Boarding school children return home to Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
Members of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in the Indian Cemetery at the former site of the Carlisle Indian Inductrial School late in the evening of Sept 17, 2023. (Photo By Charles Fox ICT)
Amos La Framboise and Edward Upright of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate were disinterred by tribal representatives and the U.S. Army last week to be reburied on tribal land. Their remains had been buried over 1,000 miles away at Carlisle Industrial School in Pennsylvania for over a century.
In 1879, what was then the Carlisle Barracks became the site of the nation’s first Indian boarding school, which was operated by the Department of the Interior until 1918. During those 39 years, it attempted to forcibly assimilate 7,800 Native American children from more than 140 tribal nations through a mix of Western-style education and hard labor. At least 194 children from 59 different tribes died there of disease often made worse by poor living conditions and abuse and were buried at the school.
Both La Framboise and Upright went to the school in 1879 as part of the U.S. government policy to force assimilation of Native people. La Framboise, aged 13, died within a few weeks of arriving at the school, the first death recorded at Carlisle. Upright, who was 12 years old when arriving at the school, died before turning 16.
They were each the son of a powerful tribal leader, Amos of Joseph LaFromboise, a founding father of his tribe, and Edward of Chief Waanatan. Both were in line to become hereditary chiefs of their respective tribes when they grew older. According to historians, targeting the children of tribal leaders for forced assimilation was part of the strategy intended to neutralize Indigenous leadership and culture.
Upright’s grave contained teeth, his skull and other large bones. La Framboise’s grave held only a knee bone. The state of La Framboise’s remains infuriates Tamara St. John, Sisseton Wahpeton tribal historian and a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives.
St. John has been actively working on bringing the boys home for the past six years. The singular bone remaining in La Framboise’s grave, which matched his gender and age upon death, reflects how poorly Native American children and people were treated and viewed by the United States, St. John commented.
The two boys’ remains returned to the Lake Traverse Reservation on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, to be placed on scaffolds at sunrise and then placed in a tipi each sundown Thursday and Friday before being reburied at noon on Saturday, September 30. See future editions of the Native Sun News for updates and follow-ups of this story.
This was the third time La Framboise’s remains had been disinterred. His grave was moved a month after his initial burial in 1879 after local citizens protested his placement in the town’s “White persons’ cemetery.” At that time, he was moved to the school’s newly established private cemetery.
Both of the boys’ bodies were disinterred in 1927 after the Army took over the property. At that time more than 180 children buried at the school were moved to clear space for a new building on the property.
The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate struggled with the U.S. Army in recent years to follow what St. John referred to as a “rigid” repatriation process, having to find next of kin to the boys (who did not have direct descendants) and endure other struggles. The Army took over the property in 1927 after the school closed in 1918, so while the Army was not involved with running the school, the grounds are under the Army’s oversight now.
When asked if she is celebrating having the boys’ skeletal remains returned to the relatives after such an extended struggle, St. John said, “At the moment it’s not possible to look at that knee bone and feel much happiness.”
Nevertheless, the process has been a step toward healing. Tribal representatives embraced Army officials they had fought with for years and allowed the officials to observe traditionally private ceremonies.
Those same Army officials helped set up a sweat lodge, sat through prayers, accepted gifts, and took part in pipe smoking and smudging, which is the ceremonial burning of sacred herbs, such as sage, to purify a space or person.
“In the end, I’d like to believe that maybe, just maybe, they have all learned something that might effect change,” St. John said.
She hopes Sisseton Wahpeton’s experience will help other tribes who attempt repatriation. She was happy that tribal representatives were able to lead ceremonies and prayers and wear traditional regalia while on the school grounds.
“All of those things were intended to be erased at this very place,” St. John said. “But not only are we still here, we’re here with songs and praise.”
St. John said her work has just begun. She is thinking about lobbying for federal legislation to make repatriation efforts easier, or to increase resources for tribal repatriation efforts. Each year, tribes are getting better at navigating the process alongside the Army by learning from the tribes who came before them, St. John said.
“This is not something I ever wanted to be an expert in, but that’s what’s happening,” St. John said. “I hope that we don’t become so callous to this that these children’s stories don’t matter. …”
According to the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, thousands of Native American children died at the more than 500 boarding schools across the United States and Canada.
NOTE: Portions of this story originally appeared in South Dakota Searchlight (southdakotasearchlight.com) and was written by Makenzie Huber. It is republished with permission under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The story was revised, edited, and supplemented with additional information by Grace Terry for the Native Sun News Today.
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October 11, 2023