Travel to Carlisle, Pennsylvania
In the 21st century, Pennsylvania does not have any federally recognized tribes within the state. Although this is the case, the borough of Carlisle has had innumerable effects on Pueblos, Tribes and Nations across the United States. The impacts of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (CIIS), operating between 1879 and 1918, groomed American Indian/Alaska Native children, some as young as 6, for approximately 40 years. The results and outcomes, through the lenses of descendants of approximately 7800 children, are variable. Whether forced or voluntary, these children came from hundreds to thousands of miles away from their traditional homelands, without parents or guardians to supervise their upbringing. These children were mandated to shun their traditional values, beliefs, culture, language, and traditional practices. The systemic attempt to eradicate anything related to American Indian/Alaska Native traditional ways was paramount, so their clothing, appearances, names, and identities were overhauled to conform to mainstream dominant culture. In recent years, studies have been conducted on epigenetics and the transmission of intergenerational trauma (Brockie et al, 2013), so a correlation between the children attending the institution and their generational offspring may exist.
Visiting Carlisle may evoke hyper emotionality and/or a wide range of emotional expression. The range of emotionality is very normal. The children that attended CIIS, now ancestors and elders of many current visitors, walked the same land base and grounds of their descendants. The town sites, designated as heritage sites, may also be emotional for visitors, as one can imagine what it was like for their ancestors when they were dropped off at the train station in the middle of the night and escorted to the institution. It may also be jolting to current visitors to tour the Army base and visualize the children imprisoned in cells for disciplinary reasons, or encounter the exact location where photographs of hundreds of Native children in shorn hair, wearing military style clothing for males and colonial wear for females, and mourn the loss of the ancestor’s childhoods. For some visitors, the emotions may unexpectedly emerge when one learns for the first time components of their family history, as their ancestor purposely never shared details of their institutional experiences.
The experiences of those descendants travelling to Carlisle may elicit and experience unfamiliar physical, psychological or spiritual responses. Based in narratives by those who have visited Carlisle over the past 18 months, some visitors have experienced supernatural events in various locales. Travel may be disrupted with detours or delays. Some visitors have gotten lost and GPS devices have gone haywire, either inoperative or redirecting visitors. Some visitors have felt a presence when no other person was near. While there may be skepticism regarding this aspect, it is recommended visitors be aware unexplained occurrences may be experienced. Travel to Carlisle may require advanced spiritual preparation for some visitors and will look different depending upon community beliefs and practices.
In Carlisle, there remains a curiosity about Native Peoples. This may take on various forms including micro and macro aggressions. But be assured, many visitors leave Carlisle feeling empowered and have a renewed confidence! In part, this may be attributed to not only did our ancestors and elders survive, our Pueblos, Tribes and Nations continue to thrive.