Respecting Our Ancestors

Abstract

Bob Sam’s current research involves working with the Native American Boarding School Coalition (NABS) in supporting Tribal Nations seeking the repatriation of their children buried at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country. His recent travel to cemeteries in Carlisle discovered 13 Alaska children, four from Ketchikan, that need to be brought home. Next month, Mr. Sam will be traveling to cemeteries in Colorado. There are over 250 Alaskan children that were taken to boarding schools between 1878-1917, died, and were not brought back home to be buried. The Native American Boarding School Coalition (NABS) was created to develop and implement a national strategy that increases public awareness and cultivates healing of the profound trauma experienced by individuals, families, communities, American Indian and Alaska Native Nations resulting from the U.S. adoption and implementation of the Boarding School Policy of 1869. While other tribes around the country have filed petitions to address the many issues surrounding the Boarding School Policy, Bob Sam sees a need for Alaskans to become more involved in leading the efforts for Alaska.