Free Boarding School Trauma Healing — Native Survivors | NABS
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is a Native-led national nonprofit dedicated to addressing the ongoing trauma created by U.S. Indian Boarding School policies. Founded in 2012 and now a coalition of more than 80 organizations, NABS pursues truth through education and research, justice through advocacy and policy, and healing through Indigenous teaching and traditional gatherings. The work centers boarding school survivors and their descendants — recognizing that the harm of these policies is intergenerational and continues to shape Native families today.
What to Expect
NABS’s healing work includes the Oral History Project — a permanent collection of survivor interviews conducted with on-site support including traditional medicine, healers, trauma-informed mental health providers, and counselors, plus private rooms designed for safety and ceremony. The Coalition also convenes gatherings of survivors and descendants, publishes educational materials for schools and communities, and advocates for federal policy changes to support healing — including the proposed national Truth and Healing Commission. NABS does not provide weekly clinical support groups; its role is to create the larger structural conditions and gathering spaces in which healing can happen.
Who This Group Is For
NABS serves boarding school survivors, the descendants of survivors, Tribal Nations, and the educators, providers, and advocates working with affected communities. Many Native families have a boarding school history that has shaped multiple generations — sometimes openly named, sometimes carried silently. NABS’s resources support both survivors who want to share their story and family members beginning to understand how the boarding school experience continues to affect their loved ones.
Why Peer Support Works
The trauma of the U.S. Indian Boarding School era is uniquely Indigenous and uniquely intergenerational. Healing requires the same: community-led, ceremony-grounded, and rooted in the specific cultural traditions of each Nation. NABS exists to amplify and connect the local healing work happening across Indian Country while pushing for the national truth-telling and policy change that survivors and their descendants deserve.
How to Join
NABS’s resources are free. Visit boardingschoolhealing.org to learn about the Oral History Project, find educational materials, support the policy work, and connect with coalition partners. Survivors and descendants interested in sharing their story or attending a healing gathering can reach NABS directly through the site. The organization is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and partners with Tribal Nations across the United States.