Representatives from four of Minnesota’s six dioceses, including three bishops, and Native American leaders from across the state met Dec. 9 in Onamia to discuss how the Church and tribes can work together to understand more fully the experience of indigenous children in Catholic Church-run boarding schools in Minnesota in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said that the discovery this year of unmarked graves near Canadian residential schools for indigenous children has re-opened in Minnesota and elsewhere “old wounds in the Native American community about the trauma that many suffered due to a system that sometimes involuntarily removed children from their homes and tribes and sent them to far-away boarding schools.”

Through the MCC, the bishops reached out to the state’s tribal leaders, Adkins said, “to invite collaboration about how we can work together and journey toward the truth of what happened, with a focus on archives and discerning whether there are any unmarked graves here in Minnesota.”

Attending the three-hour meeting in person were Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston and Bishop Daniel Felton of Duluth, as well as Crosier Father Jerry Schik of the Diocese of St. Cloud. Leaders from all 11 of the state’s Indian tribes were present in person or via Zoom.

According to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, Minnesota had 15 Indian boarding schools. At least eight of them were run by Catholic religious orders or dioceses.

Adkins said the bishops invited the tribal leaders “to identify how they would like to proceed related to records and archive review.”

“Their primary goals are identifying the students who attended the schools and to discover if there are any unmarked graves, as well as to repatriate any bodies back to their places of origin on the reservation,” he said.

In August, staff members of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis began reviewing documents in its archives related to the Clontarf Industrial School in west-central Minnesota. Archdiocesan officials founded the school near St. Paul in 1874 and moved it to Clontarf in 1877. From 1884 to 1892, the school contracted with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to educate 60 Indian boys per year, according to a 1956 article published in Minnesota History Magazine. A memorial in St. Malachy Cemetery in Clontarf lists the names of 14 Indian boys who died while attending the school.

Minnesota is home to seven Anishinaabe reservations and four Dakota communities. Anishinaabe tribal nations include the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation and White Earth Nation. Dakota tribal nations include Lower Sioux Indian Community, Prairie Island Indian Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Upper Sioux Community.

In a statement to The Catholic Spirit, tribal chairwoman Cathy Chavers of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa said she appreciates the willingness of Archbishop Hebda and the MCC to work with tribes “to further the process of healing concerning the Boarding School era.”

“We cannot change the history of what our people endured, but because they endured — we are here. However, the stories of those who experienced this firsthand, and the records of what exactly happened, are being lost to history,” she said. “We look forward to working with the Church to find and preserve what documents exist and to make sure that the stories of our families are accurately told and recorded for posterity.”

Chavers, who is also president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, continued: “It is likely that during this process of discovery hard and hurtful truths will be revealed. We want all of the stories to be told and the truth to be known. None of this would be possible without the willingness of the Church to partner with us on this journey.

“We hope that the willingness of the Catholic Church to work with Tribes is a model for others that engaged in the Boarding School policies to follow and embrace,” she said.

Archbishop Hebda expressed his “gratitude that the state’s tribal leaders were willing to host the meeting and share insights into both the impact that the boarding schools had on their families and the ripples that continue to be felt in their communities.”

“In emphasizing the importance of family life and the dignity of the human person, the tribal leaders struck chords that deeply resonated with our Catholic social teaching,” he said.

Archbishop Hebda said he hopes that “this first respectful step will lead to a collaboration that enables us to shine the light of truth on a difficult chapter in Minnesota history in a way that will both build trust and facilitate healing.”

Bishop Cozzens, who had been installed bishop of Crookston only three days before the meeting, said he “was honored to sit and listen to tribal leaders from the state of Minnesota share some of the painful history of the boarding school experiences which are so much a part of their living memory.”

“It was, in my experience, a very open and helpful dialogue, even though these are difficult topics to discuss,” he said in a statement to The Catholic Spirit. “Like other times when I have worked with those who have been hurt by actions of those in authority, often members of the Church, it is hard to hear those stories. Yet I know that telling those stories is very important. I hope that this will lead to a process that might bring some healing and reconciliation. We all committed ourselves to an open discovery of the history and to further dialogue in the future.”

One of the Church leaders’ goals, Adkins said, “is to journey together to gain a deeper and mutual understanding regarding what happened at residential schools managed by the Church or Catholic religious orders — the good and the bad.”

“It is a complicated history,” he continued. “But when we understand it better, we can identify constructive next steps.”