In keeping my paranormal studies close to home these days, I was recently reminded by my very own mother that she has been working at a haunted location for over twenty years.  She is an instructor at Haskell Indian Nations University, a four-year college in Lwrence, KS, specifically for registered members of Native American tribes.  Haskell is well known locally for its haunts, and the school has even conducted ghost tours of the haunted areas around Halloween in years past.

Some of the phenomena reported on campus include a young man, said to be dressed as though he had lived during the 1940s or 1950s, who sits in the Haskell Auditorium and reportedly bothers no one, and a playful spirit nicknamed “Libby” who likes to push books off of shelves in the library at Tommaney Hall.  Others speak of Hiawatha Hall, which is the oldest building on campus and was used to ”bring christianity to Native Americans”.  Part of its basement has been sealed off for unknown reasons, doors open and close of their own accord, and people walking past the building often report a feeling of being watched from the bell tower.

Haunted Hiawatha Hall

Pocahontas Hall, a girl’s dormitory, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a girl who hung herself.  The building was also the home of the infirmary during the years when the campus was a boarding school, and the cries of children are said to be heard here, as well as at other locations on campus.  The campus also has a cemetary that dates back to Haskell’s early years, and many small children were buried here, alone and away from their families.

Children Marching at Haskell Institute

Haskell’s early history is believed to account for much of the paranormal activity on campus.  Starting back in 1884, Haskell was a boarding school for Native American children, bent on providing an agricultural education for kids from first through fifth grade.  One of the school’s primary objectives was to force assimilation on Native Americans and to teach them how to function in a “white” society.  By 1894, there were 606 students at the Haskell Institute, and it had expanded the age group of the children the school served.  Many of these children there were forcibly taken from their parents, and reports of abuse at the school were rampant, including for offenses as minor as speaking in one’s native tongue.  Many children died during this time, and it is their experiences that many believe linger on the campus to this day.

The Modern Haskell Campus

Over the years, the school began serving as an industrial training school, and in 1970, it started a junior college program.  Haskell graduated its last high school class in 1965 when its focus shifted to higher education.  Later, four-year programs were instituted.  In 1993, the school was renamed “Haskell Indian Nations University,” and the university, rather than promoting assimilation, now has programs in Native American culture and studies, and has over 1000 students each year, some of whom are still running into the ghosts of Haskell’s past.

There are those on the campus who do not mind this mingling of the past and the present.  Most native cultures view the spirit world as simply another realm of existence, and the fact that the two realms cross paths sometimes should be expected and appreciated rather than feared.  I would have to say that makes perfect sense to me.

Until next time,

yours in this life and the next!

GhOsTwRiTeR KiM

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_Indian_Nations_University; http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/oct/29/haunted_haskell/; http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm391124.html; http://www.haskell.edu/about.html