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    Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate

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    Jeremy Turley
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    Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate

    Uploaded by

    Jeremy Turley
    5K views3 pages
    Swo letter

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Swo letter

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    5K views3 pages

    Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate

    Uploaded by

    Jeremy Turley
    Swo letter

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Native American Rights Fund

    1504 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 30302-6293


    (503) 447-8760 FAX (203) 443-7776
    www.aniforg

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    Job B, Echohewk WASHINGTON OFFICE
    950 F, Sires, NW
    DEPUTY DIRECTOR Sulte 1050
    Mathew Campbell Waghtagion, D.C. 20004

    C490 SELECT Ph. (302) 785-4166


    Comirnas on FAX (202) 622-0063
    David L. Gover ]
    Matthew L. Campbell ATTORNEYS i
    peti DiDs Leda
    Fagquetine §
    ism §
    ilyio

    ATTORNEYS Mark Carter


    Meithew 1. Casapbell
    Mind Contr ANCHORAGE OFFICE
    Isoqueline Ie Latn : 45 W. 4% Aveaus, Ste. 502
    K. Jewoma Gotwchalk Anchorage, AK 99501-1736
    David L, Go
    Melody L Aiocoy Ph. (507) 276-0680
    Ada Montagne Bispleton FAX (907) 276-2466
    Steven C, Moora
    Alllzon Neswood ATTORNEYS
    Susan Y. Nes Erin C. Dougherly Lynch
    Brat Lee Sheltun Matthew N, Newman
    Jog M, Tenorio Weshay J. Furlong
    Beth Wright to Condes
    Jason Searle FolinneyAryTarzwell

    CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER


    Michnel Kennedy

    DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
    Dexsld M. Ragona March 20, 2023

    CORPORATE SECRETARY
    Sarah Palacics

    Department of the Army


    Office of Army Cemeteries
    Karen Durham-Aguilera
    Executive Director
    1 Memorial Avenne
    Arlington, Virginia 22211-3003

    Re: Repatriation Request — Amos LaFromboise

    Dear Executive Director Durham -Aguilera:

    Bisseton Wahpeton Oyate submits this letter by and through their attorneys to request the
    repatriation of Amos LaFromboise from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School cemetery, now
    known as the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery (“Carlisle Cemetery”), in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
    Sisseton Wahpeton Ovate requests that the Department of Defense (“DOD™); the Department of
    the Army (“DOA™Y; the Office of Army Cemeteries (“OAC”), and any other necessary
    departments, offices, and officials expeditiously initiate repatriation proceedings of Amos
    LaFromboise in accordance with 25 U.S.C. 3005(a)(4) of the Native American Graves Protection
    and Repatriation Act (*NAGPRA”). DOD, DOA, and OAC are required to consult with Sisseton
    Wahpeton Ovate in the repatriation process, in accordance with 25 U.S.C. 3005(a)(3), 43
    C.F.R.10.10(d), and other applicabls NAGPRA provisions and regulations. DOD, DOA, and OAC
    March 20, 2023 Page 2

    are also required to consult with Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate pursuant to thelr trust responsibility
    and in socordance with Executive Order 13175 and 13647 as well as per DOD internal policies
    controlling Tribal consultations. All federal agencies and officials—including DOD, DOA, OAC,
    and their respective officials——are required to abide by NAGPRA provisions and regulations and
    fo carry out repatriation of Native American human remains in accordance therewith, 25 U.S.C. §
    3001(4); 43 CFR. 10.2(a)(2). As such, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate is entitled to consistent and
    meaningfil consultation and, vitimately, the repatriation of Amos LaFromboise pursuant to
    NAGPRA,

    Carlisle Cemetery is not and was never intended to be Ames LaFromboise’s final resting
    place, and his returg to Sisseton Wahpeton Ovate is long overdue. For generations, family
    members, Tribal leaders, and Tribal members have longed for Amos’ return home. Sisseton
    Wahpeton Oyale history explains that Amos is the son of ose of the most prominent and selebraied
    chiefs, Chief Joseph LaFromboise. Chief Joseph LaFromboise was one of the Tribal leaders who
    signed and executed the Lake Traverse Treaty with the United States in 1867 that established
    Sisseton Wahpeton Ovaie’s present day reservation boundaries. Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
    expected Amos to return home from Carlisle Indian Industrial School (“Carlisle™) to lead his
    people like his father and serve as a modal for future generations of Tribal leaders.

    Dickinson College’s and DOA’s collection of Carlisle student records Likewise show that
    Amos is a citizen of Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, providing further evidence of his cultural affiliation
    with Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate for NAGPRA purposes. These records illustrate that nearly 145
    years aga, thirteen-year-old Amos was sent to Carlisle and never returned. Amos arrived at Carlisle
    on November 6%, 1879, and died 20 days later on November 26%, 1879. He was only meant to
    remain at Carlisle for three vears before returning to his family and io lead his people. Instead,
    Amos was the first child of hundreds of children, to die at Carlisle. Records show that while
    General Richard Henry Pratt, founder of Carlisle, wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to
    request a coffin for Amos” burial, he never wrote to Amos” family or Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate to
    notify them of Amos’ death, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate has long sought Amos’ return so he can be
    buried next to his father on the land his father helped secure for their people. Despite this,
    DOA has buried, exhumed, and reburied Amos af least three times, in three different locations,
    before bis most recent burial at Carlisle Cemetery plot site A-19. DOA’s treatment of Amos is an
    affront to Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate’s Tribal customs, practices, and traditions regarding children
    and the burials of Tribal citizens. DOD, DOA, and DACs delay in the return of Amos and
    indifference towards consultation regarding Amos’ return has caused Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
    unique hardships as Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate is not whole until Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate’s
    children are returned home.

    Since 2016, Tribal historians, Tribal archivists, Tribal elders, and Tribal leadership have
    worked to repatriste Amos from Carlisle Cemetery. Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate has expended
    significant time and resources in attempts to meet DOA’s elusive repatriation requirements and
    deadlines. Despite these efforts, DOA has still not returned Amos, largely due to obstacles that
    March 20, 2023 Page 3

    result from DOA’s unsupported position that its internal repatriation policies apply, rather than
    NAGPRA'’s repatriation framework. DOA’s internal policies are inapplicable to the children
    buried at Carlisle Cemetery. When applied, these policies result in a fractured and inconsistent
    maze that many Tribal Nations are forced to navigate to have their own children returned to them
    from a school that, often by force, took them from their families. Further, DOA’s internal polices
    fail to outline the financial obligations DOA and Tribal Nations are each responsible for in a
    repatriation effort. This restricts Tribal governments’ ability to adequately plan for repatriation
    efforts and potentially subjects Tribal Nations to unforeseen costs at DOA’s discretion.

    Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate is entitled to request that federal agencies, including DOD, DOA
    and OAC, repatriate Native American human remains in accordance with NAGPRA and its
    regulations. 25 U.S.C. 3005(a)(4); 43 C.F.R. 10.2(a). Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate sincerely urges
    recipients of this letter to make contact by and through their attorneys to begin the process to
    expeditiously repatriate Amos LaFromboise pursuant to NAGPRA.

    NAGPRA requires DOD, DOA, OAC and other agencies and officials receiving this letter
    to respond to this request within ninety (90) days of receipt. 43 C.F.R. 10.10(b)(2). Many Sisseton
    Wahpeton Oyate citizens zealously advocated for the rights NAGPRA affords and its application
    here is requisite. While Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate maintains that repatriation is long-past-due and
    wish to see the return of Amos as expeditiously as possible, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate will make
    reasonable efforts to work with DOD, DOA, and OAC to complete the repatriation process in
    accordance with NAGPRA and its regulations.

    Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate welcomes consultation, discussion, and collaboration with DOD,
    DOA, and OAC to ensure that Amos LaFromboise returns home as quickly and carefully as
    possible.

    Sincerely,

    Rohe M. NT
    Beth Mdfgaret Wright, Attorney
    Native American Rights Fund
    [email protected] ——

    Native American Rights Fund


    [email protected] “Y.

    Megahf A. LaFro¥nboise, Attorney


    Sissefpn-Wahpeton Oyate Legal Department
    [email protected]

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