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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

CLASSIC: The Forced Assimilation of Native People

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.310.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For centuries the U.S. government conspired to persecute, attack and marginalize the native population. When open warfare became too expensive, some factions of the government proposed a different approach -- what if, they wondered, we erase native culture? This inspired a massive industry of forced assimilation. Thousands of children were forced into boarding schools where they were taught to act more 'European' while being abused, exploited and placed into forced labor. Tune in to learn more about the conspiracy of forced assimilation, and how its long-reaching consequences affect the country in the modern day.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Fellow conspiracy realist, we are returning with a story that is harrowing to explore,

0:08.0

but very much needs to be told. It's the story of Native people and First Nations and forced

0:15.6

assimilation in multiple points in U.S. history. It's real, it's not one conspiracy. It's a series of

0:22.6

conspiracies, and the consequences of these continue in the modern day. Yeah, it is one of the

0:28.0

most heartbreaking aspects of the history of this country, for sure. Yeah, and we're going to get

0:34.3

into it in the episode here. There's been a lot of news about this subject since May 2020, where more and more revelations have occurred since we recorded this. So we would just encourage you to listen and then do your own research afterwards. A quick cursory Google search will find news story after news story of revelations from countries across the world, not just the U.S.

0:59.2

And with that, we're going to pause for a word from our sponsor, and we'll return.

1:05.4

This is an IHeart podcast.

1:09.3

On a cold January day in 1995, 18-year-old Krista Pike killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in the woods of Knoxville, Tennessee.

1:20.4

Since her conviction, Krista has been sitting on death row.

1:24.1

How does someone prove that they deserve to live?

1:27.1

We are starting the recording now.

1:29.0

Please state your first and last name. Christa Pike. Listen to Unrestorable Season 2,

1:36.8

Proof of Life, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:45.1

On America's Crime Lab, the podcast, we're revealing the true story of the Idaho

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4.

1:50.1

I was so frantic that morning and scared that the person who did this would come from me next.

1:55.0

They were struggling to identify a direction, a person of interest.

1:59.4

And I said, why wouldn't we work this case?

2:02.1

This three-part series features never before heard interviews about a crime that shook the

2:06.4

nation and the forensics lab that cracked the case wide open.

2:10.3

Listen to America's Crime Lab on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

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