CARLISLE, Pa. — The Carlisle Indian Industrial School had not yet held its first class when Matavito Horse and Leah Road Traveler were taken there in October 1879, drafted into the U.S. government’s campaign to erase Native American tribes by wiping their children's identities.
A few years later, Matavito, a Cheyenne boy, and Leah, an Arapaho girl, were dead. Persistent efforts by their tribes have finally brought them home. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma received 16 of its children, exhumed from a Pennsylvania cemetery, and reburied their small wooden coffins last month in a tribal cemetery in Concho, Oklahoma. A 17th student, Wallace Perryman, was repatriated to the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma in Wewoka.
Burial ceremonies are “an important step toward justice and healing for the families and Tribal Nations impacted by the boarding school era,” the Cheyenne and Arapaho government stated. Most details of the children's experiences at Carlisle are lost to history, but some records in the National Archives provide glimpses into the lives of approximately 7,800 students sent to Carlisle from over 100 tribes amid genocidal warfare.
Among the 17 were children who tended fires, raised pigs, and learned how to make clothes. Some were baptized as Christians. Sadly, their stories highlight a dark legacy of trauma.
Following a long and complex process, tribal representatives facilitated the repatriation, which includes overcoming bureaucratic challenges and the need for proper identification. Historical records showed contradictory information about the children's names and ages, often lacking essential details about their lives.
Next steps involve continuous efforts to locate and recover the remains of additional children from these schools as many families still seek justice.
