The Army Refuses to Return Remains of Native American Children to Winnebago Tribe
The Winnebago Tribe is engaged in a legal battle with the Army over the return of the remains of Samuel Gilbert and Edward Hensley, two Native American children who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. The tribe filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Army of violating a law enacted over three decades ago that aimed to expedite the repatriation of deceased individuals to Native American lands.
According to the lawsuit filed on January 17, the tribe made a formal request to the Office of Army Cemeteries in October, but in December, they were informed that the request had been denied. The tribe’s lawyers, including Greg Werkheiser of Cultural Heritage Partners, argue that the Army has historically exerted control and dominance over Native American people, both in life and death.
The bodies of Samuel Gilbert and Edward Hensley, along with approximately 180 other children, remain in a graveyard near the former location of the Carlisle school, which is situated 1,850 kilometers away from the tribe’s home in eastern Nebraska. The lawsuit states that the graveyard has become a “tourist attraction.”
In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Office of Army Cemeteries declined to comment on the pending litigation but emphasized that the deceased children were buried in individual graves with named headstones. The spokesperson asserted that the cemetery is a dignified resting place and not treated as a tourist attraction.
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which operated from 1879 to 1918, forcibly separated Native American children from their culture and subjected them to harsh conditions. The children, who were often taken against their parents’ will, experienced cultural erasure, including the cutting of their braids, adoption of European names, and punishment for speaking their native languages. Over 10,000 children from more than 140 tribes attended the school, including the renowned Olympian Jim Thorpe. Many children died from diseases such as tuberculosis, and their remains were either returned to their tribes or buried in Carlisle.
After the school closed, the property was transferred to the War Department from the Department of Interior. The Army repurposed the site as a rehabilitation hospital and the Medical Field Service School. The original cemetery was relocated in 1927 due to its proximity to a refuse dump and blacksmith shop.
In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which mandated the return of remains to tribes upon request. However, the lawsuit alleges that the Army has refused to comply with NAGPRA and instead imposes its own policy, which grants the agency discretion in deciding whether and when to return remains. The lawsuit argues that this policy contradicts the intent of NAGPRA and makes it nearly impossible for the Winnebago Tribe to fulfill the requirement of providing a request from the boys’ “closest living relative.”
While the Office of Army Cemeteries stated that it has disinterred 32 remains of Native American children since 2017, Werkheiser contends that these remains were not technically returned to the tribes but rather to the children’s relatives, often after significant delays. He argues that utilizing the Army process instead of NAGPRA deprives tribes of their political rights.
Other tribes, including the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Spirit Lake, Washoe, Umpqua, Ute, Rosebud Sioux, Northern Arapaho, Blackfeet, Oglala Sioux, Oneida, Omaha, Modoc, Iowa, and Alaskan native, have successfully had remains returned to them. However, the Winnebago Tribe refuses to be bullied and insists on the return of Samuel Gilbert and Edward Hensley.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary, has been instrumental in urging the government to confront its role in Native American boarding schools. In 2022, her agency released a report identifying the 408 schools that received federal support to erase Native American cultures and identities. Some of these schools, including Carlisle, saw the deaths of at least 500 children.
The Winnebago Tribe continues to endure the pain of not having Samuel and Edward returned to their homeland, according to the lawsuit. Beth Wright of the Native American Rights Fund, another attorney involved in the case, expressed that the boys’ spirits cannot find peace until they are brought back to the place they were taken from.
The Winnebago Tribe has filed a federal lawsuit against the Army for refusing to return the remains of Samuel Gilbert and Edward Hensley, who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The lawsuit accuses the Army of ignoring a law that expedites the return of deceased Native Americans to their lands. The tribe made a formal request for the remains in October, but it was denied in December. The bodies remain in a graveyard near the school, which the lawsuit claims is treated as a tourist attraction. The Army spokesperson denies this and states that the cemetery is a dignified resting place. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was known for forcibly separating Native American children from their culture and subjecting them to harsh conditions. More than 10,000 children from over 140 tribes attended the school, and some died from tuberculosis and other diseases. The property was later transferred to the Army, and the remains were moved to another location. In 1990, Congress passed a law allowing for the return of remains to tribes, but the Army has required adherence to its own policy instead. The lawsuit argues that this violates the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The Army has disinterred other remains of Native American children since 2017, but the lawsuit claims that these were returned to relatives rather than tribes. The Winnebago Tribe refuses to adhere to the Army’s process, stating that it strips tribes of their political rights. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has been pushing for the government to reckon with its role in Native American boarding schools. The Winnebago Tribe continues to seek the return of Samuel and Edward’s remains, believing that their spirits cannot rest until they are brought back to their homeland.
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