The Shift from Documenting Boarding School Abuse to Prosecuting It
During federal listening sessions, survivors wept as they named the priests and nuns who abused them. They were told their stories would be preserved for history. Now, for the first time, a state attorney general is asking whether those names belong in criminal files.
On December 19, 2025, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a criminal investigation into eight Native American boarding schools that operated across her state. The goal is simple and unprecedented: identify crimes, gather evidence, and prosecute.
The federal government has spent years documenting boarding school history and the State of Michigan wants accountability.
The Department of the Interior launched its Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative in 2021. Investigators identified more than 400 schools nationwide. They documented over 900 children who died at these institutions. They collected testimony and they published reports.
What they did not do is pursue criminal charges.
That was never the mandate. The federal effort was historical, focused on truth-telling and supporting tribal-led healing. Survivors who testified knew their stories would become part of the record. They did not expect a criminal investigation to follow.
Michigan is taking a different approach.
Two of the state’s boarding schools remained open into the 1980s. Holy Childhood of Jesus School in Harbor Springs operated from 1829 until 1983. That’s recent enough that survivors are still alive. So are some of the people who hurt them.
What Makes Michigan Different
Federal investigators documented history. Nessel’s office has subpoena power. Federal reports named patterns of abuse. Michigan prosecutors can name defendants.
“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”
The investigation covers eight institutions. Five were federally run boarding schools. Three were church-operated orphanages and mission schools.
Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Council member Aaron Payment captured what this moment means for survivors who have already testified. During the Interior Department’s “Road to Healing” tour in 2022, then-Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, held listening sessions across the country. Payment attended.
“One by one, victims stood in solidarity and testified, often weeping and naming their perpetrator as Sister X or Father Y,” Payment told Native News Online.
Those names now have somewhere to go.
Tribes Respond
Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes all have members affected by the boarding school era. Some are engaging directly with the investigation.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community announced its participation on November 15, 2025. Tribal Council member Rodney Loonsfoot framed it simply.
“That’s what we’re talking about here, finally, that accountability,” Loonsfoot said. “Now that we’ve been given a platform to do it.”
The stakes are personal. The St. Joseph Orphanage in Assinins, one of the eight institutions under investigation, sits in Keweenaw Bay territory.
Meanwhile, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has spent years transforming the former Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School into a memorial and healing space. That school operated from 1893 to 1934. Records show 227 children died there.
The tribe’s vision includes a museum, a memorial, and a language center. They want to turn a site of removal into a site of return. Nessel’s investigation adds another layer. History and accountability, running together.
What Remains Unclear
Several questions remain.
Statutes of limitations will shape what’s possible. Some crimes may be too old to prosecute. Michigan law varies by offense.
Institutional defendants present another challenge. The School Sisters of Notre Dame operated Holy Childhood. The Catholic Diocese of Gaylord oversaw the parish. Whether institutions face consequences, or only individuals, remains unclear.
The attorney general’s office has promised a public report. Even where prosecution fails, the investigation will create an official record. That matters for survivors who want their experiences acknowledged as crimes.
A tip line is active. Survivors can call 517-897-7391. Tips can be anonymous.
Survivors already did the hardest part. They testified. They named names. They told their stories at federal listening sessions, tribal gatherings, in documentary films.
Michigan is asking whether the system will do something with that courage.
Boarding schools operated in nearly every state. Living survivors exist beyond Michigan. If this investigation produces charges, it creates a template others could follow.
Your state probably had boarding schools too. Should your attorney general be paying attention?