The federal Indian Boarding School era officially lasted from 1819 to 1969. Although there is not a verifiable number of total students who attended these schools, the Native Policy Lab estimates that it is well over 300,000. 

Records from those schools, including student files, exist for over 260,000 survivors; yet, very few living survivors have ever gotten to see them. Some of these files include handwritten letters from family, photographs, drawings, and other very personal items. As time goes, it is becoming more urgent than ever that we return Indian Boarding School records where they belong -- to the survivors.

Since 2024, the Native Policy Lab (NPL) has maintained a database cataloging over 260,000 Indian Boarding School students whose personal files are inside the U.S. National Archives and other historical sites. Now, with a grant from the Mellon Foundation, NPL is undertaking Project Return, an archival research initiative to return records to Indian Boarding School survivors and their families.

Through the NPL online portal, Indian Boarding School survivors nationwide can request their records free of charge. Project Return is the first national direct-support initiative in the United States for Indian Boarding School survivors and their families.