03:03US President Joe Biden stumbled over the name of the Gila River Indian Community while offering apologies to Native Americans for a 150-year-old boarding school policy aimed at cultural assimilation, during an address in Phoenix on Friday.
"Thank you for the introduction into the Gila Indian River community... the Healey... the Hela... Nothing is wrong with me... Gila River Indian community for welcoming me today," said Biden as he took the tribune.
Biden made history by becoming the first president to formally apologize to Native American peoples for the 'pain' caused by the boarding school policy, which he described as 'a significant mark of shame' and 'a blot on American history.'
"… I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologise to the Native peoples. Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans, and federal Indian boarding schools. It's long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there's no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make," Biden said, addressing the audience.
The U.S. government separated thousands of children from their native families and placed them in hundreds of boarding schools that operated from 1819 to 1969 in 39 states.
While delivering his speech, Biden was interrupted by a pro-Palestine demonstrator who shouted: "No what about the people of Gaza... How can you apologise for a genocide while committing genocide in Palestine? Free Palestine."
"No, let her go. There's a lot of innocent people being killed. There's a lot of innocent people being killed, and it has to stop," Biden said in a response.
Israel is currently fighting Hezbollah with airstrikes and ground troops in southern Lebanon and conducting an ongoing offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following the October 7, 2023, attacks. Over 2,500 have been reported killed in Lebanon and over 44,000 in Gaza at the time of publication.
'Nothing wrong with me!' - Biden after stumbling over community's name during apology to Native Americans, gets heckled by protesters over Gaza 'genocide'
US President Joe Biden stumbled over the name of the Gila River Indian Community while offering apologies to Native Americans for a 150-year-old boarding school policy aimed at cultural assimilation, during an address in Phoenix on Friday.
"Thank you for the introduction into the Gila Indian River community... the Healey... the Hela... Nothing is wrong with me... Gila River Indian community for welcoming me today," said Biden as he took the tribune.
Biden made history by becoming the first president to formally apologize to Native American peoples for the 'pain' caused by the boarding school policy, which he described as 'a significant mark of shame' and 'a blot on American history.'
"… I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologise to the Native peoples. Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans, and federal Indian boarding schools. It's long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there's no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make," Biden said, addressing the audience.
The U.S. government separated thousands of children from their native families and placed them in hundreds of boarding schools that operated from 1819 to 1969 in 39 states.
While delivering his speech, Biden was interrupted by a pro-Palestine demonstrator who shouted: "No what about the people of Gaza... How can you apologise for a genocide while committing genocide in Palestine? Free Palestine."
"No, let her go. There's a lot of innocent people being killed. There's a lot of innocent people being killed, and it has to stop," Biden said in a response.
Israel is currently fighting Hezbollah with airstrikes and ground troops in southern Lebanon and conducting an ongoing offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following the October 7, 2023, attacks. Over 2,500 have been reported killed in Lebanon and over 44,000 in Gaza at the time of publication.
US President Joe Biden stumbled over the name of the Gila River Indian Community while offering apologies to Native Americans for a 150-year-old boarding school policy aimed at cultural assimilation, during an address in Phoenix on Friday.
"Thank you for the introduction into the Gila Indian River community... the Healey... the Hela... Nothing is wrong with me... Gila River Indian community for welcoming me today," said Biden as he took the tribune.
Biden made history by becoming the first president to formally apologize to Native American peoples for the 'pain' caused by the boarding school policy, which he described as 'a significant mark of shame' and 'a blot on American history.'
"… I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologise to the Native peoples. Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans, and federal Indian boarding schools. It's long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there's no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make," Biden said, addressing the audience.
The U.S. government separated thousands of children from their native families and placed them in hundreds of boarding schools that operated from 1819 to 1969 in 39 states.
While delivering his speech, Biden was interrupted by a pro-Palestine demonstrator who shouted: "No what about the people of Gaza... How can you apologise for a genocide while committing genocide in Palestine? Free Palestine."
"No, let her go. There's a lot of innocent people being killed. There's a lot of innocent people being killed, and it has to stop," Biden said in a response.
Israel is currently fighting Hezbollah with airstrikes and ground troops in southern Lebanon and conducting an ongoing offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following the October 7, 2023, attacks. Over 2,500 have been reported killed in Lebanon and over 44,000 in Gaza at the time of publication.