WEBVTT 00:02.333 --> 00:04.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: For the first time, the U.S. government released a report this month detailing 00:04.900 --> 00:08.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% the abuse and mistreatment of native children who were forcibly sent to boarding schools in the 00:08.233 --> 00:13.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% 1800s. Our St. Louis Community reporter, Gabrielle Hays has been reporting on one school in Missouri, 00:14.766 --> 00:17.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that fits into this painful history. And Gabrielle joins us now. 00:17.333 --> 00:19.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So tell us more about this boarding school, 00:19.033 --> 00:23.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the St. Regis Seminary opened in 1824. What did your reporting uncover? 00:25.933 --> 00:28.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GABRIELLE HAYS: Yeah, so we learned at this school, as you said, opened in 1824. 00:30.500 --> 00:33.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it later closed in 1831. So it wasn't open for that long. Well, we do know 00:36.000 --> 00:39.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% is that, you know, what was promised, the idea from the beginning was that these schools were, 00:41.700 --> 00:46.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% "going to provide an education." But the research shows what's reflected in this 00:48.333 --> 00:51.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% report from the Department of Interior, which is that that wasn't that the case that these 00:53.900 --> 00:57.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% children were specifically at St. Regis worked long hours in fields, they did manual labor. 00:59.766 --> 01:03.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And now also, many of them were also abused physically, violence, there was violence in 01:05.733 --> 01:10.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these schools, and then one here, Missouri, and so we kind of work to piece together what 01:10.233 --> 01:14.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% happened in those seven years, as much as we could, and for the most part from letters. 01:14.866 --> 01:19.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% GEOFF BENNETT: And this was a Jesuit school. So how have the Jesuits 01:19.033 --> 01:22.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% responded? And how are they reconciling with their past? 01:22.000 --> 01:26.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GABRIELLE HAYS: Yeah, so it was the Society of Jesus, that open this school, and they actually 01:26.633 --> 01:31.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% opened more than one across the parts of the country. And so we've been in communication with 01:33.633 --> 01:37.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the Jesuits. And we know that they released a statement, I believe, last year, kind of 01:37.600 --> 01:42.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% acknowledging what happened at these schools. But recently, more recently, I believe in January, 01:44.666 --> 01:48.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they brought in a researcher that's going to be based here in St. Louis. And that person 01:48.166 --> 01:52.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% is supposed to take a look at the history, the Jesuits involvement and kind of piece together 01:54.966 --> 01:58.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that story. And so we've worked with them in some of that work, but it will be important to see 02:00.233 --> 02:03.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% what they are able to uncover and sort of release because 02:04.966 --> 02:08.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we were able to piece together the story through records and things that they kept. 02:08.133 --> 02:12.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so we're waiting to kind of see what else they have and what else we can learn. 02:12.066 --> 02:16.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: So put this into the larger context for us, because the Department of the Interior, 02:16.800 --> 02:21.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as you will know, it says Native American children are forced into assimilation at 408 02:23.800 --> 02:26.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% boarding schools, federal boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. 02:26.133 --> 02:29.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% GABRIELLE HAYS: Yeah. And I think it's important also to note, 02:29.333 --> 02:34.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that report makes it clear that there are 408 that they have included, but that number 02:34.300 --> 02:38.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% could possibly grow. And so I think that that's important. 02:38.233 --> 02:42.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You know, in reading that report, it was so striking because so many of the things 02:42.133 --> 02:47.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that we were able to uncover, whether it was assimilation tactics, or the promises that 02:49.200 --> 02:52.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% were made or the experience of the children, or some of the language that that was used in 02:54.800 --> 02:57.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% these letters to justify what happened at the schools. We could see the reading that letter, 02:59.866 --> 03:02.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% reading that report that would happen in St. Louis, would happen in Florissant, 03:04.233 --> 03:06.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it wasn't just our story, it was a story that happened across several states. 03:08.100 --> 03:12.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And so it's -- St Louis has a chapter but it's a much bigger story. 03:13.800 --> 03:16.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: Our St. Louis Community Reporter Gabrielle 03:16.233 --> 03:18.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Hays. Gabby, thanks so much for being with us. 03:18.300 --> 03:19.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% GABRIELLE HAYS: Thank you. 03:19.800 --> 03:22.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: And you can read Gabrielle's full story, 03:22.466 --> 03:27.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% her brilliant reporting on our website pbs.org/news hour.