‘Bring
Them Home’:
Rosebud
Sioux Seeking Return of Relatives Buried at Carlisle
2/8/16
Sioux
Seeking Return of Relatives Buried at Carlisle
The
Rosebud Sioux community is trying to bring back their relatives buried in the
cemetery at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
If I may
be, so bold and butt in a little, as an elder that has been to this Army
Camp/Drill yard/school/ torcher chamber /burial grounds, a number of times.
Before
waiting too long, or starting the dig, please latch onto your elders,
Medicine-man, and woman, for advice and a trip to the 'complete area'?
The claim
from the army is, only moved twice.
Smudge the
complete grounds and all buildings.
This
initiative was started by a group of Rosebud youth who asked the question: Why
aren’t they home?
On January
19, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council of Rosebud, South Dakota, passed a
resolution to bring home the remains of several Lakota children buried at
Carlisle after hearing an impassioned presentation by the members of the
Defending Childhood Initiative Youth Council,
also known
as the Rosebud South Dakota Sicangu Youth Council, according to the Tribe’s
Historic Preservation Officer Russell Eagle Bear.
Eagle Bear
also explained that the Tribal Council was following the protocol established
by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
and had
sent letters seeking the return of the children’s remains to the Department of
Army, Department of Justice, and to President Barack Obama.
The return
process started, however, as a result of a visit to the Carlisle grounds by
members of the Youth Council last year.
According
to Vikki Eagle Bear, project manager of the Defending Childhood Initiative,
which developed the Sicanga Youth Council, the students were inspired to take
action after the visit.
“We went
to Carlisle since the youth are learning about historical trauma.
When we
arrived Historian Barbara Landis gave us an overview of the school and we
visited the grounds and then the graveyard,”
Eagle Bear
said.
The Youth
Council members learned, among other things, that the cemetery was moved twice
and that the children never received a traditional burial ceremony.
“With
Lakota, it is really important to pay respects to the spirits.
The young
people left candy offerings to the kids buried there.
One child
called their names out loud four times to make sure the children would come
back home with them,”
Eagle Bear
said.
“As that
happened, fireflies enveloped the area, we were overcome with emotions,” she
said.
“When they
came back, the youth gave a report to the Tribal Council and asked ‘why aren’t
we doing something to bring them home?’”
The Tribal
Council then passed a resolution to begin the process of trying to bring the
Lakota children back to Rosebud.
The Tribal
Council also sent notices to the descendants of the ten children from Rosebud
buried in Carlisle, asking them to attend a meeting to get their blessing for
the endeavor.
Both the
Tribal and Youth Council held special gatherings for the descendants who,
according to press statements, supported the effort to bring home the
relatives.
They also
sought and received support from the Great
Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association and the National Native American Boarding
School Healing Coalition.
In the
process of learning about the children buried at Carlisle, the Youth Council
members found out that the Northern Arapaho community in Wyoming also tried to
have their family members returned from Carlisle in 2007,
but the
Army refused the request.
A group of
Youth Council members traveled to the Northern Arapaho Reservation to learn
more about their ongoing effort.
The Youth
Council representatives met with Yufna Soldier Wolf, director of the Northern
Arapaho Tribal Historic Preservation Office, who explained their situation.
The Youth
Council has stayed in contact with Soldier Wolf who is still fighting for the
return of their relatives after Army spokesman Thomas Kane, who served as the
Installation Legal Officer of Carlisle’s Army War College, said that the Army
“...
has
serious concerns related to this proposal.
The most
obvious is that this cemetery has become part of our community and is a
historic site.”
Last
month, Soldier Wolf wrote a letter to LTC Greg W. Ank, Garrison Commander of Carlisle, saying that,
“Our ancestors should not be a tourist attraction.
Our
ancestors are no longer considered objects of research; they will no longer be
considered roadside attractions.
These
children were people; they were sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, future war
chiefs, future mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, and caretakers of this
land.
For them
to be taken away and never given back is appalling.”
As of
press time, the Rosebud community had not heard from the federal agencies or
the President regarding their request.
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