The lasting effect indigenous boarding schools have had on Washington state

Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior published a report on indigenous boarding schools in the U.S.

These schools separated Native kids from their families, forced them to stop speaking their own languages, and often inflicted abuse in the name of "civilizing" indigenous children.

The Interior Department said at one point the U.S. supported at least 400 boarding schools across the country — including 15 in Washington state.

The agency’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative also found at least 50 burial sites where children were left in unmarked or poorly maintained graves, and the department is still counting.

Angela King, host of KUOW's Morning Edition, spoke with Darrell Hillaire, a member of the Lummi Nation and founder and executive director of Children of the Setting Sun Productions.