Warm Springs, OR -- The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is responding to Friday’s historic apology by President Biden for atrocities committed at the nation’s Indian boarding schools.

Tribal Council Chair Jonathan W. Smith says his community appreciates the long-overdue acknowledgement of harms committed at the facilities, and called Biden’s words an important step in their collective healing.

Over 150 years, at least 18,000 Native children were pulled from their families and forced to assimilate. Nearly a thousand reportedly died. 

Here is Smith's full statement:

"For generations, our people have carried the weight and suffering from this historical injustice carried out against us by the federal government and religious institutions. These boarding schools sanctioned unspeakable emotional, physical and cultural harm against us, forcing us to carry this pain in silence.

We appreciate the President’s historic and long-overdue acknowledgement of these harms and the government’s formal apology. This is an important first step in our collective healing.

But the true measure of these words will be in the actions that come from them. We look forward to working together on concrete commitments that demonstrate a genuine redress of this deliberate pain."