In an historic first President Biden today delivered an apology for a US policy that

forcibly separated generations of indigenous children from their families

for more than 150 years, sending them to federally backed boarding schools for forced assimilation into white society.

I formally apologize as President of the United States of America.

Before we did.

I formally apologize.

I have a solemn responsibility

to be the first President to formally apologize

to the Native peoples.

Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans,

and federal Indian boarding schools.

It's long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there's no excuse that this

apology took 50 years to make. The Federal Indian Board School Policy, the pain it is caused, will always be a significant

mark of shame, a blot on American history.

Interior Secretary Deb Holland launched an investigation into the boarding school system

shortly after she became the first Native American to lead the department.

The investigation uncovered generations of abuse and trauma and the deaths of at least 973 Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children who attended the boarding schools.

The Washington Post's Dana Hedgepath has been covering the story

and she attended the ceremony today in Arizona.

And she joins us now. Thanks for being with us.

This is a part of US history

that most Americans know little about

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