The history of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School represents the haunting legacy of Indian boarding schools, institutions which were weap
In 1895, Captain W.H. Beck, United States Army, Indian Agent of the Omaha and Winnebago Indian Agency, sent Samuel and Edward from their home at Winnebago to Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The boys died because of their time at Carlisle and Carlisle officials buried both boys at Carlisle instead of notifying their families or Winnebago of their deaths. Both Winnebago and the boys’ families were deprived of the chance to give them proper Winnebago burials. The boys—along with the remains of nearly 200 other students who attended Carlisle—were disinterred in 1927 to make way for an Army parking lot and moved to their current location at the Carlisle Cemetery. This disturbance was, again, done without notification to or consent of the boys’ relatives or Winnebago. Today, Winnebago seeks to bring its boys home with honor and vindicate the basic universal right to bury the remains of its children in accordance with Winnebago cultures and traditions.
