Overview:
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is honoring families, Alaska Native communities and Tribal Nations as the U.S. Army begins the repatriation of 12 Native American students who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School between 1879 and 1918.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) released the following statement on Tuesday, September 1, 2026:
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) honors the families, Alaska Native communities, and Tribal Nations who have worked to bring their relatives home from the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery.
On September 1, 2026, the U.S. Army intends to begin the repatriation of 12 Native American students who died between 1879 and 1918 while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Since 2017, the remains of 58 Native American children have been returned from the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery to their families and communities. This act is in response to requests from the closest living descendants, families, Alaska Native communities, and Tribal Nations, with the remains to be returned to private cemeteries chosen by the families and communities.
The relatives being returned home are:
- Alaska Natives: Mabel Stock, Edward Angalook, Lucy Spaulding and Tummassak (Tomicock)
- Fort Peck Tribes: Peter Howe, Richard Morgan and Christine Redstone
- Comanche Nation: Frances Bones
- Absentee Shawnee Tribe: Fannie Gibson
- Shoshone-Paiute Tribes: Della Atkins
- Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians: Susie King
- Keweenaw Bay Indian Community: Margaret Davis
“For generations, families and communities have carried the grief of children who were taken from their homes and never returned. We call on institutions entrusted with the care of Native children’s remains and cultural belongings to carry out this work with transparency, respect, consultation and accountability. These children were loved, they mattered, and their lives and stories must never be forgotten.” – NABS Chief Executive Officer, Nikki Santos (Coeur d’Alene Tribe).
For NABS, the return of these children is a powerful reminder that the history of Indian boarding schools is not simply a chapter in the past. The impacts of the boarding school system continue to be felt by survivors, descendants, families, Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian communities to this day.
