CARLISLE, Pa. — The Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery will soon be reopened to the public after the Office of Army Cemeteries completed its seventh disinterment project of former students of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
“We are all invested in returning the children from the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery, and to their ultimate final resting place," said Dr. Christopher Koenig, tribal liaison for the OAC.
On Wednesday, officials with the OAC presented their findings from its largest disinterment project to date.
In total, nine children were returned back to their tribes, including Fanny Chargingshield, James Cornman, and Samuel Flying Horse from the Oglala Sioux Tribe; Almeda Heavy Hair, Bishop L. Shield, and John Bull from the Gros Ventre Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community; Kati Rosskidwits from the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes; Albert Mekko from the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and William Norkok from the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
One of the tribes that had a child disinterred asked to remain anonymous and were not included in the Army's official findings.
“The Army’s work has been successful over 90 percent of the time returning 41 children to date that rested beneath the correct headstone," said Renea Yates, OAC director. "But it is evident that there was human error.”
The grave plot for Alfred Charko, a 15-year-old from the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, was reinterred after the remains were determined to belong to an older male. The grave is now marked as unknown.
"The team was deeply saddened that we were unable to return Alfred to his family and tribal community at this time," said Yates.
Yates and her colleagues said the disappointment will help reinforce their commitment to finding and identifying all Native American children buried at the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery.
“To all the tribes and families awaiting the return of children from Carlisle, I wish to share my condolences and assure you that we will never give up," said Dr. Alisha Winburn, OAC pathologist.
The Office of Army Cemeteries said it has secured commitments to disinter 24 children from the cemetery over the next two years. The cemetery will reopen to the public on October 10.