'Just one of many tragic stories': Uncovering the story of Chemawa Indian School

For 150 years, the federal government operated more than 400 boarding schools for Indigenous children who had been forcibly removed from their families.

Up until recently, the U.S. government had never conducted a targeted examination of the lasting effects the Indian boarding school system had on Native families and communities.

An ongoing probe by the Department of Interior launched in 2021 has found that the boarding school system deliberately used tactics like discouraging the use of Native languages, renaming children, and forcing them to cut their hair, in an effort to eradicate Native American culture.

The agency is also finding that for many, these schools were a death sentence. The first volume of this investigation was published back in May — and it identified marked and unmarked burial sites at 53 schools.

One example of the brutal legacy of these boarding schools lies in Oregon, in the unmarked grave of Charlie Fiester.

RELATED: A 12-year-old boy was shot running from a Native boarding school. His tribe mourns him today

In 1907, Charlie was on the run. The 12 year-old Klamath boy was one of hundreds of Native children who had fled the Chemawa Indian School, a boarding school in Salem that was known for its poor conditions and brutal staff.

Soundside host Libby Denkmann talked to KUOW investigative reporter Ashley Hiruko about Charlie's story, and how it fits into the federal investigation.