Archeological technician Makenzie Coufal clears soil away as workers dig for the suspected remains of children who once attended the Genoa Indian Industrial School, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Genoa, Neb.GENOA, Neb.
“As a tribal member and elder and grandma, I’m interested,” Fiscus continued. “I’ve got a lot of spiritual and emotional investment in this. And my mom too, who’s now passed away. That’s why I’m here.”that attempted to assimilate Indigenous people into white culture by separating children from their families, cutting them off from their heritage and inflicting physical and emotional abuse.
She said it’s difficult to spend time in the community where many Native Americans suffered, but that the search can help to heal and bring the children’s voices to the surface.“The remains are from a lot of different tribal nations. So they will be the ones that determine if they stay in the ground and if they have like a mass memorial, or if they want to try to exhume all of them and do DNA testing or anything else,” gaiashkibos said.
If the dig reveals human remains, the State Archeology Office will continue to work with the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs to decide on next steps.