Native nations sue U.S. over use of tribal funds for boarding schools

Filed May 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the lawsuit claims that tribal funds — held in trust by the federal government — were used to support a program that forcibly removed Native children from their families and subjected them to assimilation policies that inflicted long-lasting trauma.

“The horrors inflicted by this program were a fundamental betrayal,” the tribes say in their complaint.

The plaintiffs argue that the U.S. violated its legal and moral trust responsibilities by using tribal money without disclosure or consent and without ever accounting for the total amount spent.

The lawsuit follows the release of U.S. Department of the Interior reports in 2022 and 2024, which for the first time acknowledged that federal Indian boarding schools were funded, in part, by money taken from tribal trust accounts.

One report estimated the total program cost at $23.3 billion but provided no comprehensive accounting of the tribal funds used.

At least 18,624 children were documented as attending federal Indian boarding schools, with 973 confirmed deaths — figures believed to be underestimates, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are asking the court to certify the case as a class action and to compel the U.S. to produce detailed financial records.