The Family Weekly: America’s Dark History of Native American Assimilation Schools
Plus: Twins who aren’t quite identical or fraternal, and the story of pen pals who have kept in touch in the digital age
(Courtesy of Bad River Historic Preservation Office and Mary Annette Pember)
This Week in Family
Two hundred years ago this week, Congress passed the Civilization Fund Act of 1819. It marked the start of an official government program that authorized Christian missionaries to set up boarding schools for Native Americans aimed at teaching them “good moral character.” In effect, the policy legalized the forcible separation of Native American children from their parents, and the
