Yasmine Al Massri Instagram – There is no other side to look at, away from the world we live in.. no other way to live all while preserving our human dignity.. @joyannreid #americanhistory is utterly savage. . Repost from @washingtonpost • For the U.S. government, forcing a Western education on Native American children was the pathway to what officials called “civilization.” At least 523 Indian boarding schools were established in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Religious groups received federal contracts to operate about a third of them. Families were often coerced by federal agents or priests to send their children. The children were banned from speaking any language but English. They were forced to abandon their customs, dress in Western clothing — some in military-style uniforms — and convert to Christianity. After two critical government reports, most of the Indian boarding schools closed. By then, generations of Native Americans had attended. Many children and their families were left deeply scarred. “We want to know what happened to our grandmothers, our parents, our family members. We’ve been lied to. We want to know the truth. We need to begin to heal,” said Deborah Parker, chief executive of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. Read more by tapping the link in our bio.