Probe finds at least 973 Native American children died in abusive US schools

Elders from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in south-eastern Montana listen to speakers during a session for survivors of government-sponsored Native American boarding schools, in Bozeman, Montana (Matthew Brown/AP)

At least 973 Native American children died in the US government’s abusive boarding school system, according to the results of an investigation released Tuesday by officials who called on the government to apologise for the schools.

The investigation commissioned by interior secretary Deb Haaland found marked and unmarked graves at 65 of the more than 400 US boarding schools that were established to forcibly assimilate Native American children into white society.