How can I alert you to errors on the website?
When digitizing and uploading hundreds of thousands of pages of material, CISDRC team members may have made typographical errors in describing the material. In addition, the people who wrote the information on the original documents more than a hundred years ago may have misspelled names, incorrectly listed dates, and made other errors themselves.
If you believe something is incorrect, click on the “submit corrections for this record” button found near the bottom of each individual post on the website to let us know what errors you have found. Please indicate in your message what information on that post is wrong (misspelled name, incorrect date or tribal affiliation, or other error). If you have found information on the CISDRC that disagrees with the particular post you are viewing, please be sure to refer to that other post as well.
Why does the CISDRC use outdated language for Native nations/communities?
Because the CISDRC is sharing historical materials, the language and terminology used on the original documents is preferred so as to better maintain the context in which these records were created. In addition, since CISDRC team members are not experts on the many different tribal communities represented at Carlisle, new errors might be introduced if staff attempted to reinterpret information about tribal affiliation found in the materials.
In cases where the historical documents incorrectly identify a given nation or tribe for a single student or group of students, the CISDRC may create an additional tag to add to all relevant posts based on feedback received from family members or other authorities. Should such a correction be made, the outdated language would typically not be deleted; instead, it would be retained (again, to provide context) alongside the preferred, updated terminology.
Can I request that a piece of documentation be made private?
Project staff are currently developing policies on removing documentation from the site.