Naming Truths of Racial Injustice: Examining Future Catholic Clergy’s Understandings of Native American Boarding Schools (Poster 10)

• In Event: Invited Division G Vice Presidential Poster Session

Abstract

Despite increased public discussion in the United States and Canada about racial justice work in relation to assimilative Indigenous boarding and residential schools, there remain significant gaps in understanding about the histories and legacies of these institutions among non-Native American Catholics. Uncovering these gaps and sharing them with Native American Catholic schools today engaging in truth and healing processes helps shift the dominant power dynamics in Catholicism to confront the trauma of racism and genocide through assimilative education. This qualitative study examines how future Catholic clergy members understand the histories, legacy, and current issues surrounding Native American Catholic boarding schools.

Author

• Katherine M. Ward, Michigan State University