Dear Family, Friends and All reading this blog,
Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying this warm June weather. It is great seeing people out and about! Many have been vaccinated from this covid virus and are starting to return to their normal lives. If everyone gets vaccinated, this pandemic will be in the rearview mirror!
Recently a mass grave was discovered in Canada with the bodies of 215 Indigenous Children buried in it. These children were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British, Columbia Canada. Kamloops was just one of 130 Indian Boarding Schools in Canada. I was saddened to learn of these 215 deceased children, but I was not surprised. I post this orange shirt image in honor to those 215 Indigenous Children who didn’t get to go back home.
In the early 2000’s, my husband and I traveled to the Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School, to see where my Great-Grandmother, Sophia Huff, was forced to attend. I never knew why she was sent so far away from Oneida to be educated. There were schools in Wisconsin. The U.S. Government wanted Sophia assimilated white, lose her Oneida Heritage and only to speak English. To get into the Carlisle Grounds, which is now an Army War College, we had to go through security and gates, before being allowed to walk on the campus. The very first thing we saw was a cemetery right at the entrance. My husband and I were really shocked and surprised! We both had never seen a cemetery at any of the schools we attended. We had playgrounds with playground equipment. This cemetery was very emotional for me to see. Today, my heart is heavy with sadness, inside, when I think back to that June day in the early 2000’s, when I first saw a cemetery on a school grounds! So, when 215 children’s remains were found in this Kamloops Residential School in Canada, this is not surprising to me. I have since learned that Canada had 130 Indigenous Boarding Schools. Canada modeled their schools after Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School. The U.S. had over 350 Indian Boarding Schools! Almost every one of these schools has a cemetery on it’s grounds! Kudos to those looking for these missing Indigenous Children, through ground penetrating radar and other means. If the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada, was modeled after Carlisle in the U.S., it doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist, to figure out if mass graves of Indigenous children might be right here in our Indian Boarding Schools here in the U.S.
My book, Sky Woman Lives in Me, took me 15 years of research and writing to share with you my great grandmother, Sophia and her sister, Lily’s experience at the Carlisle Indian School. In reading my book, you will see that Carlisle was the first Indian Industrial Boarding School here in the USA. This school was an experiment by our government to assimilate Indigenous children into the white culture. This was considered cheaper than just murdering us. We were considered less than… and savages. When my Great Grandmother shared her experience attending Carlisle, I realized I was colonized as were many of my relatives. Because Sophia was mistreated at Carlisle I was determined to research her experience. Through all my research, I now know why I know nothing of my Oneida Culture and Language. I am grateful that Sophia and Grandma Millie shared their stories. This is just one story. There are many many more stories that need to be shared to help us Indigenous People heal and find our way. These stories will shine light on those children who disappeared and didn’t return home. Please, please share your stories so we can do what is best for these lost Indigenous children. Many people have no idea of these Indian Boarding Schools. One lady asked me, “What is Carlisle?” The true history of America’s Indian Boarding Schools needs to be shared with everyone. As the Orange colored t-shirt says: Bring the Children Home.
Thank you for reading my blog. Please feel free to share this. Sincerely, Roberta Capasso, Author of the book, Sky Woman Lives in Me
Sky Woman Lives in Me 