The July 4 holiday weekend not only signals the return of the first in-person Oneida Nation Pow Wow since 2019, but the return of two more Oneida Nation children who attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School during the late 19th century and never saw their homes again.
The Office of Army Cemeteries will be returning the remains of Paul Wheelock, just 10-months-old when he passed, and Frank Green, 15, to Oneida at a future date for reinternment. Wheelock, the son of Carlisle Band Director Dennison Wheelock and his Chippewa wife Louise, is believed to have succumbed to tuberculosis. Green, son of James Green of Oneida, is believed to have died in an accident while on the run from Carlisle. The return of this second set of remains from the boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in the past three years is providing descendants and the Oneida community a sense of closure. Jemima Metoxen, Sophia Coulon, and Ophelia Powless were reinterred in Oneida after being returned from Carlisle in 2019.
More than 10,000 children from 140 First Nations attended Carlisle between 1879-1918. As was the case with the more than 350 other government-funded boarding schools in the United States, virtually all forms of communication were cut off between the children and their families. Letters from parents were left unsent, and parents weren’t notified in a timely fashion if their children died.
The Oneida Nation will formally pay homage to Green and Wheelock Saturday, July 2, during the Pow Wow. Grand Entry will take place at 1:00 p.m., and an Honor Song will then be performed at approximately 2:00 p.m. A memorial service will take place at the Church of the Holy Apostles Sunday, July 3, with hymnal singers beginning at 10:00 a.m. followed by the service at 10:30 a.m. A drive-through community meal will then take place at the Parish Hall beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Questions on this announcement can be directed to the Government Administrative Office at 920-869-4364.
