[Reporter] It's a long way from Kamloops, B.C., to Mission, South Dakota, in the United States.
We're off to meet an Indigenous group that knows first hand the pain Canada's
Indigenous peoples are dealing with over missing children lost at Indian residential schools.
The Rosebud Sioux Indian tribe was able to bring home the bones of their ancestral children
kids from Sicangu lands who died more than a century ago while having the Indian taught out of them.
"You know they were when they were taken they were just children and so
we wanted to bring them back, and here they're protected forever.
[Reporter] Jessica Two Eagles' relative has finally been laid to rest in the land where he always belonged.
The veterans cemetery was um
kind of the perfect place for some and then of course some of the families wanted to bury them
in their home cemeteries so.
Let's see who they were.
There's flowers and even a toy
Warren Paint Dirt.
Maude Little Girl.
You know we finally have our relative home who was sent off so long ago.
[Reporter] The Carlisle Indian Industrial School opened in 1879 and operated for nearly 30 years
with a mission to kill the Indian and save the man.
This coercion for students to speak English, wear Anglo-American clothing and act according to U.S. values and culture.
Tuberculosis was also rampant during this time. And more than 180 students were buried at the Carlisle Indian School cemetery.
Why isn't this child's actual name on this headstone
[Reporter] Sydney Horse Looking is now 23 years old, but back in 2015 she was a high school student learning about
the Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding school she and other students visited the former boarding school site
as part of their experiential learning.
You know why are they still there and that question clicked and for a lot of people and it got them thinking
because I'm sure at the time not many people were thinking, we should go get our relatives.
You know it's time to go get them it's time to go back.
[Reporter] It took a group of children to motivate the Rosebud Sioux into action.
There's been a lot of people who we've come across who came up to me personally and said
you know why are you doing this, they're they're dead?
They've been buried they've been there for so long why are you doing this why now?
Like what's the big deal?
[Reporter] What would follow was a six-year campaign to bring home the bones of their ancestral youth.
Last summer the first nine remains of Rosebud Sioux began the journey home
from Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
It was a four-day ritual that retraced the children's original journey to the boarding school from their homeland.
Once there, the remains of three children went directly back to their families to be dealt with in their own traditional way
Warren Paint Dirt, Lucy Take The Tail, Rose Long Face, Maude Little Girl, Alvan Kills Seven Horses, and Dennis Strikes First
were buried in the tribal veterans cemetery.
Why was the veteran cemetery chosen for here?
Because you know it's a well-kept area and as well as
we have our warriors here to protect them.
We felt like that was appropriate.
[Reporter] One of the children's remains is related to Duane Hollow Horn Bear's family
The idea of seeing his relative in a military cemetery albeit a Sioux veterans cemetery wasn't full closure for him
so it was incredibly important for him to do ceremony for his ancestor
When he was taken from here
he was not a U.S. citizen, but when he died out there he was put into a military cemetery
and when they were bringing him home the talk was where we're going to put him?
Duane never disclosed where he put Friend Hollow Horn Bear's remains, he simply went out into the land and
provided his relative with what he felt was best for him.
I'm going to set his spirit free.
And so I dealt with it in my own way and spoke with him in prayer
and heart and your home your home rest here
[Reporter] How does it feel to know he's home now
I'm elated I'm happy you know I'm at peace now I'm at peace and that that happiness
that I've been talking about I'm looking for I can feel it now.
Families had closure a lot of relatives here that never spoke of their experiences in boarding
school started to speak.
[Reporter] Christopher Eagle Bear was another student on that fateful trip to Carlisle.
Now 22, he offers what bringing home the children means to both the young ancestors and him.
I felt like these spirits can finally stop crying, stop mourning and may hopefully go see their families
and if not come back around and be reborn into this world again, but live the life that they're supposed to live
You know free and a child.
[Reporter] So what did we learn from the Rosebud Sioux how is their struggle to repatriate the most
vulnerable people in their history applicable to the Canadian context still unfolding?
I really want to encourage the Canadian people to just to pay attention to the youth you know bring
them to the next meeting encourage them to pay attention and if they are then listen to and hear
what they have to say maybe they have good ideas that you haven't heard of yet.
Learn your history.
And your own personal history, your family history that you can share and say this is who this
relative was and share it share it don't be afraid to share it.
I would just say if you come across a descendant of somebody who's either you know who's been affected by boarding schools just to give
them a hug and let them know that it's OK. That this isn't a big secret no more
It's out. Word's out.
[Reporter] In Canada we will eventually run out of uncovering buried anomalies so what's next?
the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc were the first to discover a pattern beneath the ground they have
also become the first to begin the process of revelation canadians and people around the world
nervously await what they will find and if they are the remains of children who were
snatched from their parents and died far from home
We have the Rosebud Sioux to thank for showing us one possible way forward.
I feel like it it definitely opened the eyes like for the community and a lot of healing that still needs to be done
that needs to take place.
Wawmeesh, there's a lot for people in Canada to learn about this experience of what to do
with the children's remains what did you find to be among the most striking lessons?
The most striking lesson was to not underestimate youth it was youth who started this.
There was a group of youth from Sicangu who visited the White House for the unity conference in 2015
and on their return they visited the Carlisle Industrial Boarding School
Indian boarding school where a lot of their kids had gone
and while there they saw the graves of their peers while giving an offering of tobacco and candy
they asked a simple but profound question why aren't they home?
Why hasn't anybody come and got them? When they returned to Sicangu they asked the same question of their tribal officials.
Why aren't they home? Why haven't you come and got them?
That started the movement to repatriate, which resulted in last summer the repatriation of nine children from Carlisle
which were brought back to Sicangu
six are buried at the veterans cemetery, three were given to their families of origin to bury
the lesson here is don't underestimate youth because look at what they accomplished there.
Alright, Wawmeesh Hamilton in Vancouver, thank you
Thank you.