Letter: Nipmuc Tribal Councils call for full investigation of residential school abuses

Wunnonquae Wunne, 

On behalf of the Nipmuc/k Tribal Councils of Webster, Grafton, Rhode Island, Natick, and Connecticut, we would like to send our deepest condolences to the families and community of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, Cowessess First Nation, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, and relatives of the children whose remains were found at the Carlisle Industrial School in Pennsylvania, and all survivors of Indian residential schools in Canada and Boarding Schools in the United States as these gruesome discoveries are made. 

It indeed reveals that the issue of Indian residential schools in Canada and Boarding Schools in the United States is not a closed chapter in Turtle Island’s history but an ongoing and unaddressed travesty of justice. The last residential schools closed only in 1997 in Canada and 1984 in the United States. We join Indigenous leaders across Canada and the United States in calling for a full investigation and ground radar searches of all residential school sites and boarding schools across Turtle Island. 

Furthermore, we call on the implementation of a process that identifies and repatriates bodies so that they may be put to rest by being returned to their communities. Our Native communities can not even begin the healing process until this is done. 

It is also time that the Roman Catholic Church be made accountable for the repulsive role they have played in treating Indian residential school children. We call on those of the Roman Catholic faith to stand with Indigenous Peoples and demand that their leaders take responsibility for the blood on their hands. 

No Indigenous person went unscathed by this ugly history of calculated genocide. Survivors of Indian residential schools are triggered by memories of peers vanishing and knowing they were never coming back. Our hearts are heavy thinking of the unimaginable pain inflicted upon parents and families who were never notified when children passed away. Those same children buried away from their homelands and, to this day—have never been brought home. 

The journey ahead for Indigenous Peoples is not an easy one. We ask our allies to continue to push your legislators to uncover and acknowledge the true history of broken treaties and genocide. We also ask that you continue to educate yourselves about this harmful history and learn the truth of our people. 

Aquene, 

Tenah Lee Richardson
Nipmuc Nation Tribal Council Chair
25 Main St, South Grafton, MA 01560 

Ken White
Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians Chair
41 Cooper Road, Fiskdale MA 01518 

Keshon Red Spirit Jackson
Wabbaquasett Nipmuc Chief
P.O. Box 6481, Providence, RI 02940

Maria Turner 
Chairperson of Natick Nipmuc Tribe
29 Gibson Street, Boston, MA 02122 

Elliot Simmons-Uvin
Liaison to Unified Nipmuc Working Group Natick Nipmuc/k Tribe
29 Gibson Street, Boston, MA 02122