Month: February 2012

The Sacred Cannupa

Kara is carving her soap into a Native American pipe.
Kara did a great job creating her pipe from a bar of soap!

The 4th grade classes are learning about the rituals and beliefs of our Lakota Culture.  Within this unit is the center of who we are as a people.  The cannupa or pipe is a part of many ceremonies and everyday life.  The pipe can be used for special ceremonies and for prayer when it is needed.

The class embraces the hands-on time of learning about the parts of a real pipe as well as singing the song that accompanies the filling of a pipe.  We do not smoke the actual pipe because this is something that is for special use and I believe that many of our children should have this experience with their families.

Three Native American students carving pipes
The students did such a good job carving!

We cannot travel out of state for class trips, so we learn about how pipestone is harvested and shaped into a sacred, beautiful object which holds deep meaning.  The students are told the story of the Pte San Win, the White Buffalo Calf Woman, who brought the pipe to our people centuries ago.  The pipestone quarry in Pipestone, Minnesota holds historical meaning to the creation stories of our people as well.   It is believed that the area where the quarry is today is the place where the last of our people drowned in the great flood.  Their blood is the red-colored rock that we use for pipe-making today.

The Native American students are then able to do a little creating of their own.  I demonstrate how to carve a piece of soft soap into what might be the bowl of a pipe.  As you can see from the pictures, they are proud of their creations.

This unit of learning ties their American Indian culture to their hands, hearts and minds.

St. Joseph’s Indian School’s spelling bee

Fr. Steve and the kids participating in the Spelling Bee.
The Spelling Bee was challenging, but a lot of fun for everyone!

Our school gym was filled with our Native American students competing in the annual Spelling Bee. We have two sections of each grade, so earlier competition produced the three best spellers in each class. Fr. Anthony and I were the official word readers, and alternated between the grades. Spelling Bees tend to throw in some obscure and complicated words, some of which I had no clue what they meant or how to pronounce them. I was glad that Scripps sends along a definition and pronunciation guide. A few of the grades were quickly decided, but some went back and forth for many rounds. I felt sorry for the kids who knew how to spell the words but froze up in front of the crowd. A few of the younger students got a case of the giggles, which made it hard for them to concentrate. We cheered everyone on, win or lose. The winners now advance to the regional competition at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

I wandered around St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus this morning checking out our building projects. Workers placed the 65 foot wooden beam on top of the Akta Lakota Museum expansion. Our own facilities crew is making steady progress on the Stevens and Matthias Home remodeling. One home is ready for the ceramic tiles to be laid in the bathroom and kitchen area. Even our heavy equipment garage is getting an upgrade – finally insulated after all these years. It will make it much easier to get the snow plow and tractor fired up on frigid mornings when they are most needed.

The Hogebach Home (high school girls) eat in shifts because everyone gets home from school, practice and work at different times. The houseparents filled me in on their comings and goings. As the students came home, I had a few moments to ask how each one was doing. Some of the students share readily and talk about many things. Others keep more to themselves. I try to engage them in topics I think they might want to share, listen attentively when they do speak and patiently accept the quiet when they don’t feel like saying much.