Carlisle Indian School Connections: My Original Web Pages Created 1995, The Carlisle Indian Industrial School

(1879 - 1918)

"The common schools
are the stomachs of the country
in which all people that come to us
are assimilated within a generation.
When a lion eats an ox,
the lion does not become an ox
but the ox becomes a lion."
...Henry Ward Beecher*

"If the Great Spirit had desired me
to be a white man
he would have made me so
in the first place.
He put in your heart
certain wishes and plans;
in my heart he put
other and different desires.
Each man is good
in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary,
that eagles should be crows."
..Sitting Bull (Teton Sioux)


Tom Torlino, 1883, on arrival to Carlisle Indian Industrial School height="278" nosave="" src="torbefore.jpg"	Tom Torlino, Navajo. Carlisle Indian School 1886 - 3 years after arrival height="275"

INTRODUCTION

These pages are designed, written and executed with the purpose of offering glimpses into the Carlisle Indian School and its history.

The Carlisle Indian School's mission was to shape identity.

In its infancy, that shaping meant to transform American Indian children to resemble their so-called "civilized"
American brothers and sisters. As the experiment progressed, that purpose shifted to one of "influence"
rather than "transformation," according to Francis Leupp, U.S. Indian Commissioner, 1904.

It is our purpose to respectfully
honor those students and their descendants who lived the experiment,
celebrate with those who prospered from it, and
grieve with those whose lives were diminished by it.

This is a history that belongs to all Americans.
The identities of all Americans are shaped by the Carlisle experiment.

Much of the text on these pages reflect the collaborative efforts of
Barbara Landis and Genevieve Bell, and none of this work
is associated with the Cumberland County Historical Society.

Our express purpose in keeping this history alive is
to encourage historians to invigorate a troubling conversation
and to deliver the Carlisle Indian School student names to their respective nations.

- Barbara Landis

I am grateful for the generous support
of these pages by the

VIOLA WHITE WATER FOUNDATION

Please consider donating toward the continued work of these pages:

Viola White Water Foundation

Harrisburg PA 17112