Reclaiming the bodies of children who died at Carlisle Indian School
About 180 children died at the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Over 100 years later, tribes are reclaiming their bodies and bringing them home.
Listen 12:10
The students of the Carlisle Indian School are amassed on the grounds of the school in March of 1892. (Photo by John N. Choate/Provided by Cumberland County Historical Society Photo Archives)
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The remains of about 180 children are buried on the grounds of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School in central Pennsylvania — which was created to assimilate native children into white culture. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jeff Gammage explains why they died — and how tribes are starting to reclaim some of those bodies and bring them home 100 years later.
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