Dumra/The Secret Garden – Commemorating the CIA-Tibet Training Program at Camp Hale, 1958-1964
Together with the ŷڱƵ Tibetan community, the Vail Symposium, and ŷڱƵ’s Department of Anthropology, the Tibet Himalaya Initiative is pleased to invite you to a special event this summer linked to Professor Carole McGranahan's longstanding research. On Sunday, June 9 at 12 noon, we will hold a memorial gathering at Camp Hale National Monument in ŷڱƵ. This event is to commemorate the CIA-Tibet training camp which operated at Camp Hale from 1958-1964. The Tibetan men who trained there were members of the Chushi Gangdrug army, a citizens’ army formed to defend the Dalai Lama, Tibet, and Buddhism against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The CIA offered training and support to the Tibetan resistance, including this secret project at Camp Hale. The CIA officers called the training camp “The Ranch.” The Tibetan soldiers called it “Dumra,” meaning garden. The event is free and open to the public.
Co-Sponsors for the event are Polar Star Properties, 10th Mountain Whiskey, and from the University of ŷڱƵ: The College of Arts and Sciences, the Departments of Ethnic Studies, Geography, History, Linguistics, Religious Studies, and Sociology, the Center for the American West, the Center for Asian Studies, the Institute for Behavior Science, and the Museum of Natural History.
Additionally, on Friday, June 7 at the Vail Symposium, Professor McGranahan, India-based filmmakers Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin, and retired CIA officer Bruce Walker will present a research talk about the secret CIA training camp for Tibetan resistance soldiers at Camp Hale that operated from 1958-1964. This presentation is the basis for a book they are co-authoring about Camp Hale’s Tibetan history. Their presentation will be live-streamed.
