Ernestine Lane from the Lummi Nation receives a gift after sharing her experiences at the Tulalip Gathering Hall on Sunday in Tulalip. (Juan Pablo Chiquiza)
By Ashley Hiruko and Isolde Raftery, KUOW, April 24, 2023
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland was at the Tulalip Indian reservation north of Seattle on Sunday, listening to survivors of boarding schools share stories of what they and their families endured.
Jewell James, a Lummi tribal member and master carver, shared what happened to his mother at Cushman Boarding School in Puyallup, during the Depression. His mother ended up at the school at the age of 3, he said, and she was kept in the basement.
"She would have to hide in the corner and hope the rats wouldn’t get her,” James said.
Washington state was the sixth stop on Haaland’s Road to Healing tour. The year-long cross country endeavor is intended to add to what is in the government record. It also provides Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native survivors of the boarding schools a chance to share their stories and provide them access to trauma-informed care.
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