The University of Montana, the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education, and the National Native Children’s Trauma Center are hosting a symposium for Montana educators, "Boarding Schools: Remembering Our Resiliency and Shared Knowledge for Trauma-Informed Learning," on September 30, 2022, the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools. The conference, a hybrid event combining in-person and virtual presenters and participants, will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with a keynote address by Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart and Dr. Deidre Yellowhair. Continuing education credits will be available for teachers who attend.
The conference coincides with the U.S. government's ongoing Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which Interior Secretary Deb Haaland created to investigate the scope of the boarding school system used as a tool of forced assimilation from the 1800s through the 1960s, severely disrupting Tribal families and communities. The first installment of the investigation’s report was released in May, and the Department has begun hosting gatherings to hear and document survivors’ accounts of their experiences in boarding schools.
“Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart pioneered the study of the collective traumas experienced by multiple generations of Indigenous North Americans,” Dr. Maegan Rides At The Door, Director of UM’s National Native Children’s Trauma Center, said. “We are honored to host her and her close collaborator, Dr. Yellowhair, as speakers for this event, which we hope will equip Montana educators with the skills to address the ongoing effects of historical traumas in our Tribal communities.”
The conference’s primary sessions will be accessible to both in-person and virtual attendees, and there will be additional breakout session workshops for in-person participants. There will also be teaching method workshops in the areas of history, language arts, science, art, media, and tribal languages.
“A national conversation about the boarding school system is long overdue,” Dr. Rides At The Door continued. “We want to take this opportunity to promote healing from collective trauma and to help prepare Native youth for this important but potentially disturbing conversation about the deaths, abuses, and intergenerational suffering created by the system. Montana educators are in a position to lead this effort.”
Additional sponsors for the conference include the Robert and Beverly Braig Family, UM’s Department of Native American Studies, the UM Office of the President, the UM Office of the Provost, and Missoula’s All Nations Health Center.
Click here to register for the conference.