A grave marker for a student who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Photo from RST DCI Sicangu Youth Council / Facebook

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is trying to repatriate the remains of students who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.

But the effort is facing many obstacles, South Dakota Public Radio reported. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, for example, doesn't apply to the former boarding school because the U.S. military still controls the site.

At least 10 Rosebud students, ranging in ages from 10 to 18, died at the school and are buried in the cemetery there, South Dakota Public Radio reported. The tribe's youth council visited Carlisle last summer and were motivated to bring their relatives back home.

"They said a prayer," Micah Lunderman, a suicide prevention mentor for the tribe, told South Dakota Public Radio. "They sang a prayer song. And they each left a piece of candy for each of the graves.”

The tribe is asking South Dakota's Congressional delegation and President Barack Obama for help, South Dakota Public Radio reported.

Get the Story:
Rosebud Sioux Tribe Pursues Carlisle Repatriation (South Dakota Public Radio 2/8)
'Bring Them Home': Rosebud Sioux Seeking Return of Relatives Buried at Carlisle (Indian Country Today 2/8)

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