Coalition demands remains of children buried at Carlisle be returned to tribes

Posted by Alysa Landry | Apr 14, 2016 | News |

The Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is seeking 10,000 signatures on a petition demanding that the remains of Native students who died at Carlisle Indian Industrial School be returned to their respective tribes.

FARMINGTON, N.M.

A small cemetery on the grounds of the U.S. Army War College in eastern Pennsylvania holds the remains of Native students who died at the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Stone markers evenly spaced in the gated cemetery indicate names of students and their tribes. Although visitors frequent the cemetery, leaving small mementos for the deceased, these children still are far from home.

The cemetery is at the heart of a bitter controversy that pits tribes against the War College and the federal government. Ahead of a meeting next month, the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is seeking 10,000 signatures on a petition demanding that the remains be returned to tribes.

“We want to get the U.S. to acknowledge boarding school policies, to tell the truth, to right the wrongs,” said Christine McCleave, the coalition’s executive officer and a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. “This is an issue of justice and healing.”

The petition asks the U.S. Army War College, the Secretary of Defense and President Barack Obama to honor the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which requires the college to complete an inventory of the remains and comply with requests to return the contents of the graves to the appropriate tribes.

“Signatures on the petition will be used to show support,” McCleave said. “This request affects every tribal nation and it sets a precedent for tribes who want to have remains repatriated from any of the other boarding schools.”