FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 25, 2025
GCAH, GBGM and United Women in Faith Launch Indigenous Boarding School Fellowship
University of Arizona PhD Student Jewel Cummins selected for year-long research initiative
Madison, N.J. – In its inaugural year, the General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH), in collaboration with the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) and United Women in Faith (UWFaith), has selected Jewel Cummins as its Indigenous Boarding School Fellow. Cummins is a fourth year PhD candidate in American Indian Studies, minoring in archives, at the University of Arizona.
The fellowship is part of the denomination’s intentional effort to educate and own its role about the harm inflicted on Native Americans through the centuries. A 2016 resolution was readopted in 2024 with a list of four principles: tell the truth; identify actions to enable healing; consult with Indigenous leaders; resource Indigenous ministry leaders.
Telling the truth about what occurred at Methodist-run Indigenous Boarding Schools, which often were considered mission outposts by various churches, is the main focus of the new fellowship.
“We are only beginning to disclose the harm that occurred at Indigenous Boarding Schools as Native American children were often forcibly removed from their families to attend these institutions,” said Dr. Ashley Boggan, GCAH general secretary. “We know that many of the schools regularly enforced practices that sought to erase the identities and cultures of its Native American students, frequently through cruel means. Through the fellowship research, we seek to better educate ourselves so that healing can begin.”
The fellowship is the next part of a multiyear, multiphase initiative between GCAH, GBGM and UWFaith related to boarding schools for Native American children. In September 2024, Boggan presented a first-of-its report from the three agencies titled “The United Methodist Church and Indigenous Boarding Schools.” The research used data from GCAH’s repository at the United Methodist Archives and History Center, the Department of the Interior and the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition to compile a list of known schools with Methodist ties. The research also detailed how religious organizations were involved with either funding, staffing or both.
“The research into United Methodist involvement in Indigenous boarding schools is a vital act of truth-telling and accountability,” said Roland Fernades, general secretary of both GBGM and the General Board of Higher Education. “As a mission agency, GBGM is committed to justice, healing, and reconciliation. Understanding our past complicity in these institutions is essential in ensuring that our ongoing mission work reflects the dignity, agency and sacred worth of all people.”
Sally Vonner, top executive at UWFaith, echoes Fernades’ comments about justice and accountability.
“Methodist mission societies have been engaged in mission around the world for more than 200-years. United Women in Faith stands on the foundation built by our predecessor organizations spanning 156-years of mission and outreach,” Vonner said. “These early organizations sponsored both domestic and international missionaries. They were and we are called by God to act for justice and better the lives of women, children, and youth. It is our duty and responsibility through this research to understand our history, hear the stories, and recognize the harm caused to our Indigenous sisters and brothers. Only then can we work together to find ways to rebuild trust and strengthen community.”
The fellowship research aims to “reconnect Indigenous Peoples with their records through a regional case study of Indian boarding school records,” Cummins said, adding that she will be looking for relevant information to The UMC, its predecessor denominations and known boarding schools.
“One of my personal goals as I do this work is to make sure that I am moving forward in relationship with the various Indigenous communities affected by the schools,” Cummins said. “I also hope to show how a non-Indigenous ally can leverage their education and expertise to support Indigenous Peoples in the telling of their community histories and incorporation of their perspectives on this topic.
“Diving into the history of Indigenous boarding schools and The UMC promotes healing within communities as well as acknowledges accountability,” said Cummins about the value of the fellowship.
From the University of Arizona, Cummins has a Masters of Legal Studies degree with an Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy Concentration and a Masters of Library and Information Sciences degree with an Archival Certification. She has been a member of the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance for more than four years.
The fellowship, which is funded by GCAH, GBGM and UWFaith, extends for a 12-month period, from June 2025 through June 2026.
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