Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
Angeline Wanna (left), Sisseton Wahpeton assistant archivist, sings as she carries the coffin holding Amos LaFromboise, the first documented child to ever die at Carlisle Indian Industrial School 144 years ago, to the tribal van bringing him home. Beside Wanna is her grandmother, Lillian Wanna, who has been instrumental in her tribe's repatriation work. Behind them is Spirit Lake Chairwoman Lana Street, carrying the coffin of Edward Upright. (Photo: Jenna Kunze)
CARLISLE, Penn. - Smudged sage billowed into the air on Tuesday, September 19, as members from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe of South Dakota and Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota carried small wooden coffins containing their relatives' remains to the tribal van that would bring them home after nearly 150 years away.
Around them, a crowd of tribal members and Army staff gathered, many with clasped hands and bowed heads.
Going home were two Oyate boys: Edward Upright (Spirit Lake Nation) and Amos LaFromboise (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate). The boys left their homes in the Dakotas in 1879 when they were 13 and 12 years old, respectively. 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-in line to become hereditary chiefs of their respective tribes when they grew older. Instead, they never left Carlisle: They both died before they turned 16 and were among nearly 200 Native children who died in the government's care between 1879 and 1910 while attending the nation's flagship Indian boarding school: the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Reader Comments(0)