Carlisle Indian School disinterment program returns children to their tribes
By Matt Barcaro
Click here for updates on this story
CARLISLE, Pa. (WGAL) — The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the first federally funded, off-reservation boarding school for Indigenous children in the United States. From 1879-1918, approximately 7,800 students were enrolled.
The school, in Carlisle, Pa., became a model for Federal Indian boarding schools and was designed to assimilate Indigenous children into white, American culture.
At least 170 students died while enrolled at Carlisle and were buried at the school’s cemetery.
Over the years, a disinterment program has exhumed the children’s remains to return them to their tribes around the country, so they can receive a proper burial.
WGAL continues to cover developments at the Carlisle Indian School and will update this page with new phases of the disinterment program, student identifications, and repatriations to tribes across the country.
Bookmark the page and check back often for the latest updates as work continues.
Oct. 7, 2025: Sixteen more children return home The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes in Oklahoma have successfully returned the remains of 16 children from the Carlisle Indian School Cemetery to their tribal lands, following this year’s disinterment program. That story is here.
Sept. 4, 2025: Work begins to repatriate more remains The Office of Army Cemeteries started work at the Carlisle Indian School Cemetery to repatriate the remains of Native American children, with a focus on returning more remains this year than in any previous year. WGAL’s Matt Barcaro was there.
March 3, 2025: More repatriations announced WGAL learned of U.S. Army plans to repatriate more remains from the Carlisle Indian School cemetery in 2025.
Oct. 25, 2024: President Joe Biden apologizes
President Joe Biden formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of the government-run boarding school system that forcibly separated children from their parents.
History of the Carlisle Indian School Taken from their reservations, thousands of Native American children underwent an education experiment at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879-1918). Capt. Richard Henry Pratt, the school’s founder, summed up his mission in one thought: “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”
Native children from across the United States and its territories were forced to wear military-style clothes, cut their hair, and give up sacred items they brought to Carlisle.
The Carlisle model spawned 24 other off-reservation schools, according to the National Park Service.
While at the school, at least 170 children died, most likely from disease. They are buried in a cemetery on the current grounds of the Carlisle Barracks at the U.S. Army War College.
Carlisle Barracks also offers a self-guided walking tour of the historic school grounds and lodging accommodations on site. Carlisle Barracks does not charge admission but a driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance are required to enter.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.