Posted on Aug 28, 2021
Indian Boarding Schools' Traumatic Legacy, And The Fight To Get Native Ancestors Back
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https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2021/08/28/ [login to see] /native-boarding-schools-repatriation-remains-carlisle
After the remains of more than 1,300 First Nations students were discovered at the former sites of Canada's residential schools earlier this year, the U.S. is now facing its own moment of reckoning with its history of Native American boarding schools. In response to these findings, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (a member of the Pueblo of Laguna) announced a Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to review "the troubled legacy of federal boarding school policies."
In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, efforts have been underway since 2016 to return the remains of Native children to their proper resting places. Carlisle was home to the first off-reservation Indian boarding school in the U.S. — Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Today, it's an army barracks, home to the US Army War college for senior officers. But from 1879 to 1918, it housed Native students from tribes across America, with the express purpose of assimilating them into American culture.
After the remains of more than 1,300 First Nations students were discovered at the former sites of Canada's residential schools earlier this year, the U.S. is now facing its own moment of reckoning with its history of Native American boarding schools. In response to these findings, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (a member of the Pueblo of Laguna) announced a Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to review "the troubled legacy of federal boarding school policies."
In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, efforts have been underway since 2016 to return the remains of Native children to their proper resting places. Carlisle was home to the first off-reservation Indian boarding school in the U.S. — Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Today, it's an army barracks, home to the US Army War college for senior officers. But from 1879 to 1918, it housed Native students from tribes across America, with the express purpose of assimilating them into American culture.
Indian Boarding Schools' Traumatic Legacy, And The Fight To Get Native Ancestors Back
Posted from npr.org
Native Americans
Carlisle
Canada
Culture
Children
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Barbara Landis, a retired biographer and historian who has studied the school extensively, gives tours of the barracks on occasion. During a tour I attended earlier this month, she pointed out a row of white houses that surround a grassy commons.
"These three cottages you see down along the perimeter of the southern portion of the school grounds," Landis said, "were cottages that were built by Native American children as part of their industrial training." The Carlisle school had academic training for half the day and industrial training the other half - essentially cheap manual labor. Many of the buildings were constructed by students as part of this program, but they would also be sent out into the surrounding community to provide work for non-Native families. The boys were given construction and farm work, while the girls would serve in the home.
But upon entering the barracks, the first thing one will notice is the cemetery: rows of white headstones where students are buried. Over four decades, roughly 8,000 students attended the school, and nearly 200 were buried here. Now, the number of graves at Carlisle is incrementally dropping, since efforts began several years ago to return the remains of students to their tribes and families.
At times, parents of students at Carlisle would receive notice of their child's passing only after they had been buried. The cause was often attributed to disease, although abuse was often rampant at these schools. The entire system of Indian boarding schools has long been condemned by Native Americans as a form of cultural genocide."...
..."Barbara Landis, a retired biographer and historian who has studied the school extensively, gives tours of the barracks on occasion. During a tour I attended earlier this month, she pointed out a row of white houses that surround a grassy commons.
"These three cottages you see down along the perimeter of the southern portion of the school grounds," Landis said, "were cottages that were built by Native American children as part of their industrial training." The Carlisle school had academic training for half the day and industrial training the other half - essentially cheap manual labor. Many of the buildings were constructed by students as part of this program, but they would also be sent out into the surrounding community to provide work for non-Native families. The boys were given construction and farm work, while the girls would serve in the home.
But upon entering the barracks, the first thing one will notice is the cemetery: rows of white headstones where students are buried. Over four decades, roughly 8,000 students attended the school, and nearly 200 were buried here. Now, the number of graves at Carlisle is incrementally dropping, since efforts began several years ago to return the remains of students to their tribes and families.
At times, parents of students at Carlisle would receive notice of their child's passing only after they had been buried. The cause was often attributed to disease, although abuse was often rampant at these schools. The entire system of Indian boarding schools has long been condemned by Native Americans as a form of cultural genocide."...
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SGT (Join to see)
LTC (Join to see) Good afternoon Stephen... hope your having a great Saturday! This story about the Indian Boarding School remains was an open secret but a sad mark on history for Canada & the U.S. ...who had the same issues. :-)
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LTC (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see)
My wife told me about this a long time ago because her uncle used to bury bodies when he was in residential school. Canada is in morning but they don't have any black lives matter Anarchist protest and we don't have the 1619 project forced down our throats even though Upper Canada was part of the same British territory in 1619. I just came back from Washington State and I'm on my third of 14-day quarantine. I don't mind, my boss knows I'm off. I turned in my army gear. I have only two more weeks of training in October and a retirement ceremony.. I will be retired on the first of the year next year.
My wife told me about this a long time ago because her uncle used to bury bodies when he was in residential school. Canada is in morning but they don't have any black lives matter Anarchist protest and we don't have the 1619 project forced down our throats even though Upper Canada was part of the same British territory in 1619. I just came back from Washington State and I'm on my third of 14-day quarantine. I don't mind, my boss knows I'm off. I turned in my army gear. I have only two more weeks of training in October and a retirement ceremony.. I will be retired on the first of the year next year.
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SGT (Join to see)
LTC (Join to see) - Sorry to hear your quarantined... were you exposed or did you test positive? You don't sound too happy about your retirement. I know after 33 years at my job it was a big change... however my reason was a medical one & I was relieved to leave a toxic environment.
Cheer up Brother... this too shall pass! :-)
Cheer up Brother... this too shall pass! :-)
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