Catholic bishops in Washington state share boarding school study with tribes

Catholic bishops have given tribal leaders a study looking at records from six Catholic boarding schools for Indigenous children in Washington state.

Yakama Nation Tribal Council Chair Gerald Lewis was among 10 tribal council chairs who received results of the study commissioned by the Washington State Catholic Conference, according to a news release.

The Sisters of Providence ran a boarding school for Indigenous children in what was then North Yakima from 1889-96. Officially known as St. Francis Xavier Indian Boarding School, it primarily included students from the Yakima and Kittitas valleys. The boarding school building for Indigenous children faced Naches Avenue between C and D streets.

Though enrollment grew quickly, it closed less than a decade later, when the nuns learned in July 1896 that the U.S. Department of the Interior would no longer subsidize private sectarian schools. The federal government had been paying for education of 50 Native students at the school, where enrollment reached 87 in the fall of 1891.

The Yakama Nation is among 10 tribes that agreed to have their names listed in the news release concerning the Native American Catholic Boarding Schools and Cemeteries Research Study. Student names were redacted for privacy, the release said.

Limited information on gravesites

The conference, comprised of the state's five Catholic bishops, commissioned the study. According to the release, it revealed:

• No specific examples of direct physical or sexual abuse were documented within the records of the dioceses or religious orders who served in the Native American schools. Abuse may have occurred, but specific instances were not documented in the records reviewed.
• Disease, lack of medical care in rural settings, insufficient food and manual labor were noted causes of death among students, faculty and staff. The records contain limited information regarding specific gravesites.
• The students at Native American Catholic boarding schools in Washington were subject to disparaging stereotypes perpetuated by the Church and society of the times.
• Most of the Catholic Native American boarding schools in Washington began with a small number of students, but all gradually grew until most served more than 100 students at peak enrollment.

Documents dating to early 1850s

The Catholic conference does not plan to share the full research report publicly. Tribes whose students attended Catholic-run boarding schools in Washington will determine if, when, and with whom they share the report.

"As we continue the journey to the truth, the WSCC recognizes the sacredness of tribal history. We understand that the stories in the research belong to the ancestors and families of tribal members," said Jean Hill, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference.

The other tribes receiving the study are the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, Quileute Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Tulalip, according to the release.

An independent senior researcher at Statistical Research Inc. conducted the study. The researcher could read original documents in French "and had an understanding of our shared history based on prior research projects at the Archdiocese of Seattle and work with Washington state tribes," the release said.

The researcher spent more than six months reading through approximately 20,000 documents dating to the early 1850s. They included available records from religious orders that taught at these schools.

As part of that, the researcher reviewed archival records for cemeteries associated with St. George's School and the Tulalip Reservation, according to wacatholics.org/research. The archives did not reveal any evidence of mass graves, the website said.

"The study is a first step toward a more complete understanding of the Catholic Church in Washington state's relationship with local tribes related to boarding schools," Hill said.

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