From The Office of Governor Reggie Wassana:
CONCHO, Okla. — In a solemn and historic undertaking more than two years in the making, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, in partnership with the U.S. Army, have begun the sacred process of returning 16 children with Cheyenne and Arapaho bloodlines to their homelands. The disinterment began September 8, 2025, at the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
This month-long project represents a significant moment of healing and remembrance. The work is being carried out with the collaboration of family descendants, ceremonial leaders, forensic anthropologists, forensic archaeologists, representatives from the U.S. Army, and Tribal officials. Upon completion, the children will be reinterred with honor and ceremony on Tribal land in Concho, Oklahoma.
Eleven Cheyenne and five Arapaho children who passed away while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (CIIS) will finally be brought home. Thirteen of these children were under the age of 18. During their time at the school, they were forced to assimilate and trained in various trades, such as sewing, tailoring, and music.
Opened in 1879 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the first off-reservation boarding school established in the United States. The school became a model for a federal system that separated Native American children from their families and cultures under the motto “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” Between 1879 and 1918, more than 7,800 children from 140 Tribal Nations were sent to Carlisle. At least 180 Native American children were buried at the school’s cemetery.
This repatriation marks an important step toward justice and healing for the families and Tribal Nations impacted by the boarding school era.
Out of deep respect for the children, their families, and the spiritual significance of this process, this will be the only press release issued by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes regarding the Carlisle return.
