Episcopal Diocese of Alaska to Investigate the History of Church-Operated Boarding Schools for Indigenous Children

The Episcopal Diocese of Alaska says it will join a national effort to investigate the history of church-operated boarding schools for Indigenous children, according to APM.

Episcopal Diocese of Alaska Bishop Mark Lattime said the action was prompted by the discovery this summer of unmarked graves where Indigenous children were buried at Canadian boarding schools run by churches. The Episcopal Church was among those that ran boarding schools in Alaska and the Lower 48 in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Lattime said the church is going through archival records and will work with Alaska Native organizations to hear from former boarding school students and their descendants.

The Episcopal Church hosted a national webinar on Indigenous’ Peoples Day about boarding schools, during which speakers described cultural genocide.