PHOENIX — President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated Indian children from their parents, calling it “blot on American history” in his first visit to Native Country.
“It's a sin on our soul,” said Biden, his voice full of anger and emotion. “Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make.”
Biden spoke of the abuses and deaths of native children that resulted from the federal government's policies, as he noted that the shameful history remained unknown and needed to be told. The president detailed how his policies have sought to support Native Americans with jobs and new infrastructure.
Democrats hope Biden's visit to the Gila River Indian Community’s land on the outskirts of metro Phoenix in Arizona will also provide a boost to Vice President Kamala Harris' turnout effort in a key battleground state.
Biden, whose presidency is winding down, had promised tribal leaders nearly two years ago that he would make a visit to Indian Country.
The president, in an exchange with reporters Thursday before departing for Arizona, said an apology for the U.S. government’s role in the abuse and neglect of Native children was “something that should have been done a long time ago." For decades, federal boarding schools were used to assimilate children into white society, according to the White House.
The moment will also give Biden a chance to spotlight his and Harris' support for tribal nations, a group that historically has favored Democrats, in a state he won just by 10,000 votes in 2020.
The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump is expected to be similarly close, and both campaigns are doing whatever they can to improve turnout among bedrock supporters.
“The race is now a turnout grab,” said Mike O’Neil, a non-partisan pollster based in Arizona. “The trendlines throughout have been remarkably steady. The question is which candidate is going to be able to turn out their voters in a race that seems to be destined to be decided by narrow margins.”
Biden has been used sparingly on the campaign trail by Harris and other Democrats since he ended his reelection campaign in July.
But analysts say Biden could help Harris in her appeal with Native American voters — a group that has trailed others in turnout rates.
In 2020, there was a surge in voter turnout on some tribal land in Arizona as Biden beat Trump and became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Biden is making the visit in his official capacity, and a formal apology — something tribes have long sought — seems certain to garner attention among Native Americans across the country.
At least 973 Native American children died in the U.S. government’s abusive boarding school system over a 150-year period that ended in 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation that called for a U.S. government apology.
At least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were taken from their parents and forced to attend schools that sought to assimilate them.
“President Biden deserves credit for finally putting attention on the issue and other issues impacting the community,” said Ramona Charette Klein, 77, a boarding school survivor and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. “I do think that will reflect well on Vice President Harris, and I hope this momentum will continue.”
She added that whoever is the next president must follow up with concrete action and begin making amends for the devastation the boarding schools wrought on tribes.
Democrats have stepped up outreach to Native American communities.
Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, met with tribal leaders in Arizona and Nevada this month. And Clinton, who has been serving as a surrogate for Harris, last week met in North Carolina with the chairman of the Lumbee Tribe.
The Democratic National Committee recently launched a six-figure ad campaign targeting Native American voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska through digital, print and radio ads.
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is locked in a competitive race with Republican Kari Lake for Arizona's open Senate seat, has visited all 22 of Arizona's federally recognized tribes.
Harris started a recent campaign rally in Chandler, near where the Gila River reservation is located, with a shoutout to the tribe's leader.
She also reminded the crowd that she was the first vice president to visit the reservation. She and husband Doug Emhoff visited the community last year.
“I strongly believe that the relationship between tribal nations and the United States is sacred ... and that we must honor tribal sovereignty, embrace our trust in treaty obligations, and ensure tribal self-determination,” Harris said.
The White House says Biden and Harris have built a substantial track record with Native Americans over the last four years.
He designated the sacred Avi Kwa Ame, a desert mountain in Nevada and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon in Arizona as national monuments and restored the boundaries for Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
In addition, the administration has directed nearly $46 billion in federal spending to tribal nations. The money has helped bring electricity to a reservation that never had electricity, expand access to high-speed internet, improve water sanitation, build roadways and more.
Biden picked former New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to serve as his Interior secretary, the first Native American to be appointed to a Cabinet position. Haaland is a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.
She, in turn, ordered the comprehensive review in June 2021 of the troubled legacy of the federal government's boarding school policies that is leading Biden to deliver the formal apology.
“He made commitments to Indian Country, and he has followed through on every single one of those commitments,” Haaland said.
Thom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University, said both Harris' and Trump's campaigns — and their allies — have put a remarkable amount of effort into micro-targeting in Arizona.
Harris, Reilly noted, has also focused on whittling away at Trump's advantage among Mormon voters in the state, a group that historically has favored Republicans. Trump, meanwhile, has put special focus on young men as the campaign tries to narrow Democrats' advantage with younger voters.
“They are pulling out every stop just to see if they could wrangle a few more votes here and there,” Reilly said. “The Indian community is one of those groups that Harris is hoping will overperform and help make the difference.”