chemawa in Salem and the Forest Grove Indian School, which housed children from the Chinook, Cowlitz, and Tillamook tribes. Students were forbidden to speak their languages or practice their traditions.

Brissette, who is part of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan, is part of the nationwide effort to document a painful past and working to heal the pain it caused.

"We're all human beings, we're all relatives, and it's important to know our history because it's not just Native American or indigenous history. It's all of our history," she said.

Tribes from the Pacific Northwest are invited to share their stories, which will be archived at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Therapists and traditional Native healing methods are available to support people through the process.

Portland marks the 14th stop on a nationwide journey to collect testimonies from boarding school survivors.

Brissette said that while the work is heavy, it also celebrates the strength and resilience of Native communities. And she's proud to honor that legacy.

"On a federal level, we are trying to pass legislation to help our boarding school survivors heal from these impacts and this trauma," she said. "I will say that it is important to me personally to wear my bead work or wear indigenous made jewelry to show who I am as an Anishinabe person or indigenous person, because again, I'm very proud to be indigenous. So there's significance to that and showing up and being authentic and being true to who I am."

The Portland event at the downtown Embassy Suites is closed to the public but survivors of federally-supported Indian boarding schools are invited to share their stories in a safe, private setting through Friday, August 29. You can also call 651.650.4445.