Hundreds of Native American children died in Indian boarding schools, report finds

Native American children at the U.S.'s 408 federal Indian boarding schools suffered whippings, sexual abuse, manual labor and severe malnourishment between 1819 and 1969 as part of the American government's campaign to compel their assimilation, according to a report released Wednesday by the Interior Department.

The big picture: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland authorized an investigation into the U.S.'s Indian boarding school system after the discovery of Indigenous children's remains at an old Canadian residential school site renewed attention on Americas' history of genocide against Indigenous peoples. The probe has since identified marked or unmarked burial sites at roughly 53 different schools.