Let’s Talk New Mexico 7/22 8am: Earlier this month, a plaque that marked the burial place of Indigenous children who died at the Albuquerque Indian School went missing. At the same time, Native American boarding schools have been in the national news after forensic technology revealed thousands of previously unknown graves of Native American children throughout the US and Canada. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll be discussing the legacy of these so-called Indian schools by looking into their racist history, as well as showing how New Mexico’s Indigenoustribes have repurposed some of the sites to fulfill positive roles in their communities’ future.
And we want to hear from you. Did you or a family member attend one of New Mexico’s Native American boarding schools? What stories, good or bad, would you like to share? And how do you think we should memorialize the children who died at these schools, far from their families and homes? Email us at LetsTalk@KUNM.org, or call in live during the show.
Guests:
- Jolene Holgate- Training and Education Director, Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women
- Dr. John Gram- Author of Education at the Edge of Empire: Negotiating Pueblo Identity in New Mexico's Indian Boarding Schools
- Mike Canfield- CEO of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
- Hon. Regis Pecos- Co-founder and Co-director of the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute
Resources:
- Native American Education: Topics in Chronicling America
- Albuquerque Indian School and Indian Child Removal- Albuquerque Museum Online Exhibit
- History of the New Mexico Indian Education Act
- Yazzie/Martinez Lawsuit Decision- 2018 Ruling That Found That New Mexico Failed to Provide Adequate Education for Native American Children