The repatriation of 9 children’s remains to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe concluded on Saturday. Sicangu youth council and Tokala mentors accompanied their ancestors nearly 1,500 miles home from Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
Children were forced to attend boarding schools across the country and cut off communications with their families and culture.
The children ranged from 10 to 18 years old. Native children who attended boarding schools were subjected to cultural genocide, abuse, and assimilation into white society during their time at the boarding school.
Elaine Crow Eagle from Rosebud said she was attending the ceremony for the history.
“It’s hard for me to think about these little kids that went through all this,” Crow Eagle said. “Who was there for them? What happened? Why did it take this long for them to come home? That’s how I feel about it and it still hurts.”
Around 300 vehicles joined a caravan along its journey home. It began on Wednesday and arrived on the Rosebud Reservation Friday. The burial took place on Saturday.