U.S. ARMY SET TO RAZE INDIAN SCHOOL LANDMARK OVER
DESCENDANTS’ OBJECTIONS
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
AUGUST 12, 2012 (Carlisle, PA): Despite an outpouring of
pleas from descendants and relatives of students who attended the Carlisle
Indian Industrial School, the U.S. Army War College has reaffirmed its plans to
raze one of the last standing and culturally significant structures remaining
from the legendary boarding school in August or September of this year. The
structure is an original farmhouse used by the school to train in farming
techniques and to help prepare students for farm work as part of Carlisle's
unique "Outing Program." The building housed students as well as
served as a classroom for agricultural courses.
Demolition is moving forward over the strenuous objections
of descendants due to the farmhouse not being listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. The lack of inclusion is justified by a 1985 Historic
Survey that erroneously states that the farmhouse and outbuildings had served
the Indian Industrial School only in a “peripheral way.” This justification has
not been revised or revisited, despite extensive subsequent research that
identifies the farmhouse as a location for student housing and classes and its
numerous inclusions in various school publications. Barbara Frederick, Historic
Preservation Supervisor for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, states
that “the project requires no further consultation with our office under
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act." |
| Carlisle cemetery The ones who never came home Photo by Brenda Norrell For the relatives |
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the first
all-Indian off-reservation government-run boarding school where thousands of
Native children were sent to be civilized in order to “Kill the Indian, Save
the Man.”CIIS and its models had a devastating effect on the lives, cultures,
and languages of these children, their families and descendants. Many CIIS
students participated in the summer Outing Program, where they would learn the
skills of white society while forced to give up their traditional ways of life.
Some students were sent to nearby farms to work and received their training at
the CIIS farm and stayed at the historic farmhouse. Despite the historical
significance of the school to both Native culture and American history, which
is reflected in its designation as a National Historic Landmark and
acknowledged with a state historical marker, this is not the first time
tensions between the historical significance and the exigent needs of the U.S.
Army War College have resulted in a devastating loss for descendants, most
notably moving original graves of the 186 students who died at the school to a
new cemetery to make way for an entrance road. The decision to raze the
farmhouse by Carlisle Barracks Command, as stated by Ty McPhillips, Project
Director for Balfour Beatty Communities, is “[a]fter a review with the Installation
and in addressing their Master Planning needs for a new War College etc, it was
again reaffirmed that the Farm House needed to be razed so the space could be
used for RCI housing effort. There was no other location to place/site the 4
new homes slated for that area. ” No mention of the house’s use in the Carlisle
Indian Industrial School or its significance to American Indians’cultural
memory was made.
Carlisle is a major site of memory for many American Indians
and will serve as the host site for a nationwide symposium on October 5thand 6th,
titled Carlisle, PA: Site of Indigenous Histories, Memories, and Reclamations. Descendants
have requested that plans for demolition at least be postponed until after this
national gathering in order to give descendants and relatives a chance to visit
the structure and have their objections heard. The U.S. Army War College has
not responded to this request and descendants have created a petition,
available athttps://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/u-s-department-of-the-army-carlisle-barracks-stop-the-demolition-of-the-historic-ciis-farmhouse,
to gather signatures in further effort to stop the demolition of this historic
structure.
More information on the history of the farmhouse and the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School can be found by visiting:
Farmhouse History - documented by Carolyn Tolman
The Sentinel news story
Carlisle Indian Industrial School - by historian Barbara
Landis
Farmhouse photo: This photo was part of an 1895 souvenir
book created by John Leslie, an Indian student and the “right hand man” of John
Choate, a well-known photographer at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. It
is the earliest known photo of the Farmhouse.
Courtesy of the Cumberland County Historical Society
1 comment:
Niawenko:wa for posting this! We've been working on this for quite some time and have received little response from the Dept. of the Army. Demolition is scheduled for the end of Aug-Sept, 2012, although we've been given no definite date. We need more supporters to spread the story and to sign the petition!! Thank you!
Louellyn White
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