Native American boarding schools in the US, by the numbers
CARLISLE, Pa. — For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States government and Christian denominations operated boarding schools where generations of Native American children were isolated from their families. Along with academics and hard work, schools have sought to erase elements of tribal identity, from language and clothing to hairstyles and even their names.
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where the remains of 17 students were exhumed and repatriated in recent weeks, has served as a model for other schools.
In figures:
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An Interior Department study released in 2024 found 417 federally funded boarding schools for indigenous children in the United States. Many others were led by religious groups and other organizations.
An “incomplete” number of burial sites, at 65 schools, identified by the Department of the Interior across the federal boarding school system.
Number of treaties between the U.S. government and Native American tribes that involved the federal boarding school program, reflecting its importance to westward expansion.
Amount authorized by the U.S. government to operate schools and pursue related policies, in inflation-adjusted dollars, 1871-1969.
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School operated from 1879 to 1918.
Children and young adults enrolled at Carlisle for four decades, from more than 100 tribes.
Number of students who signed a petition in 1913 calling for an investigation into conditions at Carlisle.
Deaths among students enrolled at Carlisle.
Deaths among students at government-run boarding schools in the United States, according to an Interior Department report. A Washington Post study last year counted about 3,100. Researchers say the real number was much higher.
Indigenous students repatriated from Carlisle Barracks Cemetery since exhumations began in 2017, leaving 118 graves with American Indian or Alaska Native names. Twenty others contain unidentified indigenous children.
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Sources: National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition; “Carlisle Indian Industrial School: Aboriginal Histories, Memories and Claims”; US Army; “Investigative Report on the Federal Indian Residential School Initiative, Volume 2”
