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JAMESTOWN, N.D. (AP) – Six and a half years ago, Jamestown resident Ellen Pfeiffer began her mission, a quilting quest to recognize children who had died away from their families at a boarding school for Native American children.

Families of thousands of Native American children growing up on reservations sent their children to boarding schools more than 100 years ago. The goal of the schools was to assimilate students into the culture of the dominant, white society. Reactions to the schools varied. Some families were excited about the opportunity, while others were unwilling to part with their children and force them to learn a foreign culture.

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the first off-reservation, U.S. government-run school of its kind. Founded in 1879 in Carlisle, Pa., the school was open for about 40 years and educated more than 10,000 students ages 7-30, said Barbara Landis, Carlisle Indian School biographer. The students traveled from across the country, and also came from regional tribes such as the Cheyenne, Chippewa, Sioux, Hidatsa and Mandan.

Some of Carlisle’s students never returned home. Nearly 200 of them died at the school of various causes, mostly respiratory illnesses such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, Landis said.

So Pfeiffer is designing and sewing a quilt in remembrance of each one of them, in hopes people won’t forget. The quilt fabrics, patterns and sizes vary, but each is a representation of a child whose gravestone resides at the school they last called home.

When she’s finished, there will be 186 quilts.

Born and raised in New Rockford, Pfeiffer has no trace of Native heritage. But as a travel nurse, she worked on numerous reservations across the country. There, she learned about spirituality, love and the Carlisle Indian School. Her husband at the time had grown up a member of the Rosebud tribe and his grandmother was a Carlisle Indian School graduate.

Heartbroken by the stories, she decided to develop a quilting project as a way to assist the families and tribes of the students who had attended the school. Originally, she considered selling the quilts and using the money to bring the graves and remains from Carlisle to their homes. But once she learned grant money was available for such a purpose, Pfeiffer decided to quilt in remembrance instead.

The experience of each Carlisle Indian School student varied. Some wrote home complaining of homesickness, and families reported instances of abuse, Landis said. Others, however, enjoyed their experience and later sent their own children to study at the school.

“I would never speak about this experience as favorable or unfavorable,” Landis said, because the experience was different for everybody.

Pfeiffer believes schools like Carlisle were a “disservice” to Native Americans.

History tells a more two-sided tale.

Carlisle’s founder, Richard Henry Pratt, is remembered as both a fatherly figure and as someone often quoted saying, “kill the Indian, save the man.”

Coursework included reading and writing as well as sewing and cooking for girls and carpentry and blacksmithing for boys. Some children died, but of the 10,000 or so graduates, many returned to their home reservations, deeming the school a failure, Landis said. The goal of the school was to assimilate Native American students into the dominant culture. Returning to the reservation meant they were returning to many of the Native American languages, traditions and ways of life.

“Most went back to the (reservation) with conflicted identities,” she said.

Today, boarding schools like Carlisle Indian School still exist, but the goals of the school are to preserve language and tradition rather than to get rid of it, Landis said. The grounds and buildings of the Carlisle Indian School are now barracks and other facilities for an Army base, though the cemetery still remains, she said. A small exhibit exists at the barracks and two other exhibits are nearby, Landis said, but to her, it’s not enough.

“It’s really almost embarrassing to me how little attention is paid to the Indian School,” she said.

Attention for the school is something Pfeiffer seeks, even though she’s faced challenges throughout the project.

Pfeiffer said she earned about $4,000 per month as a travel nurse and quilted for up to 13 hours on her days off. She is now disabled and her income is limited, but her first purchase each month is fabric. When she picks up extra work such as cleaning houses, instead of doing it for money, she asks for donations of material. In 6 1/2 years, Pfeiffer has spent $75,000 on quilting materials and equipment. The disability, she said, was a rough setback.

She continues to quilt, however, with some materials donated by family, friends and organizations.

“It’s one thing I can still do,” she said.

Native Americans have endured a lot of broken promises, she said, but she intends to keep hers.

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Information from: The Jamestown Sun, http://www.jamestownsun.com