Native American elders recall abuse at US government boarding schools

Elders testify in Oklahoma about beatings, whippings and sexual abuse at institutions that sought to assimilate Native children

Native American tribal elders who were once students at government-backed Indian boarding schools testified Saturday in Oklahoma about the hardships they endured, including beatings, whippings, sexual assaults, forced haircuts and hurtful nicknames.

They came from different states and different tribes, but they shared the common experience of having attended the schools that were designed to strip Indigenous people of their cultural identities.