What it does
To lead in the pursuit of understanding and addressing the ongoing trauma created by the u.s. Indian boarding school policy.
Oral history project - in a cooperative agreement with the department of the interior, nabs continues its historic oral history project (ohp) to give boarding school survivors from around the country the opportunity to speak their truth about boarding school experiences and impacts for the first permanent collection of oral histories that will be publicly accessible. The multi-year project is led by the ohp team along with sky bear media as they travel to over twenty states to meet and interview boarding school survivors. Seven week-long site visits were completed during the fiscal year, including trips to new york, michigan, hawaii, kansas, nevada, wisconsin, and south dakota. As of september 2025, 263 oral history interviews have been completed with boarding school survivors since the beginning of the project.at each site visit, the ohp team engages the relatives of the homeland in leading ceremonies, advising on cultural traditions, and guiding healing support for each site visit. An opening ceremony was held at each site visit which engaged 398 guests and a closing ceremony concluded each week that engaged 447 guests. Many have conveyed the importance of documenting these histories and have underscored the importance for this work to continue beyond the current project timeline.
Healing - nabs work is unique in that it is anchored in traditional indigenous ways of knowing and being, while complemented with contemporary resources to assist native peoples to heal from intergenerational trauma. Every aspect of the process has been developed to honor and respect all participants, foster collaboration at multiple levels, centrally position reciprocity, and to cultivate kinship relationships. Online virtual healing circles were held monthly facilitated by one member of the healing team along with two native licensed therapists. An average of 20 boarding school survivors from various tribal nations across the u.s. Participated in the virtual circles. The feedback from participants has been that they want to keep the circle going because it has helped them to feel connected, understood and hopeful. Nabs established healing informed resources for self-care & trauma now available on the website and shared with participants.this year also focused on developing more safe spaces for boarding school survivors and descendants to explore culture and artistic expression. With the support from the national endowment for the arts (nea), the healing team was able to work closely with 5 master native artists to teach traditional art forms. The team successfully implemented online classes focusing on moccasin making and healing through song, with a total of 45 participants thus far. This project is guided by the wisdom of 5 health ambassadors: dedicated advocates for the healing power of the arts in our communities. Nabs has learned from boarding school survivors and descendants that receiving a care package filled with culturally relevant and useful indigenous-made products enhances wellbeing, reduces isolation, and increases community connectedness. Care packages to support on-going healing were sent to 216 elders this year, including the survivors who were interviewed for the oral history project.with the continued support of northwest indian college offering
Digital archives - the digital archives team continues to expand the national indian boarding school digital archives (nibsda); an indigenous-governed platform designed to digitize, preserve, and share boarding school records and survivor testimonies. Nibsda addresses the national fragmentation of archival materials and re-centers control in the hands of native communities. The digital archives team maintained a high level of momentum in building nibsda this past year with over 100,000 pages of records scanned and preserved.the indigenous digital archives previously maintained by the museum of indian arts and culture in new mexico has been successfully transferred to nabs, preserving and expanding access to materials centered on the southwest region of the united states, particularly records related to federal and church-operated indian boarding schools, indian agencies, and tribal land governance. The digital archives team supported a significant research trip to marquette university that brought together oglala sioux tribal members, mapya lta representatives, and community advisors to engage directly with archival collections documenting holy rosary mission and red cloud indian school. More than 120 boxes of holy rosary records and 22 boxes of red cloud school materials dating from the late 19th century were reviewed. During the seneca indian school annual alumni meeting in june 2025, the digital archives team collaborated with the wyandotte nation to implement the community voices project. Partnering with sky bear media, eight in-depth oral histories were recorded with seneca indian school alumni and descendants, capturing personal accounts of boarding school experiences and their intergenerational impacts. These interviews have been edited and are in queue for preservation in nibsda. Nabs' digital archives team has also hosted and attended tribal consultations and listening sessions in minnesota, gathering feedback to inform ongoing work at pipestone national mo