The remains of 12 students who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School will be disinterred and returned to their families and tribes.
Katie Knol / WITF News
Remains of 12 children who died at Carlisle Indian School to be returned to their tribes
The disinterment is set to begin Sept. 1 and is expected to continue through mid-October.
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Katie Knol/WITF
Katie Knol / WITF News
The remains of 12 students who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School will be disinterred and returned to their families and tribes.
The remains of 12 Native American and Alaskan Native children who died while attending Carlisle Indian Industrial School will be returned to their tribes following their disinterment.
The boarding school operated from 1879 to 1918, and at least 168 children died while attending. It was founded by Army Captain Richard Henry Pratt, who was known for his philosophy of “Kill the Indian, and save the man.” Students were forced to speak English, wear Anglo-American clothing, and act with “U.S. values and culture,” according to the National Park Service.
The disinterment process will start Sept. 1. Members of the media were given access to the site on Monday.
Student graves that will be dug up are lined with white. Many have small flowers and stuffed animals laid in front of the tombstone as cars pass by on the street directly next to the cemetery.
The cemetery will be blocked from sight with covered fencing until the disinterment is completed to give families privacy.
“It’s an opportunity to bring their children home and bury them with their tribe and on tribal lands in many cases,” Renea Yates, director of the Office of Army Cemeteries, said of the disinterment. “I never like to say it brings closure because I can’t speak for the families, but it does allow the children to rest back with their native families and tribes.”
Katie Knol / WITF News
The graves of students who died while attending Carlisle Indian Industrial School are decorated with flowers and small stuff animals on Aug. 31, 2026.
The children were taken from their families against their will or sent by their loved ones who hoped they’d gain a higher education. Many of the children died because of illnesses like tuberculosis, pneumonia and influenza. Overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and infectious diseases were common in these boarding schools.
This year’s disinterment is expected to last until mid-October, according to a news release. This is the 9th year that remains have been removed from the school’s cemetery.
Yates said families come to the area for about a week as the remains are removed. They’re able to perform ceremonies in accordance with their customs before digging begins.
Once the remains are confirmed to be consistent with the child they’re looking for, families can put the bodies to rest closer to home or on tribal lands.
It can be emotional for the families and tribes, Yates said, but she’s glad the Army is putting in the time and money to return the remains.
“As a mother with children of my own, it is deeply rewarding to be able to return children to their families and tribes,” she said. “It’s correcting a wrong of the past. In reality, it would have been nice if these children would have been able to go home and be buried by their loved ones, but we’re making it better for the future by doing this.”
Katie Knol / WITF News
Families and tribal representatives will come to Carlisle to receive and transport the remains of 12 children who died while attending Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Mabel Stock, Edward Angalook, Lucy Spaulding and Tummassak (Tomicock) – Alaska Natives Peter Howe, Richard Morgan and Christine Redstone – Fort Peck Tribes Frances Bones – Comanche Nation Fannie Gibson – Absentee Shawnee Tribe Della Atkins – Shoshone Paiute Tribes Susie Davis – Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Margaret Davis – Keweenaw Bay Indian Community The Army listed the students to be disinterred as:
Wyoming Public Radio reported on Carlisle’s 2024 disinterment of William Neikok, an Eastern Shoshone boy whose remains were returned to his reservation.
“It was an honor to be involved in [the repatriation process],” said Eastern Shoshone Business Council Chairman John St. Clair. “But at the same time, it was depressing to see what the children had to go through.”