Rep. Tom Cole
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) on Feb. 3 sponsored bipartisan legislation that would establish a commission to formally investigate, document, and report on the histories of boarding schools operated by the United States government from 1819 through the 1970s to assimilate Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children by forcibly removing them from their families, communities, and cultural beliefs.
“For years, Indian boarding schools forcibly removed Native children from their families, stripped them of their heritage, and, in many cases, took their lives. Yet, for far too long, little has been known about these Indian boarding schools, and these stories have been kept in the shadows,” Rep. Cole said. “This silence cannot go on. We must bring light to this dark chapter in our nation’s history — and this bill is critical to doing that.”
Rep. Cole introduced the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2026, H.R. 7325, alongside lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS). The members are co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus.
“I would like to thank… Congresswoman Davids for her collaboration on this legislation, as we work to hopefully bring tribal communities one step closer to the answers they deserve,” said Rep. Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the longest-serving Native American in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In total, there were more than 526 government-funded and church-run Indian boarding schools, and by 1926, nearly 86 percent of Indian school-age children were forcibly attending these schools. Yet little is known about what happened at these boarding schools or what happened to the Native children who attended them, the summary says.
If enacted, the commission under H.R. 7325 also would formally investigate the policies of Indian boarding schools, and the long-term effects the schools and policies had on Native American peoples, and develop recommendations for federal efforts based on the findings, as well as offer answers and healing for survivors, the descendants of survivors, and the communities of survivors, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
“Establishing a Truth and Healing Commission would bring survivors, experts, federal partners, and tribal leaders together to fully understand what happened to our relatives and to take meaningful steps toward a more honest and hopeful future for the next seven generations,” said Rep. Davids, a member of the Wisconsin Ho-Chunk Nation and one of the first two Native women ever elected to Congress.