In 1879, Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, Pa., became the site of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, operated by the Department of the Interior until 1918. The Office of Army Cemeteries will recover and return the remains of 19 students buried there to two Native American tribes starting September 5, 2025. (U.S. Army)
(Tribune News Service) — The U.S. Army on Monday announced that it will work on disinterring 19 Carlisle Indian Industrial School students from the cemetery at the Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania.
The effort will start Sept. 5, with the Army looking to give the remains back to two Native American tribes whose children were sent to the school on the local Army base.
Those whose remains will be disinterred are Wallace Perryman from the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Belle Cahoe, Wash E. He, Tabitha Carroll, Jane Lumpfoot, Leah Road Traveler, Percy Whitebear, George Harrison, Charles Whiteshield, Matavito Horse, Nannie Little Robe, Dora Morning, Louise Thunder, Giles Hands, Ruben Tanpeds, Henry Morning, William Sammers, Abe Lincoln and Elsie Davis from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
The Office of Army Cemeteries will begin work on the disinterment in September with forensic archaeological and anthropological expertise from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Army reported Monday.
“The Army is honored to conduct the Carlisle Barracks Disinterment Program once again,” said Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries and the Office of Army Cemeteries. “We are deeply grateful to the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes for their brave commitment to bring their loved ones home.”
This will be the eighth year the Army has disinterred groups of children, and the Army will help return the remains to an interment location families and tribes choose, as well as reimburse families for their travel to participate in the process, subsequent transfer ceremony, and the cost to transport the remains.
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