Winnebago suit seeks remains of two boys who died at Carlisle

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

Stewart Huntington
ICT

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is ready to bring Samuel Gilbert and Edward Hensley home after more than a century.

The tribe filed a federal lawsuit last month against the U.S. Army, demanding return of the remains of the two boys more than 100 years after they died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.

The suit, filed Jan. 17 in federal court in Virginia, came after the tribe received notice in December that the U.S. Office of Army Cemeteries had denied the tribe’s request for the remains to be returned under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA.

For Winnebago tribal leaders, the case resonates beyond their nation.

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