June 1, 2013: Our Last Day in South Dakota
	May 30, 2013: The Badlands of South Dakota
	Return to the Ruckman Haus Photo Gallery Page

Today, the four of us spent the day with Guy in and around Chamberlain. We did two major things- visited the St. Joseph's Indian School that is run by Guy's order and then drove out in the countryside to the two other churches that Guy serves as priest for.

St. Joseph's Indian School

On Friday, when Guy was finished with his church duties, we got into Ron's car and drove north on Highway 50, first passing through downtown Chamberlain and then starting up the hill to the overlook. Just a short ways up the hill we came to the entrance for the St. Joseph's Indian School.

As we turned off Highway 50 into the Indian School complex, we passed an entrance sculpture depicting a Father of the Sacred Heart (the order that runs the Indian School) with three Indian children.

In his trips to San Antonio, and earlier this week, Guy had told us something of the history of the Indian School, and about the commitment his order has to its operation and success. But since you haven't had the benefit of that explantion, I thought I'd give you a short history of the Indian School that we were about to enter.

A Capsule History of SJIS

The history of the St. Joseph's Indian School begins with the founding of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in 1878 by Father Leo John Dehon. In 1923, Father Henry Hogebach, a priest in the order, came to the US from Germany, and his ministry led him to the lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota. In 1927, he received permission to purchase the Columbus College campus at Chamberlain, and in the fall of that year he opened the school with 53 Lakota boys and girls.

The school struggled, but it always succeeded in opening each fall, due in large part to Father Hogebach's dedication and gifts from many generous friends; he was always able to obtain enough supplies to meet the needs of the children and Benedictine Sisters who worked there. These sisters were recruited by the order in 1928; they came from a Pennsylvania town and arrived a few days before school started in 1929. Under the guidance of Sisters Jeanne, Columba, Lillian and Ambrosia, the 75 Lakota (Sioux) children from the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation began to think of the school as their home, beginning an attachment between staff and students that continues to exist.

From the diaries left by the sisters, we learn about the government doctors and a nurse who visited the school regularly to monitor the health of the students; they performed tonsillectomies and other minor operations. We also learn about the harsh winters and frozen water pipes as well as the extreme hardship brought on by the Great Depression. Sometimes the Sisters themselves fell ill and had to leave their work at the school. Sadly, many of the children were undernourished and sickly, coming to the school from the poor environment of the reservation; some had lost both parents. The priests and Sisters did their best, but could not save every student.

But we also learn about holiday celebrations- like Christmas and Easter- which, apparently, brought much joy to students and staff. The history of the school is replete with stories of good times and bad. A number of the students excelled academically, a few of them outranking almost all other students in the county- an even greater achievement when one considers that the students spent only a half day in class, the rest of the time being devoted to vocational training.

In 1941, Father Henry, St. Joseph's founter, and another priest were killed in a car accident outside Chicago, where they had gone to address a meeting about the Order's work at the Indian Mission and elsewhere. This made the fall opening that year a sad affair, as new priests had to be recruited to take their places. Military training began in 1942, and the next year an eighth-grader, older that normal for the grade, was drafted and left for an army camp.

At the time of the school's 20th anniversary, the school had 221 students, with an unusual number of the very young. This made everything even more cramped but, according to one Sister's diary, "the children do not mind the limited space. At home, an entire family is often held to a one-room shack. Here they can go to school, have warm meals, learn religion, and enjoy the companionship of other little girls and boys.

Beginning in 1952, a new chapel was planned, but delay after delay intervened. In the end, funds for it had to be raised by the staff, and so the chapel of Our Lady of the Sioux was not dedicated until 1956, when enrollment reached 260. Fundraising continued, and, over time, the physical plant improved and supplies became more plentiful- a good thing since 330 children arrived for the fall, 1960 opening. A new school building (today the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center) was built in 1968, a new dining hall in 1970 and a new gym in 1975.

In 1983, a transition from the dormitory model to the residential living model was completed, with each "home" housing 10-12 students. These homes were created by remodeling and repurposing the dormitories. The model remains in use today, although the transition reduced the capacity for boarding students. In 1985, Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel was completely remodeled, and brought together Catholic and Lakota traditions. In 1992, after the completion of a new school building, the old one became the the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center to showcase and embrace Lakota culture. The school has continued to modernize and improve its facilities and the training it provides to its charges. Now, 80 years after its founding, St. Joseph’s Indian School boards 200 Lakota boys and girls, providing them with a safe, stable environment that responds to the needs of the whole person; it also conducts day schooling for a large number of other students.

The Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center

When we first arrived, Guy took us on a drive through the Indian School complex; it was quite large- much bigger than I had expected. He explained how the school is run, and something more about the "home residential" model that the school used. Then we made the first of two stops: the Lakota Museum and Cultural Center.

Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center

Outside the Cultural Center there was a small fountain and an interesting modern sculpture of two Lakota Indians.

On the front wall of the Cultural Center we found etchings of famous Lakota chiefs. There were five of them; I have put clickable thumbnails below for three of them, and you can see Fred with the other two (Chief Hump and Chief Iron Nation) here.

Just beside the entry door there was also another panel that looked like one of those Indian sand paintings you've seen; this one showed an eagle and the four compass points, recalling the extent of the Lakota Sioux. You can see that panel here. One other interesting thing I found immediately inside the doors was the floor mat done in a colorful geometric design. I thought it was very pretty, and thought that it would be nice to have one as a souvenir of the Indian School. The gift shop did not have them, and when I asked about them I learned that they were made locally by a service company that has the contract for maintaining and cleaning the museum building. I also learned that other visitors had asked about them, but that the company said they did not offer them for sale. You can see the mat here.

The Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center opened in 1991 on the campus of St. Joseph’s Indian School. The words “Akta Lakota,” meaning “to honor the people,” were chosen because the museum is truly intended to honor and preserve the rich culture of the Lakota people, the students at St. Joseph’s Indian School and for thousands who visit the museum each year.

The Akta Lakota is housed in the former school building; an octagon shaped building with 14,000 square feet of display space. The museum’s collection features art, artifacts and educational displays that depict the proud heritage of the Lakota people. Much of the museum’s original collection came from gifts given to St. Joseph’s by alumni and friends since the school opened in 1927. Since the museum opened, it has acquired many new pieces and continually strives to add relevant pieces to the collection. The museum also houses a Collector’s Gallery, which gives local artists a place to display and sell their work.

The facility is more than a traditional museum; it is an experience that provides visitors with a living lesson on the Native American way of life, both past and present.

The museum, which occupies a few different wings, was spacious, well-laid-out and very interesting. We spent a good deal of time inside looking at all the exhibits, which were very well done. We also found some interesting items in the two gift shop areas, and I think that each of us, save Guy, bought something to take home.

We took lots of pictures, and I'd like to include most of the good ones here. What I'll do is simply divide them into sections to make it a little easier for you to look at what might interest you.

Artwork

One type of exhibit there was a lot of was artwork- much of which focused on the relationship between the Indian and the buffalo.

Neither Fred nor I photographed the little cards with the picture titles or artists, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the artwork. I have put clickable thumbnails below for Fred's pictures of the wide variety of works that we saw:

Culture Exhibits

The most common theme in the museum was, as you would expect, the exhibits of Indian culture- dress, camp life, hunting practices and the like.

There was a wide variety of cultural exhibits, from small dioramas to large objects like an Indian canoe. Below are clickable thumbnails for our pictures of some of these displays:

Fred took some more pictures of the interesting displays, and if you'd like to have a look at them you can use the clickable thumbnails below:

The Timeline

There was a series of displays along one wall that contained a timeline of events having to do with Lakota Indian Affairs- from the first contact with Lewis and Clark up to the present. We photographed most of them, and I've put the ones we did photograph into scrollable windows below:

"Two Nations and One Land" (1804-1837)

"Two Nations and One Land" (1838-1860)

"Conflict and Loss" (1860-1890)

"The Circle is Unbroken" (1911-1928)

"Too Today" (1980-2011)

Aspects of Lakota Life and Culture

There were a number of other very interesting placards that touched on a number of different aspects of Lakota life and history, including some that contained the words of prominent Lakota tribe members. Feel free to read as many as you like, using the scrollable windows below:

Let me end this section with three other signs of interest. One set talked about the Indian and his relationship with the horse; you can read both parts of the signage with these two links:

A Horse Nation (Part 1)
A Horse Nation (Part 2)

The other sign had to do with the fur trade and its impact on the Indian and his culture, and you can read that sign here.

 

The Buffalo in Lakota Life and Culture

Fred, of course, is very interested in buffalo, and a good many of the exhibits referred to the animal in one way or another. But there was one display devoted to the relationship between the Lakota and the buffalo- mostly, of course, before it was hunted almost to extinction. The exhibit consisted of a diorama and a number of display signs. You can see all of these below:

"The Buffalo Hunt"

"Bounty from the Buffalo"

"The Buffalo: Giver of All Things"

 

Sculpture and Other Craft Art

Other than paintings and drawings, the museum also had on display a number of pieces of sculpture.

There were some interesting pieces sprinkled throughout the museum; one of the nicest is "White Buffalo," sculpted out of Italian Crystal Alabaster in 2005 by Chippewa artist Edward Thomas (1953-). This particular piece, shown at left, was purchased by the museum.

Another interesting piece is actually the logo of the Akta Lakota museum; it was sculpted out of alabaster in 1996 by an alumnus of the Indian School, Alfred Ziegler (1918-2012). In the gift shop, there was a display of Indian-made quilts; Prudence was attracted to them, so she and Guy picked one out for Prudence to take home.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some additional pictures that Fred took as we wandered through the museum:

One wing of the museum was devoted to the history of the Indian School and to the influence of the Catholic Church and particularly the Order of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in South Dakota and on the Lakota Indians. Fred photographed two of the explanatory signs, and you can read them using the two scrollable windows below:

"Catholics in South Dakota"

"The Priests of the Sacred Heart"

 

The Medicine Wheel Garden

The Medicine Wheel Garden of Healing is part of St. Joseph’s Indian School’s historical center expansion project.

The main goal of the garden is to positively impact the well-being of St. Joseph’s students and alumni by integrating sculpture, with its healing and spiritual qualities, into the heart of the St. Joseph’s Indian School. The garden will also give students, alumni and visitors a peaceful and inspirational respite from their daily routines.

On the brick outside wall of the museum was a purpose statement for the garden, and I thought it was interesting. You can read that statement here.

The garden fuses both the traditional and the contemporary to create an atmosphere conducive to both healing and learning while being mindful of the many and diverse constituents.

Arrayed around the structure are seven simulated buffalo hide inscriptions that are intended to remind one of the directions and influences on one's life; these concepts are taken from Lakota culture. They are interesting to read, and you can do so using the clickable thumbnails below:

 

Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel

When we were done at the museum, we walked across an open yard to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Sioux.

One would expect that a school run by a religious group would not only offer scholastic and physical education, but also spiritual education in whatever religious philosophy the particular group followed, and the St. Joseph's Indian School was no exception. The Chapel of Our Lady of the Sioux is an example of this obvious truth. The chapel, however, was not typical of Catholic churches.

As is the practice at St. Joseph's, everything is an amalgam of Lakota culture and Catholic teachings; this carries into ritual and architecture/decoration. On the front of the chapel, above the entrance, was a sculpture of Our Lady of the Sioux shepherding a Lakota child. I found the representation to be at the same time quite pretty and quite interesting, in the sense that sculptures of Catholic saints that we have seen in our travels are usually all similar in the way they look (whether men or women). They have the appearance of having been sculpted in the style of classical antiquity, whether one finds them in an old European cathedral or a modern American Catholic church.

But here, the Lady is indeed represented as very much an Indian, right down to the native dress and the feather in the hair. Perhaps you don't find this a bit odd, although I did. But I understand the effort to make the Church relevant for the populations it serves. Fred took a closeup picture of the sculpture that shows more detail, and you can have a look at it here. Before going inside, Fred also took a picture of the other four of us outside the chapel.

The inside of the chapel was done in a very modern style, but I thought it was quite handsome. The vestibule had its own stained glass window and another representation of Our Lady of the Sioux- this one painted in traditional Indian colors (I thought it was really pretty).

Along each wall of the actual chapel there was a series of stained glass windows, each of the eight a double panel with one side having a particular Indian design (Guy told us that each had a meaning) and the other a small scene depicting an event or person important in the ministry of the Priests of the Sacred Heart to the Lakota. Fred took pictures of each double panel, and you can have a look at them by using the clickable thumbnails below:

 

Fort Thompson and a Drive Through the Hills

From St. Joseph's Indian School, Guy guided us on a drive that had us circle around through one of the actual Lakota reservations, down through the hills on the west side of the Missouri to the Interstate and Al's Oasis, and then east to the other two churches that Guy is the priest for. We began by driving further north on Highway 50 to Fort Thompson, South Dakota, the town that is the population center for the Lower Brule Reservation.

It was a little rainy when we left the Indian School, so our trip up highway 50 along the Missouri River was a little dismal. We eventually turned west to drive through Fort Thompson, a town entirely on the reservation. Guy directed us to the small Catholic chapel in the town, which he said is run by his order as well, although he himself rarely visits here. The town brought to mind the stereotypical images of reservation towns and dwellings. Most buildings were in sad repair, although in their defense there is little for tribe members to remain on the reservation to do, and little money coming into the community. I am no expert, but to my mind, and with hindsight, the entire reservation system was a bad idea. I don't think there is a successful way that a group of people can have one foot in the twenty-first century and the other in the eighteenth.

Guy took us by the Lower Brule Tribal Headquarters, where the tribe administers its reservation. It sits up on a hill overlooking the river.

We crossed the river to the west, and following the county road west and south towards I-90. The area is typically very rural, with horses and livestock in the pastures. The landscape has its own kind of lonely beauty.

We arrived back at the Interstate and headed east back towards Chamberlain passing the tourist stop known as Al's Oasis, which is just on the west side of the Missouri right at Chamberlain. We continued east across the river to visit the first of the two other churches for which Guy is responsible.

 

St. Procopius Church: Guy's Country Church

Guy has two other churches that he visits- both east of Chamberlain. One is a tiny, unheated church with no electricity- really out in the middle of nowhere.

Apparently, someone had been planning on using St. Procopius for a wedding today, and Guy needed to check on it anyway, so we drove east on I-90 then south on a farm road to get to it- off to our left all by itself at the edge of some fields. (It was cold and blustery and wet, so how the wedding was going to be carried off, I wasn't sure.). But Guy took us inside the tiny church to have a look at it. There was a small vestibule, a main chapel and a small room behind the altar.

I took a few pictures in the chapel, and there are clickable thumbnails at left and below for some of them:

The decoration was minimal, and it reminded me of nothing so much as the kind of small church you might have seen in a western movie. The fresh flowers we found in the chapel were, apparently, for that wedding. There are clickable thumbnails below for a few more pictures of the inside of this small church:

 

Saint Anthony's Church

The other church that Guy is responsible for is Saint Anthony's Catholic Church, a much larger church than the small country one, and located in the small town of Pukwana, back up by the Interstate and about twelve miles east of Chamberlain.

Guy comes to this church twice each week to conduct the services.

The inside of Saint Anthony's was nice for such a small town church. There was even a choir loft at the back of the chapel (above the small vestibule). The altar was flanked by two small stained glass windows, and there were more windows along the sides of the chapel.

Fred was interested in the medallions in each window; they seemed to be directed towards a number of subjects that would have meaning for a rural town in farming country. He took closeup pictures of five of these windows, and I've extracted just the medallions so you can see them:

From Pukwana, we drove back to Chamberlain so Guy could do his even service. After he was done, we all put a meal together using a large lasagne that one of Guy's parishioners had given him. With a salad and some garlic bread and dessert, we had a really nice meal. After which the gang lasted through about thirty minutes of "Cloud Atlas."

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	June 1, 2013: Our Last Day in South Dakota
	May 30, 2013: The Badlands of South Dakota
	Return to the Ruckman Haus Photo Gallery Page