The governor’s office issued a proclamation declaring Sept. 30, 2026, “A Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools.”
The proclamation notes this year marks the nation’s 250th anniversary and says that from 1819 through the 1960s the United States government funded over 526 Indian boarding schools, removing children as young as 3 years old from their homes; Native families were often prohibited from visiting or communicating with their children, and many children who died while attending boarding school were buried in unmarked graves.
The proclamation says the schools were designed to forcibly strip Native children of identities, beliefs and languages in a sweeping effort to “kill the Indian, save the man”; it says assimilation aimed to produce a class of domestic, service and factory workers.
The proclamation states that 13 boarding schools were established in California and that children from the state were sent as far as Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania; it adds one of the 13 institutions still operates in California today but now, the proclamation says, seeks to embrace Native identities rather than stifle them.
The proclamation urges Californians to honor victims and survivors by remembering the children taken from families and reflecting on how to address the ongoing impacts of the boarding‑school era.
The document bears Governor ’s signature and the attestation of Secretary of State ; a copy of the proclamation appears on the governor’s office website.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 2 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
State
Shirley N. Weber
Secretary of State · Democrat
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Sources & methodology
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