美国曾试图通过残酷的寄宿学校强行同化勒纳普人，但一场新展览表明，他们当代的文化依然充满活力、鲜活地延续至今。
The US tried to forcibly assimilate the Lenape in brutal boarding schools, but a new exhibit proves their modern-day culture is vibrant and alive During the 19th century, the US government funded more than 500 “Indian boarding schools” aimed at forcibly assimilating Native American children into western culture.
19世纪，美国政府资助了500多所“印第安寄宿学校”，目的是强行将美洲原住民儿童同化进西方文化。孩子们被从家人身边带走，常常是强行带走，并被强迫剪掉头发。
Students were taken from their families, frequently by force, and forced to cut their hair.
他们被迫放弃原来的名字，还被教育要因自己的传统和文化而感到羞耻。
They were stripped of their original names, and taught to feel shame regarding their heritage and customs.
这些机构像军事学院一样运作，要求孩子穿制服，并让他们遭受严厉的体罚，例如单独禁闭和鞭打。
Run like military academies, these institutions required children to wear uniforms and subjected them to severe physical punishment, such as solitary confinement and flogging.
创办第一所此类学校的理查德·亨利·普拉特宣称，这些学校的明确目的就是“消灭印第安人，拯救白人男子”。这种同化做法持续了数十年，期间许多儿童遭受身体和性虐待。至少1000名儿童丧生，但实际死亡人数据信要高得多。
Richard Henry Pratt, who established the first of these schools, declared that their explicit purpose was to “kill the Indian, save the man”. These assimilation practices persisted for decades, during which numerous children endured physical and sexual abuse. At least 1,000 children lost their lives, though the actual casualty count is believed to be significantly higher.
直到2024年，美国政府才就这些暴行正式道歉；前总统乔·拜登将寄宿学校制度称为“美国历史上最骇人的篇章之一”。
The US government issued no formal apology for these atrocities until 2024, when former president Joe Biden described the boarding school system as “one of the most horrific chapters in American history”.