FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
09/05/2024
Dear Wichita and Affiliated Tribal Citizens,
We are writing on behalf of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes to inform you about the planned disinterment of two of our Wichita children, Kate Ross kiciri and Alfred Charko kiciri. The disinterment process is set to take place from September 15-19, 2024 at Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with reinterment ceremonies planned for September 20-21, 2024 in Anadarko, Oklahoma on the traditional homelands of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
Records indicate:
Kate Ross, 15 years old, was taken from her family on October 27, 1879 and placed at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. She attended the school for 3 years and passed away on January 10, 1882. According to the Big Morning Star (Monthly newspaper published by the Indian Training School, January 1882), Ross “has been one of our most quiet and unassuming pupils, was patient in sickness, smiled sweetly at the thought of being called home to the Father’s House, and sent messages to friends at home telling them to give God their hearts and pray to Him always.”
Alfred Charko, 15 years old, arrived at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School on August 31, 1882. He died there on December 16, 1882, after only 4 short months at the school. In the newsletter, The School News, it states, “A Wichita boy, Alfred died on 16th December. He was sick before he came here and so he was in hospital ever since he came.”
We are honored, yet humbled to announce that we will be organizing a Day of Remembrance on Friday, September 20, 2024 from 9am to 6pm at the Wichita Tribe Community Building. Wichita Citizens and the surrounding community are invited to come out to share prayers, songs, or bring items to honor our lost children.
On Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 9:30am there will be a short graveside ceremony conducted at Rock Springs Cemetery to lay Kate kiciri and Alfred kiciri to rest. If you are unable to attend the event, we would be honored to have you join us in a Moment of Silence at 9:30am on the same day.
Following graveside services, there will be a Celebration of Life at the Wichita Community Building to honor our Wichita children whose lives were lost during the adoption of the Indian Boarding School Policy. This policy was intended to implement cultural genocide through the removal and reprogramming of American Indian and Alaska Native children to accomplish the systematic destruction of Native cultures and communities as an overall attempt to kill, annihilate, or assimilate Indigenous peoples and eradicate Indigenous culture. The stated purpose of this policy was to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”
We believe that honoring our children in this way will significantly impact our community by allowing a time of mourning and grievance of our ancestral children who were forcibly removed from their homelands. Bringing them home to be among family is something to be treasured as many of our Native American children across the nation have not been returned home yet.
Please let us know if you are interested in donating/participating in any way or if you have any questions. You can reach the Wichita Tribe THPO at 405.247.2425 ext.201 or via email at robin.williams@wichitatribe.com or the President and Wichita Executive Committee (WEC) at WEC_Public@wichitatribe.com.
We look forward to the possibility of seeing you all there for the reinterment of Kate Ross kiciri and Alfred Charko kiciri as they return home after nearly 142 years.
Sincerely,
President, WEC, and the Preservation Department
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
