White Earth Boarding Schools were Native American boarding schools established in Minnesota in an attempt to assimilate White Earth Nation children to white societal expectations.[1][2][3]
Initially the government founded a boarding, or industrial, school in 1871. This school was the first of 16 boarding schools established in the state, and it remained open until 1919.[1][2][4] In 1878, the Saint Benedict Monastery also opened a day school, which was later designated as a boarding school in 1892. This boarding school was closed in 1945.[1][5] Students at these schools were often forcibly taken from their homes and subjected to harsh forms of discipline, as well as forced to complete manual labor.[1][2] The unjust conditions led to the schools closing and also formal apologies being issued by the Saint Benedict Monastery nuns.[1][5]