Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Education

Major

Educational Practice

Date of Defense

7-14-2025

Graduate Advisor

Dr. Theresa Coble, Ph.D.

Committee

Dr. Keith Miller, Ph.D.

Dr. Lisa Overholser, Ph.D.

Lisa Conard Frost

Christina Cid, Ph.D.

Abstract

Indigenous communities have endured the long-standing impacts of U.S. Federal Indian boarding school policy. The history of Indigenous boarding school policies and the underlying intent to enact cultural genocide is unknown and unacknowledged. The perspectives of Indigenous Peoples have been excluded from dominant narratives, and until recently, from heritage site programming, leading to intergenerational trauma, fragmented identities, and the misrepresentation of Indigenous cultures and experiences. This basic qualitative study asked the question: When the four-truth framework, developed by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is applied to U.S. Federal Indian boarding school policy, Native American boarding school history, and Indigenous oral history and storywork in the U.S., how can emerging insights inform heritage site partnerships and programming? We conducted semi-structured Zoom interviews with three Indigenous respondents; created a database with more than 60 oral histories accessed from universities, Autry Museum of the American West, and YouTube archives; compiled multi-day Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Healing Summit transcripts; and referenced volumes one and two of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Reports. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we generated the following findings: Indigenous oral histories provide access to the experiences of boarding school survivors; authentic listening creates space for acknowledgment, empathy, and trust building; and through deep partnerships, heritage sites can recalibrate power dynamics and demonstrate cultural humility. This doctoral dissertation examines the history of U.S. Federal Indian boarding school policy through two unique pathways: a scholarly article and a creative nonfiction chapter. The article examines the understandings and actions that non-Indigenous People must cultivate if they are to create conditions conducive to social healing. The creative nonfiction chapter applies a four-truth lens, developed by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to uncover truths surrounding Indigenous boarding school history and the authentic truth-telling work and resurgence of Indigenous People as they engage with this history. The findings underscore the importance of non-Indigenous People developing understanding, empathy, acknowledgement, and connection to Indigenous People through exposure to the experiences of boarding school survivors, the perspectives of Indigenous communities today, and the role of heritage interpretation and storytelling in fostering social healing.

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