On Friday in Arizona, Joe Biden became the first American President to formally apologize to the Native Americans in the country for the treatment of their ancestors.
The atrocities committed against the people who lived in the United States prior to the formation of the country has long been known. But no American President has ever taken the step of formally apologizing on the nation's behalf. But Biden ended that on Friday.
The President said while speaking to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, "After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program. But the federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened — until today. I formally apologize, as president of the United States of America, for what we did. I formally apologize,” Biden said. “That’s long overdue."
Biden continued:
"One of the most horrific chapters of American history. We should be ashamed! The vast majority of Americans don’t know about it. Generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know, with people they’d never met, who spoke a language they had never heard. Native communities silenced. Their children’s laughter and play were gone. Children who would arrive at schools, their clothes taken off, their hair that they were told was sacred, chopped off. Their names literally erased, replaced by a number or an English name."