On June 11, 2025, the Washington State Supreme Court’s Minority and Justice Commission hosted a nine-hour Symposium regarding Indigenous human rights, with a focus on federal Indian boarding schools.
The Symposium was titled , “TÁĆELŚW̱ SIÁM: A Call to Justice for Indigenous Peoples.”
The day included a showing of the Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane, which chronicles the atrocities associated with Canadian residential boarding schools. The nine Justices watched the movie while seated on the bench in the State Temple of Justice.
Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis (Isleta/Laguna) introduced the movie through a very personal 45-minute presentation about her own family and people’s boarding school experience.
The afternoon was dedicated to “State Issues Recognizing Indigenous Humanity,” involving presentations regarding Indigenous historical trauma vis-a-vis juvenile incarceration, Indigenous gender-based violence protection, and Indian child welfare restoration. Each of the presentations discussed the correlation between those Indigenous human rights issues and federal indian boarding schools.
Afterwards, her colleague, Justice Salvador Mungia, took to LinkedIn to express his gratitude to Justice Montoya-Lewis as well as the “heartbreaking, gut-wrenching…effect the symposium had on [him].”
Of significance, three formerly or currently incarcarated Indigenous men shared powerful testimonials with the Justices about their walks to state prison, and their work to rehabilitate themselves and seek redemption and forgiveness from those who they have harmed. It is believed to be the first time incarcerated people have directly addressed the Supreme Court from within the Temple of Justice.
The Supreme Court and Commission convened the Symposium in response to a 2024 Resolution of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) titled, “Rectifying the Dehumanization of Indigenous People in State Legal Systems.”
ATNI expressed concern about “the overrepresentation of Indigenous Americans in every stage of [Washington state] criminal and juvenile justice systems,” citing “the vestiges of colonization.” ATNI called upon the Supreme Court to address “the historical and continued dehumanization of Indigenous people in Washington state.”
You can watch the entire day on TVW here. Photo albums are available here and here.
