Church apologizes for Native boarding schools

Published 1:39 am Tuesday, October 25, 2016

FAIRBANKS — The Presbyterian Church of America has apologized for the experiences of Native Americans at boarding schools that had ties to the church.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported a group of people who attend a Presbyterian church in the state gave the official apology at the end of the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention on Saturday.

Convention co-chairman Jerry Isaac thanked the church and said he hoped other governments and groups take similar action.

The apology calls the boarding schools an ill-conceived system of assimilation and cites the physical, sexual and emotional abuse that took place.