Survivors have been given the opportunity to share their experiences to help others understand the true history of the boarding school experience. Through a cooperative agreement with the Department of the Interior, this unprecedented effort is a crucial part of the DOI’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.

As Co-Directors of the Oral History Project, Kinnart and Brissette lead the strategic direction, implementation, and oversight of a national initiative to document Indian boarding school survivor histories. They manage monthly, week-long site visits across the country, each including an Opening Ceremony, an average of 24 survivor interviews, and a Closing Ceremony.

 Their responsibilities include national outreach and partnership development, coordination with Tribal Nations and federal partners, staff, and logistics management, and ensuring all work is conducted in a culturally grounded, healing-informed, and survivor-centered manner. They also oversee interview protocols, consent processes, and post-production efforts, including transcript review, video editing, and archival preparation for permanent collections.

“All interviews we received were a gift – Indian boarding school survivors and alumni do not owe their stories to anyone; however, our Oral History Project team provides a safe and sacred space to share their stories,” Brissette said. “We hear from relatives that have dealt with extreme trauma, and we hear stories of profound resilience and hope. We know and honor that ALL stories deserve to be heard. All our elders have stories to share.”

“There were counselors on hand to debrief, crafts, a quiet room and finished up with a glamor photo shoot for the participants to cherish,” Silvas said. “They took what might have been a tragic situation and gave them hope for healing. Seeing pictures on a slideshow and hearing actual stories through the eyes of those that attended these boarding schools was very heartfelt. I pray these families can start to heal.”

“Although she didn’t share many stories with us about her time there, she did tell us that her roommate was Sophie ‘Cuca’ Salazar of Soboba,” she said.

Mike Madrigal from the Cahuilla Band of Indians provided the opening and closing prayers for the week-long project. He thought it was nice that the opportunity was offered to those who wanted to share so they could process their experiences.

“Because of our Native ways, we know that gathering has a spiritual impact for everybody. It’s up to Creator to give people insight into whether they were going to participate and find a healing journey,” he said. “It’s about both healing and celebrating positive experiences; they can share all sides.”

Soboba Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Geneva Mojado said although both of her parents attended boarding school at Sherman Indian School, her mother was too young to give testimony and her father did not want to participate.

“Both had good experiences though; they have built relationships with other Natives across the United States,” she said. “It’s important to tell the true history of what occurred at boarding schools. Sometimes sharing helps with the trauma. It’s time we tell our own stories and not let Hollywood or anyone for that matter speak on our behalf.”

Mojado said the project representatives shared a map of all the boarding schools in California, and she was shocked about how many there were. NABS created a first-of-its-kind interactive digital map that shows all the Indian boarding schools in the United States as well as all the residential schools in Canada. This major project took many years and was in partnership with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

“The work they are doing is really leading the movement for truth, justice and healing!” she said. “THE NABS crew mentioned that Soboba was one of the best hosts; Soboba Casino Resort staff and the facility were top notch.”

Each team member at the Coalition is connected to Indian boarding schools. Charlee Brissette’s mother, uncles, and cousins attended the boarding school in Harbor Springs, Michigan, known as Holy Childhood of Jesus School. That school ran until it was finally closed in 1983. Charlee, who started working with NABS as an Oral Historian, was fortunate enough to interview her mother for the Oral History Project.

Lacey Kinnart’s grandmother, great aunts and uncles, and cousins attended Indian boarding schools including Holy Childhood of Jesus School, Mt. Pleasant Industrial School, Flandreau Indian School, and Carlisle Industrial School.

The Oral History Project began site visits a little over two years ago – in March of 2024. The recording of oral histories is set to be completed at the end of June, at which point the team will transition to post-production to finalize and deliver all the interviews.

At its conclusion, NABS will have visited 22 sites across the country in 19 states, with nearly 400 survivors sharing their stories. The time where all interviews will be made available to the public through the Library of Congress has yet to be determined.

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) was officially incorporated in 2012 and was created to address the impacts of the U.S. Indian boarding school system.

“Our Education and Research Department has a project creating Volume 2 curriculum for elementary, middle, and high schools,” Brissette said. “The high school curriculum that matches education standards for Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington was recently released. Grade school and middle school are coming soon.”

The National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive (NIBSDA) is a large ongoing living being as the digital archive team continues to travel to archives across the U.S. to find and scan/digitize boarding school records, documents, photographs, and reports. More information on this project can be found at https://nibsda.elevator.umn.edu.

To learn more about the Oral History Project, please visit boardingschoolhealing.org/oral-history-project.

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 These gifts were presented to the men upon arrival at the luncheon that featured nachos and soft tacos made to order with choices of meat, cheese, olives and sliced jalapeño peppers. There was fresh fruit and churros for dessert. Horchata and watermelon water were also available. The meal was prepared by the kitchen team of Jacob Rivera, Arturo Horta and Perry DeRonde.

A heartfelt blessing was given by John Osuna from the Pauma Band of Mission Indians who was there with son Pomoyki Osuna Sr. and grandson Pomoyki Jr., which means “his moon” in the Luiseño language. “As an elder, I was blessed to be asked to name him,” said Osuna, who has a special connection to the Soboba reservation as all his children graduated from Noli Indian School there.

Prior to the meal, John had prayed for the little ones on their process and production on life’s trail. “I was honored to be asked to give the blessing and grateful to be Pomoyki’s dad and my little paws’ grandfather,” he said. He also asked for blessing for all that were there and for all who are sick to have a healthful recovery and to bless the hands that prepared the food.

Julian Briones has two children currently attending the school. Ava’vash is in kindergarten, set to graduate on June 6, and Chaish is in pre-k. “All my kids came here,” said Briones, who is the father of four boys and one girl with Chaish being his youngest child.

One of the gift items from his daughter was a laminated sheet she filled out that was “All About My Dad!” and Briones said her answers were pretty spot on. She knew his job was with Public Works and that his favorite color is red and said his favorite food is “anything.” She completed the sentence, I love my dad because…“he loves me.”

Briones’ plans for Father’s Day on June 16 include spending time with his own dad and brothers. “We usually get together as a family and get a water slide for the kids to play on,” he said.

Ricardo Macias enjoyed the portrait his son Legend, 6, had drawn of him. He said plans are to keep Father’s Day weekend “pretty low key” as he will be hosting a basketball tournament at San Jacinto High School on Saturday, June 15, which is open to players from all over.

Glenn Lindsey shared the preschool event with his daughter Avareign, 6, and her grandfather Ray Peterson. “I’ve got one more grandchild starting preschool next year,” said the grandfather of three.

Soboba Tribal Council Chairman Isaiah Vivanco shared the day with his son, two sons-in-law and five of his nine grandchildren who attend the preschool. He said he and other family members will be attending the annual San Pasqual Reservation Gathering in Valley Center on June 15 and playing peon games well into the night so no big plans are being made for the following day. He just plans to spend more time with family.

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