Home From School: The Children of Carlisle

57 min | Documentary Feature | Geoff O'Gara

“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man” was the guiding principle of the U.S. government-run Indian Boarding School program starting in the late 19th Century. The program removed tens of thousands of Native American children from their tribal homelands, and through brutal assimilation tactics, stripped them of their languages, traditions and culture. The students were forced through a military-style, remedial education. Most children returned emotionally scarred, culturally unrooted with trauma that has echoed down the generations. Many students never returned home, having died at the schools. Home From School: The Children of Carlisle dives into history of the flagship federal boarding school, Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and follows the modern day journey of the Northern Arapaho Tribe as they seek to bring home the remains of three children who died at Carlisle over 100 years ago. To move forward they need to heal from the past, and in doing so they forge the way for other tribes to follow.

Release: November 23, 2021

Encore: January 10, 2022

Distributor: Independent Lens

Geoff O'Gara

Executive Producer/Writer

For over 20 years, Geoff worked for public television as on-camera talent, writer, and documentary producer. His productions have won a variety of prizes, including a Heartland Emmy for best documentary (“Will Rogers & American Politics”, 2011, screenwriter), the National Educational Television Association (NETA) top prize for documentary (“Alan K. Simpson: Nothing Else Matters”, 2012), and NETA’s first-place award for public affairs series (“Capitol Outlook”, 2010).

Sophie Barksdale

Co-Producer

Sophie joined Caldera Productions in 2016, having relocated from Australia. Sophie’s career in arts administration has made her an excellent “all-rounder” team member at Caldera. While project management is her forte, her passion is for storytelling through film. Over the past 10 years, she has worked for the Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and on film festivals in Australia, Ireland and the US, as well as for one of Australia’s premier cultural institutions, The National Gallery of Victoria.

Jordan Dresser (Northern Arapaho)

Associate Producer

Jordan is a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe located on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming. He has a BA in journalism from the University of Wyoming and has worked as a reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Forum and the Denver Post. In 2009, he became the Public Relations Officer for the Wind River Hotel and Casino in Riverton, WY.