HELENA — The remains of a Blackfeet child who died more than 100 years ago at an Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania have been returned to their native lands.
Launey Short was among the five sets of remains disinterred from the Carlisle Barracks Cemetery.
The U.S. Army returned Short's remains to their family in a dignified transfer, and they have already been re-interred.
Between 1879 and 1918 the Department of the Interior operated the Carlisle Indian Industrial School at the site.
More than 10,000 Native American children from approximately 50 tribes were sent to the school.
Of the five sets of remains disinterred, one - those of Edward Spot of the Puyallup tribe - were found not to be biologically consistent and were unable to be returned to the tribe.
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(MAY 26, 2023) The remains of a Blackfeet child are among five sets of remains that will be disinterred from a Pennsylvania cemetery and returned to the family. The children all died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School between 1880 and 1910.
According to a notice in the Federal Register, the Office of Army Cemeteries has received written notice from the closest living descendant of each of the five individuals.
The government will pay for the disinterment, transportation, and reburial of the remains. The remains are being returned under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School opened in 1879 and was the only such boarding school built in the eastern United States.
Boys and girls from tribes across the U.S. and Alaska were sent there for education and to attempt to assimilate the students into mainstream American life.The school was closed in 1918. Army records show at least 188 burials of Native American individuals.
The names and the tribes of the remains being disinterred are:
- Launy Shorty from the Blackfeet Nation
- Edward Upright from the Spirit Lake Tribe
- Amos LaFramboise from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation
- Beau Neal from the Northern Arapaho Tribe
- Edward Spott from the Puyallup Tribe
The disinterment is scheduled to take place this September. To learn more about the Carlisle Barracks Main Post Cemetery and to see a list of the remains and their tribal heritage, click here to visit the website of the Office of the Army Cemeteries.
