Washington HR 4706: Recognizing Every Child Matters Day.

Bill Text

WHEREAS, Beginning with the Indian Civilization Act of 1819, 1
hundreds of thousands of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native 2
Hawaiian children were removed from their families, tribes, 3
communities, and villages and placed in more than 526 Indian boarding 4
schools across the United States until the 1960s; and5
WHEREAS, Between 1850 and 1930, at least twenty-eight Indian 6
boarding schools, operated by the federal government or religious 7
missions, existed within the boundaries of Washington state, 8
including in Bellingham, Clallam, Port Gamble, Davenport, Federal 9
Way, Kettle Falls, Mora, Neah Bay, Oakville, Olympia, Omak, Priest 10
Point, Squaxin Island, Swinomish, Tacoma, Taholah, Tonasket, Tulalip 11
Bay, Ward, White Swan, and Yakima; and12
WHEREAS, Indigenous children from Washington state were also sent 13
to asylums, orphanages, and other facilities far from their homes, 14
including to Idaho, Montana, and Oregon; and15
WHEREAS, Indian boarding schools aimed to culturally assimilate 16
Indigenous children through practices that caused systemic 17
destruction of Indigenous identities, traditions, ceremonies, 18
spirituality, and language; and19
WHEREAS, Countless American Indian and Alaska Native children 20
died at these Indian boarding schools and were unceremoniously 21
interred, without traditional burials, in unmarked graves and 22
cemeteries at these schools, faraway from their ancestral lands; and23
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2026-4706, by Representatives Lekanoff, Stearns, Taylor,
Hall, Santos, Cortes, Burnett, Thai, Duerr, Timmons, Parshley, Ryu, Fosse, Thomas,
Zahn, Simmons, Nance, and Gregerson
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WHEREAS, The memory of this brutal history continues to haunt 1
Indigenous communities through intergenerational trauma, compounded 2
by systemic oppression and racism, and spiritual, cultural, and 3
familial disruption; and4
WHEREAS, September 30th is recognized in both the United States 5
and Canada as "Every Child Matters Day," a national day of 6
remembrance for United States Indian boarding schools to honor the 7
victims and survivors of the Indian boarding schools and to 8
acknowledge their ongoing suffering; and9
WHEREAS, Across Indian country, this day is also known as "Orange 10
Shirt Day" to remember the story of six-year old Phyllis Jack 11
Webstad, whose brand-new orange shirt, chosen by her grandmother to 12
represent her loss of freedom and individuality, was immediately 13
confiscated on her first day at a residential mission school, an 14
action that has come to symbolize how the Indian boarding schools 15
stripped Indigenous students of their identities; and16
WHEREAS, Indigenous communities recognize orange as the color of 17
strength and power, truth telling, health, and regeneration, inviting 18
victims and survivors of Indian boarding schools and governments to 19
shine the light of truth on this long-hidden and shameful historical 20
public policy, to engage in reconciliation through learning how this 21
policy harmed American Indian and Alaska Native children, and to 22
begin to heal;23
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State House 24
of Representatives commend the importance of working to identify and 25
preserve primary resources that document the existence of Washington 26
state Indian boarding schools and the experiences of the children who 27
resided in them; and28
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Washington State House of 29
Representatives recognize September 30, 2026, as Every Child Matters 30
Day, as established by Phyllis Jack Webstad and the Orange Shirt 31
Society, in recognition of the importance of learning about the 32
history of the United States federal Indian boarding schools.33
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I hereby certify this to be a true and correct copy of35
Resolution 4706 adopted by the House of Representatives36
March 2, 202637
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__________________________4
Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk5
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