CARLISLE, Pa. — They want the bones of their children back.

They want the remains of the boys and girls who were taken from their American Indian families in the West, spirited a thousand miles to the East, and, when they died not long after arrival, were buried here in the fertile Pennsylvania soil.

The brevity of those lives, and the effort of a South Dakota tribe to reclaim them now, spring from a turn-of-the-century episode of forced assimilation and cultural destruction — one that continues to haunt and torment the Rosebud Sioux.

CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer, insert Cumberland County Historical Society A photo of the student body of the Carlisle Indian School from March 1892.

Today, many people know this small borough as a stop on the turnpike or as the site of Dickinson College.

But from 1879 to 1918, the town was home to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, the flagship of a fleet of federally funded, off-reservation boarding schools. It immersed native children in the dominant white culture, seeking to cleanse their "savage nature" by erasing their names, language, dress, customs, religions, and family ties.

The Carlisle goal: "Kill the Indian, save the man."

Courtesy of the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center, //carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/ Tom Torlino, who was Navajo, as he entered the school in 1882 (left), and how he appeared three years later.

Sometimes, both perished. Nearly 200 children are buried here in the Indian cemetery.

Now the Rosebud Sioux seek to have at least 10 tribe members brought back to the reservation, where they can be reburied after appropriate native prayers and services.

“A hundred and thirty years later, this still has an impact on our youth.” Russell Eagle Bear, Rosebud Sioux historic preservation officer

"We talk about historical trauma," said Russell Eagle Bear, the tribe's historic-preservation officer. "A hundred and thirty years later, this still has an impact on our youth. We're trying to make peace with those spirits and bring them home."

It's no simple act of graves repatriation. The cemetery lies within the perimeter of the Carlisle Barracks, an Army installation that once was the grounds of the Indian school. The tribe asked the Army in January to return its children's remains and the Army said no.

That's OK, Eagle Bear said. Senators and congresspeople are getting involved — and other Indian nations too. The tribe is planning a pilgrimage from South Dakota to Carlisle this summer.

This modern battle over the past, he said, is just beginning.

SARAH KEEFE / For the Inquirer Two dozen Rosebud teenagers traveled to Washington last summer for the Obama administration's first Tribal Youth Gathering. Afterward, the group drove north to see the site of the Indian school in Carlisle.

In a way, the Sioux recovery effort began at the White House.

Two dozen Rosebud teenagers traveled to Washington last summer for the Obama administration's first Tribal Youth Gathering, held in collaboration with UNITY, the United National Indian Tribal Youth.

Afterward, the group drove north to see the site of the Indian school, widely known for its association with sports legend Jim Thorpe, and to visit the cemetery.

Sydney Horse Looking, 17, became upset upon being stopped at the Army barracks gate for a mandatory security check — "I have to prove my identity to visit my ancestors?" — and even more emotional when she reached the graveyard.

"Those kids never got to go home," she said in an interview. "I would wonder why no one came and got me: 'Why am I still here?'"

The Rosebud youths placed candy on the graves. They sang prayer songs and called out the names of the children.

As the group prepared to leave, the cemetery filled with swarms of flashing fireflies.

“It was like their spirits let us know they heard those prayers.” Micah Lunderman, Rosebud youth counselor

"It was like their spirits let us know they heard those prayers," said Micah Lunderman, a Rosebud youth counselor who helped lead the trip. "We know they heard us."

Back home in Rosebud, the youths asked the Tribal Council: "Why aren't we doing something to bring them home?"

No one knew the answer.

In January the Rosebud Tribal Council passed a formal resolution to seek the return of the remains and wrote to President Obama and other federal authorities.

"It's pretty unusual," said David Beck, a Native American studies professor at the University of Montana. "If the Rosebud Sioux are successful, other tribes will quickly take notice."